The simulator runs inside your Internet browser and offers support to run applications. This should help the development of apps for Firefox OS without the need for testing them on a physical device. Mozilla says that the Firefox OS simulator is not a virtual machine but B2G Desktop, a special version of the project Boot2Gecko (the former name for Firefox OS) designed for operating systems on personal computers.


Firefox OS's interface is based on web technologies (HTML, CSS and JavaScript), and the first mobile phones with this operating system will initially be targeted at emerging markets. The simulator is currently at version 0.7 and it is possible to try it out on this site [The plug in only works with FireFox - Ed], it should soon be available in version 1.0 and existing versions should be automatically upgraded. According to Mozilla's official blog B2G is here because it ”...allows the Simulator to run very quickly and with minimal startup time on your computer.” Will this new OS become competition for Android, iOS or WP8, maybe not in the near future, but if the development goes the right way we can expect big things from it later.

[Ed – We have grabbed this and are tinkering around with it. The new OS “feels” like both iOS and Android, but much of that is simply due to the way it appears and functions.  Mozilla did make good use of Nokia’s new Mapping program (we told you that might happen), and things are very snappy running on good hardware. However, to be honest there is not much you can do with a mobile OS that has not been done before. There are some tweaks and optimizations that you can do if you can narrow down your build of materials like Apple has done, but for the most part things are going to work the same way..]

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