Firefox/4/Beta: Difference between revisions

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(updated schedule to match reality)
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= Goals =
= Goals =
We have some. They are to be crisply defined!
* more than 2M users running Firefox 4 Beta prior to launch
* engaged beta audience submitting tweet-like feedback through product
* beta audience that matches our general user audience demographics
* frequent milestones to gather feedback throughout development cycle


You can also read about the [[Firefox/4/Beta/Background|background]] for this program.
You can also read about the [[Firefox/4/Beta/Background|background]] for this program.
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| Tuesday, August 24 ''(+4 days)''
| Tuesday, August 24 ''(+4 days)''
| Ship fourth revision of beta, offer as major upgrade to branch beta channel users
| Ship fourth revision of beta, offer as major upgrade to branch beta channel users
|-
| API & Feature Freeze
| September 1, 2010
|
| Finalize all interfaces, no more API changes on mozilla 2.0, no new feature work
|-
| String Freeze
| September 1, 2010
|
| Finalize all string work, no semantic changes to strings
|-
|-
| Ship Beta r5
| Ship Beta r5
Line 57: Line 50:
|-
|-
| Ship Beta r6
| Ship Beta r6
|  
| n/a
| Tuesday, September 14
| Tuesday, September 14
| Extra beta inserted. Only included 2 fixes for regressions.
| Extra beta inserted. Only included 2 fixes for regressions.
Line 63: Line 56:
| Ship Beta r7
| Ship Beta r7
| Friday, Sept 17
| Friday, Sept 17
| ''early November''
| This will be the feature/string/API freeze milestone
|-
| API & Feature Freeze
| b7 code freeze
|  
|  
| Ship seventh revision of beta.
| Finalize all interfaces, no more API changes on mozilla 2.0, no new feature work
|-
| String Freeze
| b7 code freeze
|
| Finalize all string work, no semantic changes to strings
|-
|-
| Ship Beta r8
| Ship Beta r8
| Friday, October 1
| Friday, Nov 12
|
| Ship eighth revision of beta.
|-
| Ship Beta r9
| Friday, Nov 26
|
| Ship ninth revision of beta
|-
| Ship Beta r10
| Friday, Dec 10
|  
|  
| Ship eight revision of beta.
| Ship tenth revision of beta
|-
|-
| Freeze
| Ship RC
| October 15, 2010
| ''early 2011''
|  
|  
| Complete work on all blocking2.0:final+ bugs, generate release candidates
| Complete work on all blocking2.0:final+ bugs, generate release candidates
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*[http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/beta/features/ Learn more about the features]
*[http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/beta/features/ Learn more about the features]
*[http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/beta/feedback/ Give us feedback]
*[http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/beta/feedback/ Give us feedback]
*[http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/4.0b5/releasenotes/ Release Notes (Beta 5)]
*[http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/4.0b6/releasenotes/ Release Notes (Beta 6)]
 
= Beta Features =
The initial beta must be stable enough, and compelling enough, to convince users to switch to it as a daily use browser. It must also contain at least the initial expression of code changes which may have a large impact on:
* user experience
* web compatibility
* add-on compatibility
 
== Beta r1 ==
* <b>[[https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=blocking2.0:beta1+ beta1 blockers ]]
* [[https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=blocking2.0:%22?%22  beta1 nom's ]]</b>
 
