Mozilla Scraps Firefox for Windows 8s Metro

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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Mozilla has ordered its teams of engineers to halt all future development of Firefox browser for Windows 8 Metro because of low adaptation of ‘the Metro’ platform by Windows users.

Mozilla first noted a Metro version of Firefox was coming back in February 2012 and revealed a prototype in April 2012. The company then showed off a pre-release of Firefox for Windows 8 in October 2012 and offered a Nightly build in February 2013.
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MisterHipster said:
Agreed. Windows 8 is generally horrible compared to 7.
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Except that this browser is a touch first browser, something that's not really in the realm of Windows 7. I can accept that Mozilla hasn't seen a lot of adoption of the beta, it's not exactly something that many would install in beta form and it sucks anyway compared to IE 11 modern, which is actually a very good touch browser.

We're not that far away from the next version of Windows, 12 to 18 months. My guess is that at this point there's too many unknowns to proceed with this anyway. More than likely 9 will change the game and with something running this late its better to wait and see at this point.
 
Wait, I thought MS denied any alt browser from being able to exist on Windows 8. Was that rule lifted I guess?
 
Can't blame them. Nobody uses Modern UI apps and regular Firefox works just fine on touch devices. There are a few plugins that improve touch support.

Red Squirrel said:
Wait, I thought MS denied any alt browser from being able to exist on Windows 8. Was that rule lifted I guess?
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That limitation was for Windows RT. Modern UI (Metro) is on both RT and 8.
 
Skripka said:
Where is heatlesssun to rage at Mozilla for saying such?
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I've tried the modern Mozilla browser and it sucked compared to IE 11 modern the last time I tested it about 4 weeks ago. Most anyone using Windows 8 on a tablet will say exactly the same thing. Maybe it's fault Microsoft for all of the hoops that you have to go through, I won't deny that. Modern browsers are plug-in free with the exception of Flash, so it's not exactly easy to make a distinction on the modern side anyway.

With something that's running this late, given the very negative reception that 8 has received and with 9 on the way, I have no rage at all and think this probably the right thing for Mozilla to do considering that their modern browser was so inferior to IE. And again, maybe that's all on Microsoft, I've used both browsers and I would have never used FF modern unless it had significantly improved.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
Can't blame them. Nobody uses Modern UI apps and regular Firefox works just fine on touch devices. There are a few plugins that improve touch support.
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That's beyond hilarious. The desktop version of FF isn't anywhere near as good for touch as even IE 11 desktop, let alone IE 11 modern, especially on Bay Trail devices.
 
I would have tested it but just as was said above, I and many others on the desktop PC do not use a lot of metro-based apps including the web browsers-- such as IE 11 and Chrome for Metro.

To me, it seems redundant on the desktop PC especially one without touchscreen.

However, if I had a Dell Venue tablet with Windows 8, yeah, I would definitely have tested it out. My experience with desktop IE 11 isn't entirely great since a lot of websites I normally visit doesn't render properly in IE 11 even under Compatibility Mode or changing document mode. A more web standards compliant browser to use besides Chrome in Metro would be a welcome change, or one that doesn't freak out with Javascript and DHTML heavy websites.
 
Sucks, they were finally getting decent... My Dell Venue 8 Pro desperately needs a browser to compete with Chrome on Android... I end up just using FF in desktop mode most of the time.
 
tazeat said:
My Dell Venue 8 Pro desperately needs a browser to compete with Chrome on Android... I end up just using FF in desktop mode most of the time.
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Honest question and not trying to be dismissive. What's so great about Chrome on Android compared to IE 11 modern? IE 11 is very responsive overall, has Flash support and isn't constantly reverting to mobile browser versions of sites on my V8P.
 
When using my tablet/laptop in tablet mode, I use the Metro version of IE or Chrome. Works just fine for tablet use. Same as Safari on the iPad. Great touch browsers. I don't use Firefox on desktop, either, though.

Depends on how you use your PC. Never use the Metro browsers on my desktop. On tablet? All the time.
 
Perhaps they just don't think windows tablets will do well. Metro sounds (i've not used it) like a touch centric UI and for now that means tablet/mobile and MS isn't exactly killing in that arena (at least not in the States).

Whatever the reason, the decision is made and it doesn't affect me at all and I've been using FF on the desktop for a long time.
 
heatlesssun said:
Honest question and not trying to be dismissive. What's so great about Chrome on Android compared to IE 11 modern? IE 11 is very responsive overall, has Flash support and isn't constantly reverting to mobile browser versions of sites on my V8P.
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Haven't tried IE11 Modern. But pretty much anything is better than Chrome on Android. The lack of options and all the stupid stuff it does by default is annoying...
 
Hopefully Metro gets shitcanned entirely in the next version of Windows. It's absolute garbage and no one wants it.
 
Well this sucks. I hate having to use IE when I put my Yoga in tablet mode, and browsing/watching movies are the only things I use in tablet mode...
 
Windows 8 is actually great, its just the Metro side of it that's horrible, especially on desktops. Good decision, focus on the desktop
 
jnmunsey said:
Well this sucks. I hate having to use IE when I put my Yoga in tablet mode, and browsing/watching movies are the only things I use in tablet mode...
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Tried Chrome Canary?
I use that on my Surface pro. I don't need Firefox.
 
Good. The last thing I need is more full screen, single tasking apps. I don't need a Tablet with triple monitors.
 
