When I saw this I thought I had missed something really important on the Windows store. I don't recall seeing it...
Wait. You have to install the desktop version to get it to work in Metro? What? No, don't make me do that. No wonder no-one used it.
Wait. You have to install the desktop version to get it to work in Metro? What? No, don't make me do that. No wonder no-one used it.
Second, some details about the store... "Windows Store apps" can use the IE rendering engine to browse the web, but can't use other existing libraries like Gecko or Blink. "Metro-enabled desktop browsers" like Firefox and Chrome and IE (the terminology comes from an old Microsoft white paper [1]) can take advantage of a special exception to the restrictions placed on most "Metro" apps, but only if they are set as the default browser for both desktop and Metro mode. And they can't be installed like Windows Store apps; you have to install them through the desktop.
Metro-enabled desktop browsers (like other desktop apps) can be listed in the Windows Store, but can't be installed there. Instead, the Windows Store page will just contain a link an installer on the developer's web site. Chrome links to their installer from the Windows Store, and we'd have done the same if we shipped the Metro app in a Firefox release. (We could still list desktop Firefox in the Windows Store, subject to the same restrictions.)
[1] http://www.zdnet.com/firefox-for-windows-8-adds-a-touch-of-m...
I don't understand why it is legal for Microsoft (AND Apple) to do this! How is this different from what Microsoft did with IE vs Netscape? Why doesn't this violate anti-trust or competition laws?
It doesn't violate anti-trust laws because you have a very viable option of using Android or any other tablet OS.
The restriction against using browser engines other than IE's Trident applies to "Windows Store Apps" for desktop, too.
Mozilla and Google managed to claw out a half-hearted concession for the browsers themselves on the desktop (though not RT), but even then the other restrictions that mbrubeck noted still apply: the browser needs to be installed outside the Windows Store and only the default browser is allowed to present a touch interface. I'm not sure what purpose is behind the latter restriction, other than making switching or experimenting with browsers slightly more of a hassle.