{| class="fullwidth-table sortable"
|- style="background:#efefef"
! '''Summary'''
! '''Owner'''
! '''Priority'''
! '''References'''
! '''Status'''
! '''Notes'''
|-
| [[Firefox/Projects/New_Theme|Theme & UI (XP)]]
| shorlander
| P1
| {{bug|544820}}
| {{ok|}}
|
|-
| [[Firefox/Projects/New_Theme|Theme & UI (Vista)]]
| shorlander
| P1
| {{bug|544820}}
| {{risk|}}
| not expecting to be able to draw in title bar ({{bug|513162}}) until week of June 21; can we speed that up?
|-
| [[Firefox/Projects/New_Theme|Theme & UI (Win7)]]
| shorlander
| P1
| {{bug|544820}}
| {{risk|}}
| not expecting to be able to draw in title bar ({{bug|513162}}) until week of June 21; can we speed that up?
|-
| [[Firefox/Projects/Tab_Matches_in_Awesomebar|Switch-to-Tab]]
| Unfocused
| P2
| {{bug|480350}}
| {{done|}}
|
|-
| [[Firefox/Projects/Extension_Manager_Redesign|Add-Ons Manager Redesign]]
| Mossop
| P1
| {{bug|461973}}
| {{done|}}
| also includes [[Firefox/Projects/Extension_Manager_API|EM API rewrite]]
|-
| :visited privacy fix
| dbaron
| P1
| {{bug|147777}}
| {{done|}}
|
|-
| HTML5 Parser
| hsivonen
| P1
| {{bug|373864}}
| {{done|}}
| any outstanding regressions/blockers?
|-
| Web Sockets
| smaug
| P2
| {{bug|472529}}
| {{done|}}
|
|-
| Out of Process Plugins
| bsmedberg, josh (OSX)
| P1
| {{bug|478976}}
| {{ok|}}
| might still have two icons when a plugin starts
|-
| [[Firefox/Projects/Console|Web Console]]
| ddahl
| P2
| {{bug|529086}}
| {{ok|}}
|
|-
| [[Firefox/Projects/Inspector|Web Inspector]]
| robcee
| P2
| {{bug|547453}}
| {{risk|}}
|
|-
| Retained Layers
| roc
| P1
| {{bug|564991}}
| {{risk|}}
| still under review
|-
| Graphics HW Acceleration
| joe
| P1
| D2D: {{bug|569166}}
| {{miss|}}
| D3D9 acceleration for some things done, D2D not done, needs Layers to land first
|-
| [https://intranet.mozilla.org/Labs/TestPilot_Planning/FX_Beta Test Pilot]
| jinghua
| P1
| {{bug|tbd}}
| {{ok|}}
| under review, also looking at how to package it
|-
| Add-On Compatibility Reporter
| fligtar
| P2
| {{bug|tbd}}
| {{ok|}}
| blocked on 565610
|-
| OSX 10.6 build symbols
| ted
| P2
| {{bug|567424}} {{bug|558947}}
| {{risk|}}
|
|-
| Multi-process crash reporting on mac
| nobody
| P2
| {{bug|559228}}
| {{risk|}}
|
|-
| Finish calc() and CSS transitions
| dbaron
| ?
| {{bug|363249}}, {{bug|537142}}
| {{risk|}}
| probably doesn't need to be in the first beta; listed together because finishing transitions is easier if it can depend on calc()
|}
 
== Beta Future ==
(coming soon, but basically everything else that's not in the above list)
 
= Feedback Collection Mechanisms  =
 
{| style="width: 477px; height: 370px;" class="fullwidth-table sortable"
|- style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(239, 239, 239);"
| '''Mechanism'''
| '''Feedback On'''
| '''Channel'''
| <span style="font-weight: bold;">Priority</span><br>
| '''Owner'''
| '''Status'''
|-
| [https://intranet.mozilla.org/Labs/TestPilot_Planning/FX_Beta Test Pilot]
| Performance, Design, Surveys. W/ user demographic info.
| Bundled
| Beta r1
| Jinghua
| {{ok|}}
|-
| Surveys
| Design, Customer Sat., Messaging, Education
| Test Pilot or Web
| Beta r1
| LMesa
| {{ok|}}
|-
| Beta website
| N/A
| N/A
| Beta r1
| LMesa
| {{ok|}}
|-
| Add-On Compatibility Reporter
| Add-On Compatability
| Beta Site/AMO/Bundled?
| Beta r1
| Fligtar
| blocked on 565610
|-
| SUMO
| Web Compat., UI, User Education
| SUMO / Beta site
| Beta r2+
| Cheng
|
|-
| [[Firefox/Input|Input]] <br>
| Web Compat., Customer Sat., Add-On Compat.
| Bundled
| Beta r1
| aakashd
| {{done|}}
|-
| Bugzilla
| Specific Bugs
| BMO/Beta Site
| Beta r1
| &nbsp;?
|
|-
| Crash Reporter
| Stability
| Bundled
| Beta r1
|
| [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=559228 mac blocked on bug 559228]
|-
| Twitter/FB
| Customer Sat, Messaging, User Education
| Beta Site
| Beta r1
| LMesa
| {{ok|}}
|-
| Forums (UserVoice, for developers)
| Web Compat., Customer Sat.
| MDN, Beta Site
| Beta r1
| LMesa/ CBlizzard
| {{ok|}}
|}
 
