According to an internal analysis, Mozilla staff estimates, based on anonymous telemetry data, that approximately 40% of its user base does not have add-ons installed on their browser.
When you install any version of Firefox, the browser asks you if it can anonymously submit usage data to Mozilla servers, for the purpose of optimizing future versions.
Due to the upcoming changes to the Firefox ecosystem that include many modifications, most of which have an impact on its add-ons, Mozilla staff wanted to know the number of users affected by the planned Firefox refresh.
Three out of five Firefox users could have problems with their add-ons in the coming future
Interpreting this data, we see that 60% of Firefox users will be affected by the company's upcoming changes to the add-ons platform.
This is not a small number, as many initially believed, and now we see why there were so many add-ons being developed against these changes.
With the introduction of a new add-ons API called WebExtensions, which is more compatible with Chrome's extension API, the addition of multi-process support via (E10S) Electrolysis, and mandatory add-on signing, upcoming Firefox updates are going to alienate a lot of users. 60%, to be more precise.
Seeing that many of Firefox's loyal supporters are stuck with the old browser due to the diverse customization options provided by the large add-ons repository, Mozilla may be making a mistake it will regret.
We are not software developers, but 60% is not an acceptable number when it comes to users who may "potentially" have problems with add-ons in the coming future.
