14 DAY TRIAL // Mozilla's new rapid release cycle is humming along. Firefox 6 is already in Beta and testing has started on Firefox 7 which is now part of the Aurora channel.
And because Mozilla wants these fast updates to go smoothly for everyone, it's running an add-on compatibility update, which will enable add-ons, that are found to be eligible to run, in Firefox 7.
The move will give add-on developers time to update their creations, if they are determined to be incompatible with Firefox 7, until the final version of the browser lands, two months from now.
At the same time, it also means that Aurora users get to enjoy their favorite add-ons, even if they want to test the cutting edge version.
"Firefox 7 was moved to the Aurora channel a little over a week ago, and we’re preparing to run the automated compatibility upgrade for all add-ons on AMO that are already compatible with Firefox 6," Mozilla's Jorge Villalobos, who manages Mozilla's add-on developer relations, announced.
"If you want to benefit from these compatibility bumps, your add-on should have a maximum compatibility of 6.* at present. If no compatibility problems are detected, we will automatically increase it to 7.* when the validation is run," he explained.
This type of upgrade cycle is run every time a new major version lands in the Aurora channel.
Most add-ons should be fine and pass the validation tests. As such, they will work in Firefox 7 as they do in Firefox 6 and the versions before that.
However, each new Firefox version does bring some changes, which pretty much guarantees that some add-ons will not work.
For Firefox 7, Mozilla is providing a list of changes affecting add-on support, both in its "Firefox 7 for developers" page as well as in the blog post announcement. While work on Firefox 8 has only started, there are a few changes there as well that affect add-on developers.