The latest version of Firefox OS mobile operating system has been released by its developers Mozilla. The Firefox OS 2.5 Developer Preview was launched on 10th November and the operating system is available to users as a downloadable app.
Users won’t need to format their devices to try out the new Firefox OS. Downloading and installing Mozilla’s Apk would do the trick for them. Doing so will result in the android home screen being replaced by the Firefox OS which will then be used as the device’s app launcher.
The release of the Firefox OS as a downloadable app by Mozilla shows resemblance to the process by which Google allowed users to get a taste of the Chrome OS by using Chrome in Windows 8. Chrome when used in Windows 8 gives the device a Chrome user interface which allows users to experience the browser-centric OS within Windows itself.
Though Mozilla is not doing the exact same thing that Google did, it could be stated that both the companies share reminiscence in their methods of bringing out their respective operating systems and giving users a first-hand experience of them.
The OS comes with a bundle of apps and even an app store from which apps can be downloaded into the device. The apps that come along with the OS include some system apps for making phone calls and sending messages and emails.
Add-ons that come with web browsers are quite useful and make browsing efficient in more ways than one. The Firefox OS also comes with certain add-ons which could be used by users to extend apps. They can choose to extend one app, several of them or all of the apps inclusive of the system app.
The Pin the Web feature of the Firefox OS will allow users to pin any web site or page to the home screen for accessing them at a later time. This feature also eliminates any difference between web apps and web sites making it easier to pin them to the home screen.
The Firefox OS also packs a new feature for privacy—The Private Browsing With Tracking protection. This feature allows users to supervise and control the exact way their browsing history would be tracked across various sites.
The release of the Firefox OS Developer Preview as an app by Mozilla is an attempt by the company to spread the new OS among users and also gain useful feedbacks regarding it from them in the process.
As it is a Developer Preview it could be safely assumed that it will surely come with certain bugs and errors and these bugs and errors will come to the forefront through user feedbacks and then the company will be able to understand and eliminate these bugs and errors and release cleaner bug free versions of the OS in the future.
Users on the lookout for a new operating system will certainly face no harm in giving the Firefox OS a try.
Users will need to make sure that their device allows apps that come from sources other than the Google Play to be installed in it. To do so users will have to navigate to the Settings section of their device. Under Settings the Security option could be found and it is under this head that users will find the “Unknown sources” option which they will need to turn on to allow apps from sources other than Google Play to be installed in that device.
Then all users need to do is download the Firefox OS 2.5 in their device and install it.
The Firefox OS comes with certain a number of inbuilt apps and users will have the ability to download more of them from the Firefox Marketplace.