= Beta Outreach Program =
== Beta R1 ==
=== Marketing ===
* Beta site core, aimed @ developers
** 4 pages
*** Home Page/Download Page
*** Features Page  (what we have and what's coming down the line --sync, account manager).
*** Feedback page
*** First Run page
=== Promotion ===
* Developer Feature screencasts/demos
* Ribbon Promotion of Test Pilot (after release of betav1)
**Sent to Fx4 Beta users one week into the beta.
* FB Post for Test Drivers
* MDN
**Promo on MDN
* Labs Post b/c of Test Pilot
**Promo on labs website
* Add-ons promotion b/c of new Add-ons manager (TBD)
**Promo on AMO
 
=== PR ===
* FAQs
*Blog Post (from Mike B)
 
=== L10N ===
* Localization of beta likely in 10-15 most active locales
**Indonesia id
**Brazil pt-BR
**Germany de
**India
**Vietnam
**United Kingdom en-GB
**Philippines (no locale)
**Malaysia (no locale)
**Russia ru
**Poland pl
**Italy it
**China  zh-CN, zh-TW
**Japan ja
**Spain es-ES
**Turkey
**Argentina es-AR
* L10N of Surveys, Feedback channels (likely)
 
== Beta R2 and Beyond==
=== Marketing ===
* Creative Campaign
* Beta site content for mainstream users added
** FAQ
** What's new page
** Features Page (more consumer content)
** Feedback Page
** New First Run Page
** Spread the Word page
** Multimedia Page (for videos/screencasts, but only if needed)
=== Promotion ===
* "Invitations" to use the Beta
* FB Posts to General FB pages
* Campus Reps
* Promos on "What's New" pages.
* Affiliate Buttons
* Spread Firefox
** Home Page Promo
* Email Program
* Dubbable General Video (for l10n--V3?)
* Screencasts for new developer and user facing features
* Labs
** Promo
* AMO
** Promo
 
=== PR ===
* Reviewer's Guide (Abridged)
* Blog Post(s) from Mike B
=== L10N ===
*L10N of beta site in 10-15 locales, with others joining as we roll through the beta (likely)  (V2/V3)

Revision as of 18:53, 27 October 2010

The Firefox 4 Beta aims to engage 1M-4M users in an interactive process through which frequent updates are evaluated by a representative set of web users and their feedback shapes the direction of future development updates.

We will collect feedback through a variety of in-product and out-of-product mechanisms, and communicate the goals of each beta revision to users as it is delivered to them.

Goals

  • more than 2M users running Firefox 4 Beta prior to launch
  • engaged beta audience submitting tweet-like feedback through product
  • beta audience that matches our general user audience demographics
  • frequent milestones to gather feedback throughout development cycle

You can also read about the background for this program.

Milestones

Milestone Expected Actual Notes
Branch In time for b5 Stabilize mozilla-central and create a mozilla-2.0 branch for Firefox 4
Ship Beta r1 Thursday, June 24 July 6 (+12 days) Ship first revision of beta
Ship Beta r2 Friday, July 23 Tuesday, July 27 (+4 days) Ship second revision of beta
Ship Beta r3 Friday, August 6 Wednesday, August 11 (+5 days) Ship third revision of beta
Ship Beta r4 Friday, August 20 Tuesday, August 24 (+4 days) Ship fourth revision of beta, offer as major upgrade to branch beta channel users
Ship Beta r5 Friday, Sept 3 Tuesday, September 7 (+4 days) Ship fifth revision of beta. (Feature and string freeze was moved to beta 7.)
Ship Beta r6 n/a Tuesday, September 14 Extra beta inserted. Only included 2 fixes for regressions.
Ship Beta r7 Friday, Sept 17 early November This will be the feature/string/API freeze milestone
API & Feature Freeze b7 code freeze Finalize all interfaces, no more API changes on mozilla 2.0, no new feature work
String Freeze b7 code freeze Finalize all string work, no semantic changes to strings
Ship Beta r8 Friday, Nov 12 Ship eighth revision of beta.
Ship Beta r9 Friday, Nov 26 Ship ninth revision of beta
Ship Beta r10 Friday, Dec 10 Ship tenth revision of beta
Ship RC early 2011 Complete work on all blocking2.0:final+ bugs, generate release candidates

Firefox 4 Beta FAQ

Q: When will Firefox 4 be available? A: Firefox 4 is currently in beta. To become a Firefox 4 beta tester, please visit http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/beta/ .The Firefox 4 beta software will update regularly so you can test new features or changes, and will eventually be updated to the final release of Firefox 4. We are excited to receive your feedback and look forward to hearing from you!

