When Internet Explorer 9 was released, Microsoft added support only to Vista and later operating systems. Internet Explorer 8 was the last version that supports in Windows XP. Microsoft has stopped support to Windows XP and security updates will be available for XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) which released in 2008, for next 2 years. Now Mozilla has announced that they are going to end the support to Windows XP and 2000 operating systems. Both are outdated but, XP is still used in old computers and as secondary OS at least some computers those who love XP. Firefox 12 will be the last version which supports in Windows 2000, Windows XP RTM (Release to manufacturing) and SP1. Windows XP SP2 will be the minimum requirement to run Firefox 13. The company also reiterated that it will stop serving security updates for 2010's Firefox 3.6 in April.
Firefox 12, set to ship April 24 and due to be replaced by the next edition on June 4, will be the last that supports the three older Windows.
"This support change allows us to significantly improve Firefox performance on Windows by using a more modern build system," Mozilla said in a
Friday post
to a company blog.
The decision wasn't a surprise: Mozilla has been discussing the change for
at least three years . And the company actually pulled the trigger two months ago, when Asa Dotzler, director of Firefox, explained the firm's reasoning.
"Our developers have not been able to take advantage of new compiler features [in Visual Studio 2010] and have had to struggle to keep valuable optimizations
from breaking, including having had to back out and ultimately delay some important new features like SPDY," said
Dotzler in late January
. "Our users have suffered a slower Firefox than would be possible as both direct and indirect results of moving to a more modern compiler."
SPDY, for "speedy," is a Google-crafted protocol that promises faster and more secure page loading. Mozilla added support for SPDY in Firefox 11, the March
13 release.
Windows 2000 fell off Microsoft's support list in mid-2010, and XP and XP SP1 were dumped in 2004 and 2006 respectively.
Microsoft doesn't even support Windows XP SP2.
Mozilla advised Firefox users still running Windows XP RTM or XP SP1 to migrate to a newer operating system. Windows XP SP3
is a free upgrade and urged Windows 2000 customers to do the same.
On Friday, Mozilla also repeated what it had announced the week before, that Firefox 3.6 is nearing support retirement.
Firefox 3.6.28, which Mozilla shipped March 13, is the last planned update for the two-year-old browser. Between now and April 24, Mozilla will only release
fixes to 3.6 if developers uncover critical security or stability issues.
Mozilla advised Firefox 3.6 users to upgrade to the current edition, or failing that, to
Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release)
, the build that targets enterprises leery of upgrading browsers every six weeks.
Because Firefox ESR receives only security updates during its 54-week lifespan -- the first edition is based on Firefox 10, and won't appreciably change
until November 2012 -- Windows 2000, XP RTM and XP SP1 users can continue to run it through early February 2013.
When come to accessibility, there are many of visually impaired people are still using Firefox 3.6 series and Windows XP together or either one. Don’t worry! Firefox 3.6 users can upgrade to the latest version Firefox 11.0. This version is accessible with JAWS 12 and above or NVDA. Those who are using Webvisum extension can use it in latest versions of firefox. For XP users, you can update to XP service pack 3 or Windows 7. Not only the end of firefox or Internet Explorer, most of the companies will stop support for XP in near future. Upgrade to Windows 7 is recommended. Popular screen readers like JAWS, NVDA, Windows Eyes can be installed in Windows 7 platform. There is no accessibility issue. Move ahead and enjoy!
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