Windows 8's Metro-style design is proving to be a divisive inclusion, but it hasn't stopped developers from toiling away on new software. Browser creator Mozilla confirmed this week that it has a rudimentary version of Firefox Metro up and running on Microsoft's new OS.
Outlining the progress at his personal blog, Mozilla's Brian R. Bondy revealed that internal testers can now browse, tweak preferences and open new tabs on Firefox for Windows 8. The Firefox Metro prototype resembles its Android-based cousin. Not too surprising; its actually built off old Android code.
"Our prototype in its current form is based on the Fennec XUL code," said Bondy. "We used to use Fennec XUL on Android, but changed to a Native UI on Android for startup performance reasons. We haven't seen the same types of startup performance problems we've had on Android yet, even on VMs."
Bondy said the Firefox team still has some work to do before its proof-of-concept can be called a working prototype, adding that Metro support is a must for all browser makers.
"If a browser does not support Metro, it is seriously at risk of losing the default browser status, and therefore significant market share," said Bondy. "A browser without support for Metro, if default, would be taking away a Metro browser completely from the user's computer." (via ZDNet)
