Firefox Getting A 'Metro' Makeover For Windows 8

Mozilla has started working on a Metro-style version of Mozilla Firefox for Windows 8. Asa Dotzler, product manager at Mozilla, announced last month that a Metro version of Firefox was in early planning stages. Now, the recent announcement by Mozilla developer Brian Bondy highlights some of the key decisions that the Firefox team has made in the past month.
According to Bondy, the Metro version of Firefox will belong to a special class of apps, dubbed "Metro style enabled desktop browsers" by Microsoft. With this functionality, it would be on par with that of the current version of Firefox by running outside of the sandbox.

"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," says a blog post by Bondy.
"Metro style enabled desktop browsers have access to most Win32 API and the entire new WinRT API. 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," the post adds.
The Metro-enabled Firefox will be delivered to users as an application downloadable from Mozilla's site. However, it is not clear if it can be distributed via the Windows Store since it is not of Metro application type. "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," Bondy explains.
And here is something that every developer can relate to: "As a developer, your job gets pretty hard when you do a Google search for topics surrounding this barely supported third Metro application type and consistently get zero, one, or if you are lucky, two search results. All results being only slightly on topic," Bondy adds.