Firefox: Thank You
The news has been out lately that the Mozilla Foundation is considering dropping support of Firefox for all Windows versions below XP SP3. This would mean that all non-updated XP installations, Win2k, and anything else older than that will no longer be able to install or run whatever the latest version of Firefox is when it arrives.
Good. If I had my own way, I’d personally drop support for anything below Vista SP1 for the latest versions of Firefox, and keep the previous version updated within reason for a predetermined amount of time. I’ll get into why I feel that shortly. But for now, back to how I feel about the situation.
As I said, good. Windows 2000 has been available to developers for more than 10 years now. It’s been available to the public for 9 years as of this summer. It’s time to burn out and/or fade away. People will complain that there are still valid reasons to have a Win2k system hanging around due to some compatibility issues with newer software, which I’m personally ok with. The problem I have is when these people insist on also being able to run the most current versions of non-OS software. If you’re one of these people, listen carefully to what I’m about to say next:
YOU DON’T NEED TO RUN THE LATEST FIREFOX IF YOU’RE STILL RUNNING A 9-YEAR-OLD OS. Period.
And I honestly don’t think this would be an issue. Sure, while there are people around like Steve Gibson who are so paranoid that they won’t run an OS that they haven’t personally combed through every single bit of code with their own hands, they are extremely few. And these are the same people who probably aren’t running Firefox at all, anyway, let alone trying to run the absolute latest and greatest version (which would probably run like a dog as it is, since any hardware that’s still running 2k on a desktop is likely at least 5 generations behind today’s market).
So, yes, I think it’s pretty simple. If people can’t even allow themselves to be bothered with keeping their systems updated. SP3 for XP was released to the public 50 weeks ago. Anyone who hasn’t updated to it yet either has a really good reason for running older software (see my previous point), or is just plain lazy, and very likely doesn’t even run Firefox to begin with.
Now, with my point about dumping support for anything prior to Vista SP1. There are multiple facets to my argument here.
1. If you are using a computer less than 2 years old, there is almost absolutely no reason for you to still be running XP in any form. It’s old, it’s outdated, and it can’t exercize the full potential of the system for which you very likely paid pretty good money for. Stop listening to the “Hurrr… Vista is teh suck! It eats all your RAMs!” people and do some of your own research. Vista is a good OS, particularly so post-SP1. I use it personally on my primary system. The 64-bit version, which I run, is excellent, and light-years beyond the capabilities of XP64. Stop listening to Apple commercials as your only source of Vista information and do some real research. You’ll find that most of the things people complained about have either been fixed, or are a part of the system’s function that people just simply didn’t understand at first. If you’d like to know some of these arguments and my rebuttals to them, let me know, and I’ll create a separate post about it.
2. If you’re running Vista, and you haven’t updated to SP1 yet. Stop reading this and do it now. It’s ok. This post isn’t going to go anywhere. Outside of the blatant misunderstanding that was propagated during Vista’s early life, SP1 fixes many (if not all) of the legitimate problems that were in Vista at launch. SP1 is more stable, faster, and more secure than pre-SP1 Vista, and you’re only hurting yourself if you haven’t updated yet.
So here it is. Stop trying to make every software developer bend to your own will. Mozilla has been putting out a quality product that has fundamentally changed the browser market, and they’ve done it all for free. It’s about time you did them a favor and made a bit of their job just a touch less painful. By dropping support for REALLY old OS installs, it frees them to work on developing a package that is the best it truly can be. Stop holding them back. Update your system, do some research, stop purchasing/installing downgrades, and start really using TODAYs software, not the stuff you installed 8 years ago because you fear change and can’t handle something that works better and more efficiently.
Trust me, you’ll be better off.