RSSFirefox 1.1 Scrapped, 1.5 Due in Sept
By Ed Oswald | Published July 22, 2005, 11:59 AM
The Mozilla Foundation will scrap Firefox 1.1, and instead focus on version 1.5 of the popular alternative browser, lead Firefox engineer Ben Goodger said earlier this week. The change reflects the amount of bug fixes and new features that will be included in the release.
"We've made some major improvements to the Firefox application, especially in the update and extension systems that warrant more than a minor version bump," Mozilla's Asa Dotzler said.
"Calling it 1.1 would suggest to most users that this was a minor update when in fact it is quite major and all 1.0 users really should move forward for a much improved product."
Goodger reiterated Dotzler's comments. "Nothing is scrapped, this is just a version number realignment. Given the feature content of what we were going to call 1.1 -- more than 12 months of new Gecko features including SVG, Canvas, etc., many application functional enhancements, this felt more like a 1.5 to everyone than a 1.1."
The updated roadmap now calls for a beta release in August followed by the full release in September of this year. Goodger wrote in the updated roadmap that version 2.0 of the software is due in the first quarter of 2006, with version 3 due by the end of 2006.
New features expected in this release are an automated update system, support for SVG graphics, and support for the creation of a custom client to use with web services.
I am excited about the new release coming. I am glad to finally get an autoupdate. I hope it will fix some of the problems that some say will plague Firefox this year. Especially the problems with Sun Java Runtime.
Score: 0
|What's the big deal here? This is purely marketing men doing their useless stuff.
Who cares if it's called 1.1, Deer Park, 1.5 or whatever. it's still the same product..
Score: 0
|being a user of Deer Park Alpha 1 and 2, there are vast improvements in the next release of FireFox, for instance one of my favorites, moveable tabs!
as for this rpavl guy, FireFox isn't beta software, and to say that software won't be taken out of beta status till it's picked up by a major software developer is a load of crap, that's like saying linux is beta software.
the jump from 1.0 to 1.5 is typical, 1.1 was a little odd, however the change to 1.5 does make a difference showing a larger jump in development.
Score: 0
|Who cares, this software is nothing but a BETA and will be a BETA until its picked up by a major software developer. Get a life people, its a web browser....
Score: 0
|Other browsers need improvements as well, but SOME browsers don't get those updates *cough-hackle*IE*cough*
Score: 0
|Like your comment. :)
Score: 0
|Another misleading or just plain erroneous post by the owners of Betanews about Firefox. The true scoop is listed below direct from MozillaZines web site and Asa Dotzler's blog.. You'd think the people running a website like this would at the very least go to the source to get their information. I suppose if they wanted it I could send them the link to MozillaZine.
Quote from MozillaZine:
ZDnet UK is reporting that the next major release of Mozilla Firefox has been delayed and will now be known as Firefox 1.5 rather than 1.1. The upgrade is now set for a September release.
The Firefox Roadmap was updated on Wednesday by lead engineer Ben Goodger. It changed the plans from calling for an increasingly unrealistic 1.1 release this month to a 1.5 release in September. Firefox 1.5 Beta is now set for an August launch.
The ZDNet article includes comments from Mozilla Europe President Tristan Nitot, who explains that the next major version of Firefox will contain more new features than originally specified. "What we have been doing is better than initially planned, so instead of calling it 1.1, we think it deserves the name of 1.5," he says. Features such as the new software update functionality and the improved extensions system were not originally intended for inclusion in the forthcoming release. In addition, Gecko has received numerous enhancements since the Firefox 1.0 branch was created and now includes support for technologies like Scalable Vector Graphics.
The Mozilla Developer News weblog has an entry about the version bump to 1.5, which confirms that the change applies to Mozilla Thunderbird too (the Thunderbird Roadmap has not yet been updated). The post also emphasises that 1.1 is not being dropped, merely renumbered (earlier today, Slashdot ran an article headlined Firefox 1.1 Scrapped). It states that this next release will keep the codename Deer Park.
The Firefox Roadmap has also been updated with tentative dates for two post-1.5 versions of Firefox. The Ocho, which is now the codename for Firefox 2.0 (before the version bump it referred to 1.5), is set for release in the first quarter of 2006 and Firefox 3.0 is scheduled for the third quarter of the same year. Previously, the two major releases after Deer Park were given vague 2006 release dates. Despite the addition of dates, planning for versions 2.0 and 3.0 is still understood to be in the early stages.
The Roadmap also uses the version number 1.4 to refer to Firefox 1.5 Beta. Asa Dotzler has a post about the change from 1.1 to 1.5, which explains that 1.4 will just be used as an internal version number, with all user-visible materials branding the release as Firefox 1.5 Beta."
End Quote
Quote from Asa Dotzler's Blog:
upcoming firefox release to be 1.5
For the last several months, we've been discussing the versioning of the upcoming Firefox release.