Cmdrmonkey said:
Hopefully Metro gets shitcanned entirely in the next version of Windows. It's absolute garbage and no one wants it.
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Agree, I don't know how in the hell they think Metro is a good ideal on a non-touchscreen desktop interface.
 
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heatlesssun said:
That's beyond hilarious. The desktop version of FF isn't anywhere near as good for touch as even IE 11 desktop, let alone IE 11 modern, especially on Bay Trail devices.
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It works great on my tablet with the pinch-to-zoom/double tap gesture support plugin I have installed.

Nice job getting the bay trail ad in there. Is there someone at Microsoft I can call to tell them you're doing a good job? You couldn't pay me enough to shill for IE and Windows 8.

zzzaac said:
Windows 8 is actually great, its just the Metro side of it that's horrible, especially on desktops. Good decision, focus on the desktop
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There is nothing new in Windows 8 for desktop users. I mean, really, you get hibernate-by-default and Hyper-V, how exciting. You have to pay if you want Media Center, you lose Aero Glass, and you have to install additional software to get a proper start menu. The performance differences between 7 and 8 are negligible. I really don't see why anyone would bother with 8.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
It works great on my tablet with the pinch-to-zoom/double tap gesture support plugin I have installed.

Nice job getting the bay trail ad in there. Is there someone at Microsoft I can call to tell them you're doing a good job? You couldn't pay me enough to shill for IE and Windows 8.



There is nothing new in Windows 8 for desktop users. I mean, really, you get hibernate-by-default and Hyper-V, how exciting. You have to pay if you want Media Center, you lose Aero Glass, and you have to install additional software to get a proper start menu. The performance differences between 7 and 8 are negligible. I really don't see why anyone would bother with 8.
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Firefox pinch to zoom isn't very fluid at all though.
IE is not that bad a browser except for not being able to have adblock or other plugins(which is a deal breaker)

After getting used to them I prefer the menus in 8.
I've turned metro off though I don't use a start menu either.
 
Yeah, my sig pretty much explains what is going on here now. Besides, why would you want to use a browser that for all intents and purposes, does not exist even before this.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
With the pinch to zoom plugin it is. It feels like any other touch browser I've used.
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Just tried out Chrome Canary, Firefox with the addon and IE.
IE is the smoothest and most responsive, followed by Canary, then Firefox has an annoying lag when zooming.

I'll stick with Canary.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
It works great on my tablet with the pinch-to-zoom/double tap gesture support plugin I have installed.

Nice job getting the bay trail ad in there. Is there someone at Microsoft I can call to tell them you're doing a good job? You couldn't pay me enough to shill for IE and Windows 8.
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Huh? These Bay Trail tablets are probably the most common Windows 8 tablets out now because of their price, a lot of people even in this forum have one. Because these are the slowest and cheapest Windows tablets currently out, they are a great for doing baseline testing.

DeathFromBelow said:
There is nothing new in Windows 8 for desktop users. I mean, really, you get hibernate-by-default and Hyper-V, how exciting. You have to pay if you want Media Center, you lose Aero Glass, and you have to install additional software to get a proper start menu. The performance differences between 7 and 8 are negligible. I really don't see why anyone would bother with 8.
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Clearly this focus of this release was the modern UI. If one is using only desktop apps there's not much here new for desktop only users though the multiple screen taskbar to me is pretty significant.

DeathFromBelow said:
With the pinch to zoom plugin it is. It feels like any other touch browser I've used.
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Just tried the latest version of FF with this extension on my Venue 8 Pro. It's plainly obvious that it's no where near as fast or fluid with page scrolling or pinch zoom as IE 11 desktop or modern. I'm sure FF would be better on a faster device. Chrome is in the same boat with Bay Trail devices. Microsoft seems to have done work to specifically optimize IE 11 on Atom, it's just so much faster than either Chrome or FF on this hardware.
 
As I've said from day 1, why would devs take the time to make both a "normal" Windows executable AND a Metro version of the same program? Waste of time and resources, and the adoption won't be there.
 
gamerk2 said:
As I've said from day 1, why would devs take the time to make both a "normal" Windows executable AND a Metro version of the same program? Waste of time and resources, and the adoption won't be there.
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Do you use desktop Chrome on an android tablet? Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought Metro was the touch UI and was mostly for Tablets (and perhaps phones). I'm not saying Mozilla made a bad move. I don't know and don't care, but Mozilla makes different versions for different platforms. The fact that MS's tablet OS is basically the same as it's desktop platform doesn't mean a tablet version of an app isn't more desirable.
 
Paul Thurrott put it well:

While I'm sure some will try to undercut this problem by belittling Mozilla or Firefox in some way, that kind of argument is wrongheaded: These guys supported the platform and just didn't see the usage. And that is a very real problem. Part of the issue, of course, is Microsoft's wrong-headed decision to limit how browser makers can build high-quality products for the Modern environment (i.e. it's impossible), something that makes Windows RT in particular less desirable.
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DPI said:
Paul Thurrott put it well:
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They said they only saw about 1000 active daily users but they never mentioned how many people downloaded it and at least tried it once. I have several times and each time I uninstalled it. The bottom line is that this browser just wasn't nearly as good as IE 11 modern. It might very well be the case that it's Microsoft's fault for making it too difficult to develop a modern browser but still the product just wasn't that good.
 
Who uses Firefox anymore? Even the desk top version is utter crap.
 
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