Mozilla to Ramp up Versioning Scheme in 2011

Up until a couple of months ago, I had been using Mozilla’s Firefox Web browser since long before it even became “Firefox”. As I moved over to Chrome, I began to notice that Firefox 4.0 was beginning to take quite a number of features or aesthetic cues from Chrome, among others, and I apparently wasn’t the only one. Though it could be a blessing in disguise, Firefox isn’t quite as unique as it once was.

As 2011 progresses, that is looking to become even more true. One of my biggest gripes against Chrome is that Google releases a new “major” version way too often, and it’s simply a mockery of versioning as a whole. When Google Chrome 9.0 looks and acts like 1.0, something’s wrong. You wouldn’t move from Windows 6 to Windows 7 and expect to see no difference at all, so why are Web browsers any different?

Well, it doesn’t matter, because Mozilla looks to be taking the exact same route as Google with Firefox this year, and though Firefox 4.0 isn’t even out the door in a final form yet, Mozilla is promising Firefox 7 by the end of the year. You read that right… Firefox 7.

What on earth, Mozilla? Why not focus on the important things, and stop trying to play catch-up to Chrome where it doesn’t even matter? Am I wrong here? Are consumers so self-conscious about version numbers, that they may well be more attracted to a Chrome 9.0 than a Firefox 5.0? Perhaps Techgage should adopt a similar methodology… a new major version number after each news post!

Mozilla was originally planning on having Firefox 4 out by the end of last year, but it had to delay the release. The last release was Beta 10 but there are still probably two more betas, at least one release candidate, and of course a final build. It’s clear the company no longer thinks this model is a good one, and wants to accelerate its release cycle, much like Google did with Chrome.