How to Run Firefox OS Simulator

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.

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

• Download the r2d2b2g simulator here (Mac, Windows, Linux versions available)
• Download the latest version of Firefox (16.0.2 or later recommended)

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: