Chrome, Firefox, and Edge are about to upgrade to version 100, but this new update may well shake the internet by making many sites unavailable. We explain why.
In the coming weeks, Google’s Chrome browser, Mozilla’s Firefox browser, and Microsoft’s Edge browser will be updated to version 100. After a 97 version which emphasized the protection of personal data, browsers are currently at version 98. This new update might seem totally normal, but she could wreak havoc on the internet.
Upgrading to version 100 in the coming weeks may cause bugs or compatibility issues on some websites that are not not ready to read three-digit user-agent strings. Google, Mozilla and Firefox are therefore currently working to mitigate the impact of the update before its launch later this year.
On the same subject : Chrome on Windows is now 25% faster says Google
Browser version 100 could crash the internet
In August 2021, Mozilla ran a series of tests to determine if three-digit version numbers could cause issues, and found thata small number of websites were not displaying or not working properly. Among the sites impacted are: Yahoo, Slack, Daimler, Bethesda or even HBO Go. In most of Mozilla’s tests, websites indicated that the browser was not supported or had problems displaying the user interface on certain parts of the sites.
The various players in the market are therefore implementing different strategies to mitigate the impact of version 100 on the stability of websites. Firefox will be able to fix the problem site by sitewhile Chrome has a backup option that will flag an old version 99 user-agent if any issues are found.
For some, it might remind you of the infamous year 2000 bug and the abandonment of Windows 9 by Microsoft. Indeed, this version would have caused conflicts with other existing versions, including Windows 95 and Windows 98. Chrome, Firefox and Edge should move to version 100 around April.
Source: TechRadar
