Howdy, stranger! Ready to join the community? [log in]

Mozilla may end Windows 2000, XP SP1/2 support for Firefox

Robert Hallock April 15, 2009 12:27 PM ET in Tech

firefoxDevelopment is well under way for Firefox 3.5, the next major version of the popular browser being prepared for 2010. At a recent developer forum, Mozilla software engineer Michael Conner questioned the need to support Windows 2000 and Windows XP’s early service packs.

Debate also swirled around dropping support for Windows XP entirely after citing the rich media capabilities of Windows 7 and Windows Vista. On the other hand, Mozilla’s Firefox Director Mike Beltzner seemed less than keen to either idea:

“Right now, the majority of our Windows users are still on XP, but I’m not sure it’s clear how many of those users have upgraded, or intend to upgrade, or in some cases are able to upgrade,” he said.

“And while I understand that the platform itself isn’t supported by Microsoft, I do think that keeping those XP users from being able to use Firefox will end up doing more harm (to them) than good, no matter what the intent.”

What are your thoughts? Should Mozilla kill support for Windows XP RTM, SP1, SP2 and Windows 2000?

Share |

7 Comments:

  1. Gargoyle
    We can't stop here...
    15 Apr '09, 12:47 pm

    Hopefully they keep it for SP2, I think there's a number of people who aren't on SP3.

  2. Zuntar
    Modder extraordinaire
    15 Apr '09, 12:56 pm

    Jumping the gun me thinks.

  3. MiracleManS
    Mediocrity Gets You Pears
    15 Apr '09, 1:07 pm

    I can see axing XP RTM and SP1, SP2 might be a bit much.

    I just don't think its productive for them to have to, in the most likely case, worry about holes that have been fixed in a system.

  4. Dave
    Guest
    15 Apr '09, 6:37 pm

    The day they do this is the day I use Opera. I mean, damn, did Microsoft take over Mozilla?

  5. AlexDeGruven
    I am Geek. Hear me... type?
    16 Apr '09, 2:32 pm

    2k, sure. I mean, it's been 9 years, I think it's about time. The XP family, I'm not too sure about. Though I'd like to see RTM and at least SP1 go away for so many reasons, particularly in the security vein.

    It's a tough balance to walk. By eliminating the compatibility with the older code base(s), they give themselves a lot more flexibility in what they can create, and make it easier to trim the fat. But: It's a tough decision to cut out what could still be a big population of users. But (again): How many people still running Pre SP3 XP and 2k are going to be running the latest and greatest Firefox (or much of anything, for that matter)?

  6. Tim
    Pessimistic Optimist
    18 Apr '09, 11:53 am

    Firefox should absolutely support XP! It's a completely stupid idea to even think of NOT supporting XP!

    I'm not switching off of XP until 7 has proven itself to be a really good operating system, and even then I'm not promising it'll happen right away.

  7. Snarkasm
    The Photographer.
    18 Apr '09, 12:48 pm

    They will be supporting XP, just SP3. Learn to read.

Hey, be nice. Icrontic is full of good people, we promise.

New Features on Icrontic: