Mozilla has released version 6 of Firefox, exactly on time. It is a rapid release cycle release with few changes that would be able to blow your socks off. But it appears that Mozilla has found its groove, while it has developed a strange new ability to pick battles it can’t win.

It is time to update Firefox again. Version 6 arrives with a new web console for developers, new media API support as well as pre-fixed websockets and a faster Panorama feature. Users can automatically upgrade via the About Firefox menu or simply agree to a prompt that should pop up sometime in the next few days.

I have to admit that I could live without the Firefox 6 update and that I am waiting much more for the memory improvements in Firefox 7 and the likely UI upgrades in Firefox 8. However, there is a piece of news that is much more significant than all those fancy new features. It appears as if Mozilla has reached a point where it can stop the market share bleeding.

According to StatCounter, Firefox’ share was 27.81% in the first half of the month, which was down just slightly from 27.95% in July. Google is still gaining and was up from 22.14% to 22.87% and Microsoft has taken a considerable hit in August: IE’s market share dropped from 42.45% to 41.9% in just 15 days. Both IE and Google are playing with new record market share numbers: Microsoft dropped as low as 40.22% over the weekend, while Google exceeded 24% for the first time and is likely to break through the 23% mark overall for August. Over the weekend, Google was just about 3.5 market share points away from Mozilla. It will be critical for Mozilla that it is now leveraging the tools of its rapid release cycle process – such as smoother user experience transitions – to aim for share growth again.

We also feel that some changes in Firefox are merely distractions that may allocate its resources in the wrong places and result in battles that Mozilla should not fight. An example was the discussion surrounding business users and the decision to drop the version number from endusers’ eyes is another example. While version numbers will not disappear, they will simply be removed from the Help|About Firefox window. Mozilla says that endusers really don’t have to know what version of Firefox they are running. Our question: Why is that? Is there a reason to hide the number in this place, especially if it is listed in another place? If Mozilla removes the version number from a familiar place and starts playing games hiding it, wouldn’t that introduce unnecessary confusion?

It won’t, says Mozilla. According to Firefox product manager Asa Dotzler, the version number doesn’t matter, because Firefox should not be viewed as a browser or as a common piece of software. “We’re removing the Firefox version number from all of the common user-visible locations because we don’t believe that users need to know what version they’re on,” Dotzler wrote in a discussion thread. We’re moving to a model that’s more like the Web. What version of Gmail are you on?”

In the end, a version number loses its significance on the web. From Dotzler’s post:

We’ve removed it from all of our marketing materials. We’re removing it from the download button on the Website. We’re removing it from how we talk to users about Firefox. We’re ending version numbers because they’re not meaningful to users (except in troubleshooting situations.) People using Firefox do need to have confidence that they’re on the latest version, though, and that’s what this feature provides. Telling the user explicitly that Firefox has checked and that she is indeed up to date is a much better way of letting the user know that she’s up to date than giving her a number she can compare with some other number on a website somewhere to figure out if she’s on the latest version.”

So, Firefox is, at least as far as versioning is concerned, like Gmail. I have to admit that I have a hard time following that model and the entire step of removing the number does not seem to be entirely conclusive, especially if the number still exists in other places. If I were pessimistic, I could say that this move is also designed to remove responsibility and accountability to deliver planned features for a certain version of the browser and blur the lines in the eye of the user.

If the version number is removed, it is Mozilla’s decision, but we don’t think that it will have a positive effect on the browser and Mozilla may be, once again, alienating a considerable portion of its users – passionate users and enthusiasts who very much care about the version number and may want to keep it in the very place it has been for 7 years. There should be no battles with users Mozilla depends on. These are battles that Mozilla cannot win.

Arguments with its most loyal users are the last thing that Mozilla needs right now.

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