Mozilla has announced that it is Firefox browser now available for download in the Microsoft Store for Windows 11 and Windows 10. This gives Firefox a new way to download a browser, which is potentially easier than opening another browser and finding the right webpage.
This is big news also because Firefox is one of the first browsers to take advantage of Microsoft’s new store guidelines. For years, Microsoft has allowed developers to publish only browsers that use EdgeHTML, the same mechanism used by the old Edge browser, reports XDA-developers. This made even less sense when Edge itself switched to the Chromium engine, but with the new Microsoft Store, any type of browser and application can be published.
Firefox is not the first known browser to appear in the Microsoft Store, as Opera is currently there already available. However, it is the first with its own Gecko engine, while most other browsers use Chromium. This includes Microsoft’s own Edge browser, so Firefox presents itself as a real alternative for users who want things done a little differently.
Microsoft has made it much more difficult to switch default browsers to the new operating system, Mozilla has reversely constructed Microsoft’s approach and allowed Firefox to be set as the default browser with a single click. Now downloading Firefox is also easier and you don’t have to open Edge once before downloading an alternate browser.
As to why you should consider Firefox, the Mozilla team highlights security features such as full cookie protection, improved tracking protection, and DNS support over HTTPS. Firefox also has some benefits like Multi-Picture-in-Picture mode for watching multiple video streams at once.
Although Firefox isn’t the first third-party browser to come to the Microsoft Store, some big names are still missing. The most important of these is, of course, Chrome, which is the most popular web browser. Vivaldi is also a relatively popular alternative that has yet to appear in the Microsoft Store. We hope that over time, more and more alternatives will appear now that Windows 11 has officially come out, and the new Microsoft store has also arrived on Windows 10.
More news: Microsoft is relaunching Google Wave, a platform you’ve already forgotten about
source: theverge