How to Run Firefox OS Simulator

Nov 16, 2012 - 7 Comments

Mozilla, the makers of Firefox (yes, the web browser), are working on a mobile operating system called Firefox OS. It’s based entirely on HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and is currently at very early stages of development, with an appearance that’s kind of like iOS meets Android with a side of Ubuntu. Whether or not Firefox OS goes mainstream remains to be seen, but if you feel like playing around with a new operating system in it’s earliest stages, it’s now fairly easy to run an emulator on a Mac, Windows PC, or Linux.

Firefox OS Simulator

To get started, you will need to download two things:

Next, you’ll need to install Firefox OS simulator, which behaves kind of like any other virtual machine, though it’s confined into Firefox and installs the same way a normal Firefox plugin would:

  • Open the .xpi file with Firefox, in OS X this is as simple as dragging the r2d2b2g-mac.xpi file into the Firefox icon or an open browser window
  • Choose “Install Now” when asked, and you should immediately be at a “Firefox OS Simulator” screen within Firefox
  • Flip the “Simulator: Stopped” button so that it says “Running” to launch the B2G app (this is the Firefox OS simulator)
  • Have fun!

You’ll first be confronted with a lock screen, slide the pulsating arrow thing over to the right and you’ll be at the Firefox OS homescreen. There are multiple pages of icons, a fully working version of Firefox, and a fair amount of other little apps installed, though many of them are buggy. Font rendering in the tiny version of Firefox browser is kind of ugly, but we shouldn’t be too harsh considering that creating an OS and apps for it is a huge undertaking.

Regardless of where Firefox OS ends up, it’s always interesting to toy around with different operating systems, so check it out if you’re curious about this kind of thing. Here are a couple of screenshots:

Firefox OS Screen Shots

Firefox OS

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Posted by: Paul Horowitz in Fun, Tips & Tricks

7 Comments

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  1. none says:

    I Love The Wallpaper! Where can i get it?

  2. U. R. LATE says:

    Get in line behind all the other “ME-TOO” products…
    That is what is called innovation today.

  3. HeartMan says:

    Does anybody remember that when the iPhone first came out, the only way to develop for the phone was with HTML? Does anybody remember the chorus of complaints that arose?

  4. toto says:

    A whole OS in HMTL CSS and Javascript sounds like a really bad idea. Let’s hope i’m wrong.

    • Abhishek says:

      Well actually you are wrong , HTML – CSS – JS are prominent in app development and a big percentage of Android as well as iOS apps utilize these awesome technologies , windows 8 itself has provided native features for HTML 5.

      Other then that the OS itself is written in C and only the runtime is html5 that is your apps will be HTML 5 much like a web-browser :-) i hope that makes more sense ?

  5. Douglas says:

    What an interesting move. What is their plan with this? To compete with Android as a free mobile OS? All app will be web apps?

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