As Google Chrome grows in popularity, Mozilla is quickly building up a touchscreen friendly Metro version of Firefox for the upcoming Windows 8 operating system.
Mozilla has been branching out lately with new concepts such as the Mozilla Marketplace and now, a Metro Firefox project.
The Metro Firefox will be an official port of Mozilla’s Firefox Internet browser for the Windows 8, touch-friendly, Metro user interface. Mozilla developer Brian R. Bondy says that it is intended to deliver a fully functional version of the browser that will mimic Internet Explorer 10’s split personality, as a “Metro style enabled desktop browser.”
Mozilla hopes that the touchscreen and traditional desktop controls will be intuitive, as the Firefox browser attempts to be every bit as integrated into the operating system as Internet Explorer and Safari are, for Windows and the Mac OS, respectively.
This huge scale project involves a massive overhaul of code that even Bondy admits is “a very large project.”
It seems the effort is worthwhile, because he went on to say, “Unlike Metro applications, Metro style enabled desktop browsers have the ability to run outside of the Metro sandbox. Meaning not only can we build a browser, but we can build a powerful browser which gives an experience equal to that of a classic Desktop browser.”
Apple has been integrating touch controls into their Leopard and Lion OS magic mouse and track pads for years now, and of course they have revolutionized touch computing with the iPad & iPhone.
Whether or not Windows 8 can become a touch computing powerhouse with the Metro interface remains to be seen, but Mozilla's plan to integrate Firefox into Metro seems promising. Mozilla’s Metro Firefox could very well outdo the IE 10 that will ship with the Windows 8 operating system.
Has Microsoft embraced their potential partners in success, Mozilla?
Bondy had this to say: “Unfortunately a browser can only participate in Metro mode if it is the default browser. So if Firefox is not the default browser on a system, you can’t use it in Metro mode. This is a decision made by Microsoft.”
It would appear not.