One major consideration in this decision was that the sheer volume of changes in the Firefox core (Gecko) made a minor .1 increment seem misleading. While it may not be obvious by looking simply at release dates, today's Gecko core of Firefox has seen nearly 16 months worth of changes compared to what shipped in Firefox 1.0. This is because we created our Gecko 1.7 branch (the branch from which Firefox 1.0 shipped) back in April of 2004. At that time, Gecko development on the trunk continued and very little of that work was carried over to the 1.7 branch to be included in Firefox 1.0.
Another consideration was that we've made some major improvements to the Firefox application, especially in the update and extension systems that warrant more than a minor version bump. Calling it 1.1 would suggest to most users that this was a minor update when in fact it is quite major and all 1.0 users really should move forward for a much improved product.
update: it seems there is some confusion about the beta naming. The beta is going to be called "Firefox 1.5 Beta" not "1.4 [anything]". The beta's "1.4" versioning is necessary for our extension and update testing but will not be a part of the "common name" for release. It will be called "Firefox 1.5 Beta".
End Quote.
Score: 0
|Quit squabbling about the name change! This is a great move for Mozilla. I always thought a roadmap to a version 1.1 release was a little odd. I could see why they'd do it, but 1.5 roadmap is much bolder. Despite the release of IE 7 coming soon, Microsoft should be worried.
Score: 0
|Another headline stolen from slashdot, complete with the mistake. Firefox 1.1 is NOT being scrapped, just renamed to version 1.5 to reflect that it's a bigger change.
In fact, this very article actually includes a quote saying it was NOT scrapped--yet the headline says the exact opposite!
Score: 0
|Yah, Paragraph 4, sentance two...
Score: 0
|Plagerism at it's worst?
Score: 0
|I don't care if it's stolen from slashdot. Slashdot has way too much news to keep up on, so I let sites like BetaNews filter it for me. :P
They coulda fixed the headline though.
Score: 0
|Whats the bleepin difference from a name being SCRAPPED to waiting to call it 1.5... Nothing. The article seems to be right it's only a parsing of words. FireFox just choose to put a diffrerent slant on it. BetaNews seems correct in saying that it was scrapped. It does not take away from FireFox in saying that. It just denotes the change. As for FireFox saying that is was only because the amount of changes. Thats misleading as well. It was more than that. Don't Drink the KoolAid...
Score: 0
|I agree! I love Firefox and feel it's worth the extra wait for the new release. I'm sure the extra time will allow for better implementation of enhancements.
Score: 0
|Me too! I'll be waiting eagerly for the new release.
Who cares about a stupid typo!? Scrapped, revised, renamed, modified...whatever!! All that really matters is that Firefox is working hard on improving an already excelent product.
Score: 0
|Awesome! This is definitely encouraging news for anyone that uses Firefox as their primary browser!
I think that the extra wait will definitely be worth it and hopefully firefox won't become too bloated with these new enhancements.
Score: 0
|On the contrary, I'm using Firefox 1.1 Alpha 2, and it's leaner than the 1.0+ series and quite stable.
Score: 0
|That is still a 1.x series m8 lol, its just an alpha test version of the upcoming releases that become final. The Deerpark releases are developer releases to test new functions, features and track bugs, it is still Firefox 1.1 ;)
And as the guy above you said, 1.5 will be worth the wait hopefully both for performance, features.
Score: 0
|Firefox 1.1 has NOT been scrapped, it's merely been renamed due to the large number of new features and an un-realistic initial timescale.
The wealth of new features since 1.0 made the 1.1 tag unrealistic, and the time needed to test everything has meant that a slip was necessary from August to September!
The Deerpark Alphas are still called 1.1, but when it gets to beta 1 release (the next one) it will be tagged 1.5. (mentions of 1.4 are for testing software update only)
Score: 0
|Ooooh! We're getting all hard and pointy over a name change.
Let's all do like it was MS delaying a release and bumping the version.
"Can't they get anything right? Can't even figure out the version number. What are they hiding in this update function? Why is vaporware news? Version 3 indeed!"
There, all better now.
Score: 0
|When they do it for the third time (delaying a release) and they really scrap functionality, yes, that would be like Microsoft. :P
For now it's another "better to wait a little more until it's properly done" Open Source policy. I don't have any problem with that while I don't have to pay for it. :)
BTW, I'm waiting for this release.
Score: 0
|Version number inflation - I'm surprised that they're playing this game. It makes them no better than the profit-motivated software manufacturers - now Mozilla is following the latest industry convention of bumping up version numbers in 0.5 increments. Whether or not there are major changes in the program, you would think that going from 1.0 to 1.1 to 1.2 would be good enough. Who are they trying to impress?
Score: 0
|