OS and Software > Mozilla Software > Improving the update experience

Improving the update experience

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In the rest of this post I focus on five Firefox update improvements and how they should improve your Firefox update experience.

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That assumes that the user doesn't mind not having Fx under his control. There are many users that would not dream of allowing auto updating of anything except, perhaps, their AV definitions.

The day Mozilla denies the right of the user to FULLY CONTROL updating of Fx is the day it will lose a massive number of users. Of course, Asa has assured us this possibility will happen only over his dead body...but then he could be fired. Organizations tend to do the most stupid things if allowed. Of course, Fx would then fork just as Chrome forked for the same reason a long time ago. Only ignorant of computers users like having little to no control over their browsers and other applications.
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When governments fear people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. Thomas Jefferson

That's why I have NEVER used and NEVER WILL use Chrome. I use Iron instead.

Fx will fork immediately if this crap was ever done to Fx. Or maybe first there would be an extension to give back control to users but then I strongly believe there would still be a fork and I think that would prove disastrous for Mozilla.

As for IE, who gives a shit what Microsoft does with it?

Of course, Chrome is popular...with the same SHEEPLE that have sold their souls to Facebook and Google in general. Fx has a crowd of users that are a cut above the average totally ignorant of computers user. Of course, many of them like auto updating of everything. I don't mind if that is an OPTION in Fx to accomodate those users.
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When governments fear people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. Thomas Jefferson

reply to howardfine
Reminds me of Dilbert and the attitude of his manager & the company he works for (paraphrased from a recent strip): "People are stupid, especially the people who use our software." (Mozilla has taken to making decisions for users of Firefox et al that have nothing to do with what those users really want and everything with what Mozilla wants to force down their throats because it benefits Mozilla. Thanks, but I can make my own decisions about updates and anything else if and when I want. It seems, though, that every new release brings something new that Mozilla wants to hide or take away from its users. Keep it up, guys, and we'll just stick a fork in it and go on our merry way.)
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"Sorry for not responding to your post, but either I haven't seen it yet, or what you said was so devoid of substance that I found it utterly uninteresting."

Mozilla is making decisions for people who barely know how to use a computer and otherwise wouldn't update Firefox, thus still being on FF2.0 from 2006. Users who know what they're doing probably have auto-update turned off (like myself).

reply to howardfine
I await someone to get wise and make a browser for dummies, then a browser for those who like to stay in control. I won't hold my breath though.

reply to grunze510

That's correct. They mostly use Chrome now. Mozilla wants them back using Fx and that is why Mozilla is treating all users as computer dummies. If they keep up with that Fx will be forked as knowledgeable users will only put up with so much nonsense and no more.

In January, world wide desktop market share shows Chrome dropping for the first time but Fx also dropped and Chrome is breathing right down its neck. Mozilla is worried about that hence trying to woo back the dummy Chrome users. The irony is that the ONLY browser that GAINED market share was IE 6! Yes, IE 6 gained market share as did XP!!!
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When governments fear people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. Thomas Jefferson

reply to howardfine
Not upgrading your browser is being out of control not "in control". Apparently no one in this thread got the memo. ALL browsers WILL be doing this if they aren't already and Mozilla is NOT the first.

The purpose, beyond security updates, is to maintain a level playing field on the web so developers can use new technologies that work in all browsers so we don't get stuck in a world that Internet Explorer got us screwed up in and we're still paying the price for.

If you think you are gaining any advantage by not updating your browser then you aren't any better than the folks you claim to be better than.

Wrong. It's about the user controlling when updates occur and why. And when I say 'user' here I don't just mean the rank and file individual users; I also mean any organization that needs to pay attention to [and control] relative versions of applications--all base products and all extensions and all plug-ins need to work and be verified that they work properly together before updates occur. No business lets vendors go around updating their software willy-nilly just because there's a new release. Maintenance releases are one thing; version releases are another. Either way, the user owns the desktop, not the vendor. "Memo" indeed. (If you continue to go around insulting people, you'll just be ignored... and rightly so.)
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"Sorry for not responding to your post, but either I haven't seen it yet, or what you said was so devoid of substance that I found it utterly uninteresting."

It's the same with anything, anywhere... people don't like being told what to do, don't like having things "hidden" or "done in the background" for them--even if it's "good for them". This is not specific to Firefox or Mozilla or even software. It applies to life in general. It's not an "exception to the rule"... it is the rule.
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"Sorry for not responding to your post, but either I haven't seen it yet, or what you said was so devoid of substance that I found it utterly uninteresting."

And when web sites don't work correctly, they run and blame the browser.

The thing is, updating your browser, in most cases, does not directly affect the user. The internet is changing so fast, you have to run as fast as you can just to stay in one place. While UI changes are one thing, under the hood changes are another, and most updates are under the hood.

And then UI changes are often accompanied by behind the scenes technical updates so you can't get away with that. Staying up to date with any software almost always winds up giving you the latest UI look and feel. Going to the latest version of Windows will not give you a XP look/feel no matter how much you like it.

I do understand how someone can get attached to a particular UI but there is zero advantage to keeping an older version of a browser because developers will use those new features as soon as they can.