This February Google released Chrome 98, closely followed by Mozilla releasing Firefox 97, while currently Microsoft Edge is also at version 98. Soon they will all hit version 100, and that is a compatibility issue for which the three major browsers they are trying to find solutions before it happens as it could break literally thousands of websites.
Websites must identify your browser through a ” user agent ” string , which browsers send in HTTP headers to servers, that includes the browser name, major version number, and minor version number.
So far the major version number has only maxed out in the double digits and adding a third seems to be a big enough problem that Mozilla and Chrome developers have been testing the effects before the new updates come in. the next few months.
Internet “break” background
In the application of these version updates, which are expected in March for both Chrome and Edge, followed by Firefox in May, multiple options are being considered so that the impact is mitigated or finally not noticed. Fortunately, this is not the first time that similar cases have happened, which can help avoid big dramas, since companies have already been trying alternative solutions.
Thousands of websites are at risk of becoming inaccessible.
When browsers first hit version 10 a little over 12 years ago , many problems with the user agent string libraries were discovered, as the major version number went from one digit to two.
Also, something similar happened with the “Y2K” or “Effect 2000” , which made the year 2000 indistinguishable from 1900 for some computers. It seemed like the end of the world and ended up being something quite light. Anticipating the future, you can even see how this numbering change would affect the main websites today, with problems on websites such as HBO, Bethesda or even Yahoo would have compatibility problems with version 100. In Spain, Banco Santander has to be watch out for everything to be resolved, as the most notable case.
Freeze and lie as temporary solutions
Browsers have different formats for user agent strings, and “some parsing libraries may have hard-coded assumptions or bugs that don’t take three-digit major version numbers into account.”
Check user agent version 100
However, Firefox and Chrome have plans to avoid catastrophic problems. Firefox, as detailed in a blog post on their blog , will either just lie to browsers about their version number or lock the browser to version 99 for everyone while they try other methods.
Chrome, for its part, plans to freeze the major version number at 99 and then sneak the actual version number into the minor part of the user agent tag.
Mozilla has recommended to all web developers to test the operation of their servers with versions 100 of Chrome and Firefox before their release through the tools that both companies have already released.
