Firefox/Roadmap: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:14, 24 April 2017

	Firefox 2016/17 Strategy & Roadmap
	Owner: Asa Dotzler	Updated: 2017-04-24
	Firefox is Mozilla's expression of our manifesto and mission; it represents our vision of a people-centric Web experience, as well as a platform that makes it possible to do amazing things with the Web.

Strategy

Firefox will deliver a rock solid browsing experience with world-beating customization and a first of its kind recommendation engine that gets you the content you want when you want it, whether at home or on the go.

The first major theme in support of this strategy is what we're calling "Foundational Browser." The work happening here will see Firefox match and beat the other browsers in terms of responsiveness, reliability, and overall user experience. Firefox will be the most complete and reliable browser available.

Second, Firefox will extend its lead in personalization and customization. This will happen across the browser and AMO and will include adding support for the WebExtension API, making it even easier for developers to create cross-platform extensions, and for users to discover and enable new extensions while ensuring they’re more secure.

And last but not least, Firefox will deliver the best of the web in a way that is more useful and navigable than on any other browser. With great new features like Activity Stream and Recommender, the Firefox Context Graph will deliver the right web page, always.

Priorities

Q4’16
In the fourth quarter we will be doing R&D for the Firefox recommendation engine and prototyping recommendation apps, including a New Mobile Experience focused on location. We will continue to roll out E10S to more Firefox release users, focusing on users with add-ons.

Q1’17
The first quarter of 2017 will see a focus on security with a warning when password fields appear on insecure pages. We will also be disabling all NPAPI plug-ins with the exception of Flash. XP and Vista users will be migrated to the ESR release and we'll be delivering a great new set of Web platform features including WebGL2, Web Assembly, and CSS Grid.

Q2'17
The second quarter will focus on security and stability with the release of a hardened E10S sandbox and our first release of E10S multiple content processes. Q2 will also see the release of our first 64-bit aware installer that helps users of Windows 64-bit systems get 64-bit Firefox. Finally, Web Extensions in Firefox will reach reasonable parity with Chrome.

H2'17
The second half of 2017 will be focused on delivering to our release audience the first Context Graph feature, a test pilot validated Activity Stream replacing the home page. We will also be migrating 64-bit capable Windows users to 64-bit Firefox. Add-ons will see new theme support and an updated discovery and install process at AMO. Finally, we should see dramatic performance gains thanks to the components of the Quantum project.

Details

Foundation

Responsiveness
- (Firefox 52) E10S enabled for all users except those with extensions marked mpc=false
- (Firefox 54) E10S enabled for all users
- (Firefox 57) Quantum components bring silky smooth browsing

Reliability & Security
- (Firefox 52) Plug-in Free: Plugins other than Flash will be disabled by default
- (Firefox 53) E10S multiple (4) content processes enabled for all users.
- (Firefox 53) Compositor process enabled
- (Firefox 55) Stub installer will become 64-bit aware
- (Firefox 5?) Migrate existing 64-bit Windows users to 64-bit Firefox
- (Firefox 54) Level 2 security sandbox for Firefox
- (Firefox 57) Support ships for USB HID U2F devices

Feature Completeness, Parity, and Polish
- (Firefox 51-52) Display insecure warnings for http sites that include password fields
- (Firefox 52) XP/Vista users migrated to the Extended Support Release (ESR)
- (Firefox 52) Captive portal detection for easier access to Wi-Fi hotspots
- (Firefox 53) Alternative "compact" themes in light and dark (they are listed in "Add-ons" -> "Themes")
- (Firefox 54) Page Shot experiment moves from test pilot into the product
- (Firefox 55) Preferences reorganization

Customization

Web Extension API and beyond
- (Firefox 53) Web Extension API will reach parity with Chrome
- (Firefox 55) Web Extension installation permissions
- (Firefox 55) Out of Process Web Extensions
Add-on Discovery
- (Firefox ??) Update AMO and Firefox to simplify add-on discovery and use

Context Graph

Activity Stream
- (Firefox 56) Activity Stream replaces New Tab Page
Recommender
- Prox mobile app, a recommendation prototype

Calendar

quarter	release date	release
Q2	2017-04-18	Firefox 53
Q2	2017-06-13	Firefox 54
Q3	2017-08-08	Firefox 55
Q4	2017-10-03	Firefox 56
Q4	2017-11-14	Firefox 57
Q1	2018-01-16	Firefox 58

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 * Responsiveness
-** (Firefox 52) E10S enabled for all users except those with extensions marked mpc=false
+** (Firefox 52) [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Multiprocess_Firefox E10S] enabled for all users except those with extensions marked mpc=false
 ** (Firefox 54) E10S enabled for all users
 ** (Firefox 57) Quantum components bring silky smooth browsing
@@ Line 56: / Line 56: @@
 ** (Firefox 52) XP/Vista users migrated to the Extended Support Release (ESR)
 ** (Firefox 52) Captive portal detection for easier access to Wi-Fi hotspots
-** (Firefox 53) Alternative "compact" themes in light and dark
+** (Firefox 53) Alternative "compact" themes in light and dark (they are listed in "Add-ons" -> "Themes")
 ** (Firefox 54) Page Shot experiment moves from test pilot into the product
 ** (Firefox 55) Preferences reorganization