# Firefox: Did I just read that right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 20, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-did-i-just-read-that-right/619359 "2012-04-20T03:09:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-did-i-just-read-that-right/619359/1 "2012-04-20T03:09:09Z")
“You will be prompted one more time before being automatically updated.” Wow. Not even Microsoft FORCED their users to update like that, even if it DID cause them huge headaches. Do they really mean that literally? Will they really MAKE me update to FF11 soon? If so, I’m halfway considering switching, even though I have no idea to what… ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-did-i-just-read-that-right/619359/2 "2012-04-20T03:26:52Z")
Well, you can switch to Chrome, which won’t bug you at all…it will just silently update (if necessary) every time you start your browser. In general, I’m of the same mind as you; I’ll upgrade my software when and if I decide to, thankyouverymuch…but with my browser (Chrome) I’ve gotten comfortable with the idea that it’s always ‘up-to-date’, and rarely if ever have I experienced any problems because of an update. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-did-i-just-read-that-right/619359/3 "2012-04-20T04:08:27Z")
And what is it with FireFox updates a gazillion times a week anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-did-i-just-read-that-right/619359/4 "2012-04-20T04:46:31Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > And what is it with FireFox updates a gazillion times a week anyway? It wants a higher version number than the competition ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-did-i-just-read-that-right/619359/5 "2012-04-20T04:47:19Z")
Yeah I get them a lot but my gmail add-on (plugin? whichever) won’t work with the newer versions so I don’t update. It asks me every damn day. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-did-i-just-read-that-right/619359/6 "2012-04-20T07:55:33Z")
There are probems with the way Firefox is handled now, but this really isn’t one of them. Just like every other piece of software I know of, you can [shut off automatic updates](http://www.technipages.com/enabledisable-automatic-updates-in-firefox.html). Despite what is said above, this is no different from how Microsoft works: if you don’t disable automatic updates, they will be forced on you. Also, the latest version of Firefox should have stopped with the addon breaking problem, assuming the addon is for Firefox 4 or greater. If you really need a Firefox 3.x addon, you can download the addon [Disable Add-on Compatibility Checks](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/checkcompatibility/?src=search). Though be warned that there’s a reason such old addons aren’t enabled by default: 99% of them no longer work. (My previous suggestion to use the addon Add-on Compatibility Reporter no longer works for this purpose, due to developer fiat. Due to this, I suggest uninstalling that addon unless you actually use it to report addon compatibility.) ---
**Author:** ![SunSandSuffering](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@SunSandSuffering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunSandSuffering)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-did-i-just-read-that-right/619359/7 "2012-04-20T18:12:02Z")
When I used FF3 I had a “New Tab” navigation button, it’s been gone a long time. I know I can just click the “+” thing but I liked the symmetry with “New Window” and “New Tab” next to each other… ;-(