As many of you will know the rapid release cycle of Mozilla’s Firefox browser has made it challenging for a lot of web applications and add-ons to stay current and compatible. Eloqua has been no exception to this and to date we have followed a conservative approach by ensuring that any new version was fully tested through our entire release cycle prior to stating that we support it. However, with a new browser being released every 6 weeks this means that we are chronically behind in our stated support by 2 or 3 versions. We don’t like having to ask people to downgrade and turn off automatic updates and we’re pretty sure you’re not too crazy about it either.
To address this we are adopting an open approach for Firefox support. In other words, when Mozilla releases a new version of Firefox we will support it out of the gate. What does support mean? It means taking your calls, logging any issues and addressing them appropriately based on their priority and severity. If we are finding a new version creates considerable issues we will certainly let you know about it so you can choose whether to upgrade or hold off for a bit. We'll also be letting you know when each new version has been fully tested across the platform by our QA group and certified as compatible.
Keeping current on support also means we need to start dropping support for older versions of Firefox and encouraging clients to upgrade. For example, a large number of you are still using 3.6.x presumably because that was the stable, supported version for a long time. The more recent versions have much to offer in terms speed and security advancements that will improve your overall experience, as well as capabilities the older ones don't have that we will wish to leverage in the application going forward.
So, to recap:
- Starting immediately we will be supporting the latest versions of Firefox as they are released. I am using 10.0.1 myself (see screenshot below)
- We'll let you know when a version completes comprehensive regression testing across the whole platform. FF 6.0 is the most recent version to be fully certified.
- Starting in April we will be dropping support for older versions as newer ones come out to encourage people to upgrade. This will be communicated in advance and with the release notes.
Finally, we know that Firefox is not everyone’s first browser of choice and are actively looking to extend support to other modern browsers. Look for more discussion on this topic soon.
Cheers,
Stephen Streich
