
Web browser versions are dead – automatic updates is the future - rondevera
http://robertnyman.com/2011/04/14/web-browser-versions-are-dead-automatic-updates-is-the-future/
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protomyth
My big problem with this is that many web service vendors (particularly in
education) do not play well with the latest version of any browser. I
currently need to keep IE8 on the lab machines for all the student online
class software. We actually delayed our WinXP to W7 jump because it took so
long to clear anything over IE6.

For consumers, this is fine, but for IT this is a nightmare. I really don't
want to come into work and find all of the machines updated and none of the
software working.

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kjksf
The problem, however, is not the browser but web service vendors.

If workarounds for buggy web services become more painful, there will be more
pressure on those vendors to fix their software.

It's not that the pain isn't real, but the pain already exists and you can
either choose a future where more browsers are better leading to more web
services being less buggy or a future where browsers stagnate because web
services are buggy and their vendors unwilling to fix them.

~~~
protomyth
I think I want a future where we get to choose when to upgrade so as not to
disrupt the lives and education of people. I don't want to tell a classroom of
people (who pay for our service) that they cannot have class today because of
an upgrade.

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Florin_Andrei
The vast majority of non-technical users, if asked, would say "all software
should be like that."

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nimrody
What happens when the latest version _is not_ the greatest? With automatic
updates you don't get to decide when to upgrade and you usually have no way
back.

See the latest version of Skype. Google chrome also had a few less-than-
perfect versions (for OS X, at least).

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billswift
The user interface for FF4 sucks, I had to uninstall it and re-download FF3.6.
Most of the differences were merely irritating - like the right click menu
changing the places of Open in New Tab and Open in New Window, which was
totally stupid, but I could have gotten used to that. The one change I could
not do without and could find no way to restore was their eliminating the
Recent Pages button - some sites take forever to click back through with the
Back button alone.

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samfoo
Click and hold on the back button brings up the list. This works in chrome
too.

~~~
IChrisI
Right-clicking on the back/forward buttons also works, as it did in Firefox
3.6.

I wish Chrome supported middle-clicking to open a previous page in a new tab.

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spartas
From the article: "But with the advent of IE10, Firefox is the only web
browser who haven’t reached a two-digit version..."

Safari, anyone?

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locopati
That's a great idea in general. Not so much in a corporate environment where
there may be a piece of older software that is still in use but that no longer
requires active development.

In that case, you want to lock the version - you don't want it to suddenly
break because of a browser update and don't want to devote additional dev time
to a finished product that was working just fine.

It'd be nice if browsers automatically updated but could also be forced to run
as a specific version (e.g. IE8's Developer Tools lets you run as IE7). Like
version control for software (when loading website X, run as browser v2).

~~~
maxxxxx
I think the compatibility with older browsers has always been a cheap excuse.
It shouldn't be too difficult to have a setting that forces certain URLs to
run as a specific browser version as you mentioned.

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melling
I installed both Chrome and Firefox from their respective dev channels and
they're on auto update. A few hundred thousand alpha testers could really
help.

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englishVoodoo
As a new Windows user, the hassle of updating software often make me sit on
older versions and I can see why people use older versions of internet
explorer for example, which makes my work writing html/css a pain some times.

I'd welcome automatic updating. Should make the web more up to date.

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agentultra
At least make sure users can turn it off.

There are a plethora of reasons why someone would not want the absolute newest
version of a browser every time a developer releases a single patch to the
code.

Users should have control over their own computers and what they install.

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jim_h
I'll take automatic updates IF there is an option to prompt before update.

I get daily builds of Chrome (under Ubuntu) and 1 day there was an update that
caused Chrome not to start up. After that day I don't blindly do updates if I
really need the browser to work.