Q: Why does Firefox look different than it used to? A: We updated the default look of Firefox to make it easier to focus on Web content and easier to control the tools in your Web browser. Also, we think it’s prettier looking. This change is on Windows and Mac only. Detailed blog posts explain what we did to streamline the interface and why Tabs are on Top in Firefox 4.

Q: Can I still customize the user interface? A: Of course! The Firefox UI remains completely customizable. You can switch the locations of tabs, whether or not a menu bar, bookmark bar or status bar is visible.

Q: How did stability improve in Firefox 4 Beta? A: We hate crashes. When Firefox crashes, we try to get you back on your feet as quickly as possible, but we’d much rather you not crash in the first place. Mozilla recognizes that third-party plugins provide important functionality in many of today’s websites. At the same time, plugins can lead to problems for users as they browse. With the ability to alert users when they have out of date plugins, and now crash protection on all operating systems, Firefox allows users to experience all the content they love without any of the hassles.

Q: How does Firefox 4 Beta protect my privacy? A: Firefox puts your privacy first. Firefox 4 fixes flaws in the CSS Web standard that allowed your browser history to be exposed. Future releases will provide easy to use tools that let you control your privacy.

Q: Is the Firefox 4 Beta safe to test? A: Yes! Mozilla developers have been using Firefox 4 preview builds as their primary Web browser for months.

Q: My existing Add-Ons don’t work with Firefox 4 Beta. What can I do? A: You can install the Add-On Compatibility Reporter and test your Add-Ons!

Q: Is Firefox 4 available in my language? A: Firefox 4 Beta is currently available in 23 languages and we will add more soon.

Q: Where can I get a quick overview of Firefox 4? A: We’ve created a Firefox 4 Beta Features page: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/beta/features. This is the best place to learn all about the exciting new and enhanced features in Firefox 4. You can also get a guided video tour of Firefox 4 Beta 1 and see the new features in action.

Q: Where can I see some cool demos of Firefox 4? A: You can always check out http://hacks.mozilla.org

Q: How can I give feedback on my experience with Firefox 4 Beta? A: Using the Feedback button in the upper right corner of the browser. Tell us anytime something makes you happy or sad!

Q: What is the Feedback Add-On? A: Firefox 4 Beta comes with the Feedback Add-on which adds a button in the upper right corner. You can use this to provide instant feedback at any time. You will also be notified about user studies (run by Mozilla Test Pilot) which collect information about how you use Firefox, but not which websites you visit. You have control over your participation, and can choose to opt out of any study, or see what data has been collected. You will be asked before any data is sent to Mozilla, and that data is subject to the Feedback and Test Pilot privacy policies.

Q: Will the Feedback Add-On be included in Firefox 4? A: No. It is only included with the Firefox 4 Beta.

Q: Should I expect Firefox 4 to look just like Firefox 4 Beta? A: We expect there to be many changes between this first beta and the final release of Firefox 4. More will be added to the final release, and we can’t guarantee that everything you see in Beta 1 will make it to Firefox 4. We need your help to decide what should. Listening to our users is a vital part of the process

Q: When should we expect the next beta? A: We plan on iterating quickly, and shipping new versions of the beta every few weeks. Once you download a beta, it will automatically update whenever a new version is released.

Q: What can we expect in the next beta? Or future betas? A: We’re not even sure yet, because we never ship software until it’s ready, and we never ship beta features until they’re ready to be tested. We do know that on the horizon are things like Firefox Sync, further Javascript engine optimizations, improvements to startup time, new privacy controls, more progress on HTML5 and CSS features and of course, refinements to the look and feel of the browser.

Q: Where can I learn more about Firefox 4 Beta? A: To learn more about the Firefox 4 Beta:

Retrieved from "https://wiki.mozilla.org/index.php?title=Firefox/4/Beta&oldid=263902"