Lights out for Firefox 1.5

Firefox 2.0 has been out since last fall, but Mozilla has continued to support those still using version 1.5 with regular security updates.

That will stop next month, Mozilla announced Tuesday.

In a message on its Mozilla Developer Center blog, a developer named Basil wrote that Mozilla will only supply security and stability upgrades for Firefox 1.5 until mid-May, explaining, “We are focused on delivering a faster and more secure online experience. We want all of our users to benefit from the new features in Firefox 2.0.”

Mozilla security chief Window Snyder gave a pretty good overview of the organization’s patching process when I interviewed her in January.  While Microsoft typically rolls out security fixes the second Tuesday of each month, Snyder said Mozilla aims for a security update every six to eight weeks.

Ending support for Firefox 1.5 should simplify that process.