Mozilla has been open about its development plans for making a Metro version of its Firefox web browser for Windows 8 for the past several weeks. This week, Mozilla programmer Brian Bondy updated his blog showing the first screenshots of what Firefox for Windows 8 Metro will look like, starting with a screenshot of his own blog page.
The screenshots on the page, including the one above, showcase a browser that is still very early in development. Bondy states that the user interface will change in upcoming versions.
According to Bondy:
As of last week, we have a working browser in Metro. It currently looks and feels the same as the Android browser. You can navigate the web, create tabs, bookmark pages, build history, retain cache, adjust preferences, and more.
The Metro version of Firefox has a number of Windows 8 features already in place, according to Bondy. That includes the Metro snap feature and the Windows 8 search and share contracts.
Bondy also explains why it is important to have a Windows 8 Metro version of Firefox in the first place. According to Microsoft's own requirements, a Metro version of any web browser in Windows 8 can be set to by the default browser, where it can be used in both Metro and regular desktop versions. If such a web browser does not support the Metro UI, Bondy says that browser could lose a lot of market share compared to the others that will support Metro.
He adds:
Even if a user spends most of their time in the Desktop interface, having a really good Metro browser may be enough for the user to change their default browser. A browser with great Metro support can gain significant browser market share for this reason. It is extremely important that we deliver an awesome Firefox experience on Metro, one that is tightly integrated with the platform, fast, and feature rich. Windows is by far the platform with the most users and which has the biggest effect on market share.
Image via Mozilla
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