Okay Geek Farm
Mozilla Plans to Create ChromeOS Style Mobile Operating System
Daniel Carey
Earlier today Mozilla, the company known for such applications as Firefox and Thunderbird, announced its plans to build a ChromeOS-inspired operating system for mobile devices. The mobile operating system, which at present is being referred to as ‘Boot to Gecko’ (B2G), will be built upon an Android based core.
It’s kind of ironic when you think about it, a competing company (Mozilla) is attempting to create a ChromeOS style mobile competitor using open source software from the company that created the original operating system (a la Google). Yet despite all this, Mozilla Vice President of Technical Strategy Mike Shaver, hinted that the company will attempt to make use of “as little Android as possible.”
Continuing on with Mike Shaver’s comment, Boot to Gecko will focus on HTML5 based applications, as opposed to native Android applications. Personally, I feel as though this strategy will work for them in both the short and long term. Some great HTML5 applications have already been created, and are useable in a browser, so why not tap into this element? It makes perfect sense for Mozilla, a browser producing company after all, to head this way.
Reading into it however, there is little information on whether B2G will employ Android applications. Being Android based, there will most likely be a deluge of fan boys dedicated to installing custom applications, but it is yet to be seen just how “little Android” will be featured.
Presently, several developers are already intending Mozilla’s mobile operating system become a “complete, standalone operating system for the open web.”
Either way, only time will tell how Mozilla’s still in concept operating system fairs. But here is to hoping that Mozilla developers are able to create applications, test security protocols and explore any other potential a mobile operating system has to offer.
