Enterprise users respond to the browser Release Cycle

Enterprise organizations are surprised that Firefox 4.0 was launched only after 5.0, worrying about its security problems and the lack of a stable Firefox version. At the same time, Microsoft has made its own commitments to enterprise users and general consumers.

The quick release of Firefox is related to the new development process published by Mozilla several months ago. Although it is estimated that the release will be fast by 5.0, the enterprise community is surprised that Mozilla stops supporting Firefox 4.0 for only three months. The end of the lifecycle of earlier versions of Firefox caused a strong reaction in the community. Kaply Consulting, head of Kaply Consulting (focusing on customizing Firefox), believes that Mozilla's approach is a "very bad idea" for Firefox's enterprise deployment ". He said:

The company cannot complete major browser updates within six weeks (and each is a major update ). If it is a security patch, you will think that there will be no problems after the Web application is updated. But now these updates will not make everyone have such expectations. Therefore, each version requires a complete test cycle. After the end of the cycle, the browser gradually became familiar with and deployed. As a result, another new version of Firefox was released again, so the previous version lags behind. At the same time, all browsers are incomplete, because security updates are included in the main version, and there is no stable branch for enterprise deployment.

Dissatisfaction between enterprises can be further seen in the two points highlighted by Kaply.

However, Mozilla supports its rapid release strategy. Mozilla's product manager Asa Dotzler told Kaply:

Mike, do you know that Firefox is downloaded 2 million times a day? What you call "big numbers" is only a small part of the user base. Enterprises have never been our focus (this should not be ). Unless our users don't want to install them on their own and expect the enterprise deployment team, I can't imagine why they need to focus on the environments you care about.

However, Mozilla subsequently showed willingness to address corporate concerns. Jay Sullivan, Mozilla product VP, said in a recent statement:

The key challenge for enterprises is that they need to prove their websites, applications, and plug-ins every time Firefox is updated. This takes weeks or months. Security is also important. Enterprises need to use versions that contain all known security patches. We are trying to balance these needs and are actively discussing with the community. Open-source software is suitable for solving these challenges, because the relevant parts can be combined to build what is needed.

On the other hand, Microsoft declares that IE is a browser suitable for all consumers. Dean Hachamovitch, vice president of Microsoft Internet Explorer, said: "at Microsoft, we believe that all Windows users should have excellent browsing experience, whether they stay at home or go to school, IT is still in large enterprises with controlled IT resources."

Dean stressed Microsoft's commitment to support the IE version for up to 10 years. Microsoft's support for IE is extended until the end of its operating system. This means that the support for IE 9 will continue until 2020. Enterprise developers generally believe that the stability of such support will help enterprises save a lot of energy to avoid detecting their applications in the new browser version.

Microsoft's comments on browsers have also led to criticism that they are more concerned with enterprises than the entire web community. Peter Bright pointed out in his article:

Microsoft's 10-year commitment to support the browser version allows enterprise users to stay on the same version without any updates-but this sacrifices the interests of the public Web. IE 9 is not as functional as Firefox 5 and Chrome 12, so Microsoft's latest version is also outdated. These outdated browsers pollute and impede the public Web. In addition, they are not good for the company itself. Today, companies that rely on Internet Explorer 6 are in a difficult situation. IE 6 is not provided in the current operating system. As the days go by, developers have fewer and fewer understandings of such applications. One day, the dependency of IE 6 will be broken. The longer the Company waits, the harder, the more expensive, and the more destructive the change will be.

The debate is not limited to IE and Firefox. Google Chrome has a huge impact. Interestingly, Google has adopted the six-week fast release method since last year. Chrome's share in the browser market has steadily increased, ranking third behind IE and Firefox. Now, with Mozilla adopting a similar strategy, there are two different publishing methods in the browser field. Let's see which one is more influential.

Enterprise Reacts to Browser Release Cycle

Original article: http://www.infoq.com/cn/news/2011/08/Browser-Release-Cycle