Mozilla abandons Firefox Metro version

Windows 8’s controversial Metro interface has received another blow today as Mozilla has revealed that after 2 years worth of development and testing that it is shelving the Metro based version of Firefox. Microsoft launched Windows 8 with a new Metro start screen 2 years ago and developer interest in the platform has been slow. The latest snub from Mozilla is not likely to help matters either. Microsoft have been trying to entice developers to write touch friendly apps for it’s new touch interface but so far the interest has been minimal.

Recently Microsoft announced details for Windows 8.1 update 1 which gives users the ability to boot straight to the desktop and bypass the Metro interface all together. Along with this update there will be an option to run metro based applications on the desktop and use the taskbar to switch between them. It seems even Microsoft isn’t sure what it want’s in regards to Windows 8 either. So it comes as no surprise that Mozilla decided it just wasn’t worth their while working on a Metro version of their browser.

In a blog post the vice president of Firefox said, "On any given day, we have, for instance, millions of people testing pre-release versions of Firefox desktop, but we've never seen more than 1,000 active daily users in the Metro environment." The blog post goes on to explain that with so few people interested in this version that bug testing would take far too long as there were not enough people actively using the software to properly test it and squash bugs.

With such a big software developer giving a ‘vote of no confidence’ on Microsoft’s new interface you have to wonder what the future holds for Windows and how Microsoft will move on from this. The idea behind Metro was supposed to be to carry the Windows PC power into the tablet market, a very different strategy from Google and Apple’s approach, which expanded their smaller screen smartphone OSes to tablets. If software developers don't adopt to Metro, though, and stick only with the older "desktop" interface, it undermines Microsoft's strategy.

Microsoft reportedly settles on 'Windows 8' as replacement for 'Metro'

We've already heard that Microsoft was temporarily using "Windows 8-style UI" as a substitute for "Metro" now that the latter is on the outs, and it looks like they may now have a permanent replacement. According to some unnamed sources speaking to ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft has decided to simply use "Windows 8" as a name for all things once known as Metro. That means "Metro-style applications" will now be known as "Windows 8 applications," and that the "Metro user interface" will now be the "Windows 8 user interface." What's more, Foley also notes that the phrase "Windows 8 apps" has already turned up on the promo page for Lenovo's new ThinkPad Tablet 2, which also indicates that the traditional Windows 8 apps will simply be known as "desktop" apps to distinguish the two. We'll keep you posted if we hear more on the change from Microsoft itself.

[Source: Engadget]

eBay Windows 8 Metro style app now available in the Windows Store

Microsoft's app store for Windows 8 has been on a slow and steady push towards 400 apps recently, despite the fact app publishing is still reserved for a small number of developers right now. After being previewed at a Microsoft event back in December,McAkins online notes that eBay has published its own Metro style app in the Windows Store, bringing the online shopping site to Windows 8 tablets and PCs.

The app includes notifications for buying and selling activities and the ability to pin a daily deals section to the Windows 8 Start Screen. eBay has also made use of the Windows 8 Share Charm by allowing users to share details of an auction across other apps or in an email message. Although the app includes sections for feedback and messages, you'll have to load these in a browser as they're not fully baked in. eBay joins high profile apps like Kindle, WordPress, MetroTwit, and even Microsoft Office as part of the Windows Store.

[Source: The Verge]