Re: Thoughts on Bug 678775

On Aug 16, 10:58 pm, Asa Dotzler <[email protected]> wrote:
> Will Peavy wrote:
> > As a user, I like the idea of this update. When I check the "About"
> > view, the first thing I want to know is - how up to date is my
> > browser?
>
> And I believe we can give you just this in a much more usable way than
> we have ever done before.
>
> The current way that we help you learn if you're up to date is that we
> give you a number.

But that's not the only use case for having the version number
in the about box.  It's also important for communicating about
the software that users are using.  For example, users reporting
a problem with a Web site may want to tell the author of the site
(or be asked by the author of the site) what version of the browser
they are using.  (And there isn't only a single version:  we have
multiple release channels, and we frequently throttle large updates
out gradually.)  Likewise for users seeking support, either through
official channels or through family and friends (who may not know
about about:support, but may well know enough to solve the
problem).  The information for users to communicate what version
of software they're using should be readily available where power
users (those who are going to be doing support for their frends, or
getting bugs on their Web sites) expect it to be so that they can
at least tell the users they need that information from where to look
for it.

-David