Mozilla publicized on Monday that it will release a Metro-specific version of Firefox for Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows 8 platform. The browser will entail “a new Firefox front end and system integration points” and be based on the Gecko layout engine. “The feature goal here is a new Gecko-based browser built for and integrated with the Metro environment,” said the company’s planning document.
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“Firefox on Metro, like all other Metro applications will be full screen, focused on touch interactions, and connected to the rest of the Metro environment through Windows 8 contracts.” The company may also turn out a live tile that would display updates on the home screen. Mozilla hopes to disclose its new browser in the second quarter of 2012.
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Firefox accounts for about 20 percent of worldwide desktop browser market share, but has lost ground to Google Chrome over the past year. Chrome will apparently have a Metro version for Windows 8 as well, but Google has made no official announcement.
The news came as part of a larger set of announcements in the company’s roadmap for 2012.
