Yesterday we brought you news that Mozilla was preparing a version of their Firefox browser that would run on Windows 8’s new Metro user interface. Now it seems that Google is preparing a Metro-compatible version of their own Chrome browser, as well.
Mashable is reporting that Google has confirmed that a Metro version of Google Chrome is in development. Like Firefox for Metro, Chrome will be designed to run as both a Metro app and a traditional desktop application. The browser will be based on the current version of Chrome for desktop, rather than the recently-released Chrome for Android.
I contacted Google for more information on the Metro version of Chrome, and they responded with the following comment:
Our goal is to be able to offer our users a speedy, simple, secure Chrome experience across all platforms, which includes both the desktop and Metro versions of Windows 8. To that end we’re in the process of building a Metro version of Chrome along with improving desktop Chrome in Windows 8, such as adding enhanced touch support.
Windows is heavily favoring touch-based user interface with Windows 8. Metro is designed to provide a unified user experience across multiple Microsoft platforms, including Windows Phone, Windows 8-based tablets, and desktop and laptop computers running Windows 8. The fact that Google is working to enhance touch support as it works on the Metro version of Chrome suggests that we may be seeing Google Chrome on Windows 8 tablets in the not-so-distant future.
What do you think? Would you like to see Google Chrome on a Windows 8 tablet? Let us know in the comments.