Windows 8’s Metro UI is at once its most interesting and most contentious feature. But regardless of what you think of it, one thing is certain: Microsoft’s touch-friendly interface needs software to succeed. Mozilla is planning to add their down-but-not-out browser to the Metro-friendly list by creating a Firefox app that’s built for and integrated with the new environment. Firefox as you know it won’t be abandoned for the Metro version, however, and in fact the team expects that putting their current browser into the Windows 8 “classic” Desktop will require only a simple evolution.
Metro Firefox, then, will let the software work both sides of the Windows 8 coin—a good sign for both Microsoft and Mozilla.
According to Mozilla’s Strategy & Roadmap document, their proposed Metro Firefox app would take full advantage of Microsoft’s new environment, including three “snap” viewing states (full, ⅙, and ⅚-screen) that adjust to show the most relevant content, a focus on touch interaction, connections to the rest of Metro through Windows 8 contracts, and support for being suspended by the OS when not in view. The interface will still include an Awesomebar and “some form of tabs,” and may include a live tile that displays user-centric data.