Coming Soon: Firefox for Windows 8

As part of a broader strategy for 2012, Mozilla this week revealed that it will ship a Metro-style version of its Firefox web browser sometime this year.

"Windows 8 … Metro is an entirely new environment and requires a new Firefox front end and system integration points," the Mozilla planning document notes. "The feature goal here is a new Gecko based browser built for and integrated with the Metro environment. Firefox on Metro, like all other Metro apps will be full screen, focused on touch interactions, and connected to the rest of the Metro environment through Windows 8 contracts."

According to Mozilla, this Windows 8 Firefox version will include all of the Gecko capabilities from current Firefox versions to Windows 8.  It will support three Snap states, full screen, 1/6th screen and 5/6th screen depending on how the user "docks" two full screen apps while in the Metro environment.

It may come with a live tile with user-centric data like friends presence or other Firefox Home information updates, Mozilla notes, and will ideally support secondary tiles for Web-based apps hosted in Firefox's runtime.

"In order to provide users with access to other content, other apps, and to Firefox from other content and apps, we'll need integration with the share contract, the search contract, the settings contract, the app to app picking contract, the print contract, the play to contract, and possibly a couple more," the document notes. "We'll be a source for some, a target for some, and both for some.