Firefox extended support will mitigate rapid release challenges

[Concerned User]

http://arstechnica.com/business/news...challenges.ars

Firefox 10, which is scheduled for release at the end of January, will be the first version with ESR status. A new ESR will be issued every single year, with each individual ESR receiving official support until the next ESR is made available, plus a twelve-week grace period designed for transition time between versions.

Alongside this plan, Mozilla intends to phase out official support for Firefox 3.6 in April. The 3.6 release was issued in 2010 before the transition to the rapid release cycle and aggressive automatic updates. According to statistics from StatCounter, Firefox 3.6 currently represents 4.45 percent of the global browser market. Mozilla will prompt users to upgrade when 3.6 finally gets put out to pasture later this year.