Mozilla aims to add silent updating to Firefox 10

A year after it pulled the plug on silent updates in Firefox 4, Mozilla said it will debut most of the behind-the-scenes feature by early next year.

Assuming Mozilla pulls off silent upgrading this time around, it would make Firefox only the second browser to take that route. Google’s Chrome has been the poster boy for automatic updates that remove the user from the equation and can’t be switched off.

This the main beef I have with many of Google’s products - update processes running in the background and auto-updating whenever they see fit. I have no say with Google Chrome, it updates whenever there’s a new release. I don’t get a choice, I don’t notified, I don’t get anything - it just happens. Some people may like this but it borders on malware in some countries. Back before they shutdown Google Desktop, their help site said to shut off the auto-update, just uninstall it - the whole app.

Anyways the good news is Mozilla will let me shut this off. It is my computer after all.

PS: I’ve been using Chromium without auto-updates and I’m happy with it for the most part. You really have to dig for a Mac DMG though.

#firefox #webdev