According to Mozilla there are some 12 million Firefox 3.5 users out there surfing the interwebz, but Mozilla now needs them to upgrade to a more recent release. And Mozilla has drawn up plans on how to accomplish this mass move.

Firefox 3.5 users have two options. Mozilla would prefer that they upgrade to the latest Firefox 4.0.1 release, bringing them bang up to date. Alternatively, if they don’t want to go to Firefox 4 (perhaps because a plugin isn’t supported) then Firefox 3.6.x…

So, how will Mozilla deal with those still using Firefox 3.5?

Well, starting with those who have automatic updates enabled, Mozilla will push Firefox 3.6.18 to them after it has been released. Why 3.6.x as opposed to 4.0.x? Because Mozilla considers 3.6.x to be the security upgrade for Firefox 3.5 users.

However, before that happens all Firefox 3.5 will be given warnings that they are running an out of date browser on the default Google search page. Firefox 3.5 users will have also been warned via the firstrun messaging mechanism built into the browser. Mozilla can also send pop-ups to Firefox 3.5 users informing them of the end of life status of their browser.

And, then – say lots of people who claim to know better – Mozilla will upgrade your browser whether you choose to or not. WTF?