1. Firefox needs to be able to handle almost any file type thrown at it. On top of that, it needs to be able to access the information in that file is a manner less limited than the rectangular black hole that the current type plug-ins produces. I envision a new generation of plug-ins that automatically convert content into standard HTML, allowing it to be exposed fully to the browser and the user. Thus, a PDF plugin would convert PDFs into standard text and images, using either its own algorithm or by using a third-party service (such as Google Docs), and hand off the output to the browser, which would be completely in charge of displaying the result. This would allow the user more control over all that content that previously needed non-browser applications to manipulate. I imagine Ubiquity would be very useful here.

2. Firefox needs to facilitate finding all that content that one’s file browser previously handled. This includes not just the files on the current device but also all the content one has in various “cloud” services. This would be done through specialized indexers that one could install. For example, a Google Docs indexer would index all one’s files on that service and expose them through Places as special bookmarks, automatically tagged and updated in the background. These indexers could also serve a secondary function of providing a mechanism to write to all those locations in the cloud. Thus, saving an image to Flickr, or moving an image from Flickr to Picasa, would be trivial.

3. The files that one has on one’s home machine would need to be available anywhere. Like Opera is doing, Firefox could also serve as a server, allowing one to access all those files using any browser (whether on that machine or elsewhere). Moreover, Firefox would also index all those files, making one’s browser the primary means of accessing any and all content that one has.

4. Since one is not always online, and, moreover, the web isn’t static, there needs to be a way to access pages when not connected or when those pages are no longer available. So, like Internet Explorer did ages ago, Places could allow one to choose to make an offline copy of a page when bookmarking it. This would replace the ‘Save Page As…’ functionality. Thus, one would have guaranteed access both to important documents and to articles that are not necessarily important but that you’d like to have access to in the future.

Once all those pieces are in places (in addition to the other ones that were already mentioned), I can see Firefox replacing the the whole Desktop—not just for casual browsers, but for power users and hackers too.

The solution to music files and local storage when you “sidle up to a random computer” is to carry a USB flash drive (or for those darn kids, your iPod) with you. Browse file:///media/MY_USB and you can play your OGG files in Firefox. I’ve suggested enhancing Places and merging Download manager for Firefox/Namoroka to make it more usable for managing local files, since in the new world almost every file you have locally came from the web.

I hope Mozilla community is thinking about this because in all the lightweight web OS initiatives so far (Chrome OS, Palm Web OS, that Crunchpad thingy), Firefox is at best an afterthought. Maybe that same USB flash drive with your data can have a Live USB partition that boots into Firefox on it. Is anyone building a lightweight Linux distribution based around XULRunner apps? There’s Mikaelrogers’ mega-awesome “Duke Nukem OS” but some haters act like it isn’t real. ;-)

I am net neutral on Chrome OS. Let’s wait and see what they actually produce. It is a ways out, and I agree with you that what is more interesting is better experiences, not the fact that it is the Web.

I hope, and think, that they will be pushing behind the browser launcher view that some people jump on, and I hope to see better experiences for users….. and part of that is privacy and identity, and taking your data with you.

Cheers,

Dion

I’m more negative than you re. Cr OS – I think GOOG is just trying to push people onto the web, when it should be trying to pull them in with better apps.

As to what ‘better’ apps means – well, here I agree with you. The web is creating for sharing information, and web apps currently accomplish this in a very rudimentary manner. There is a lot of scope for creating a layer of open interoperability, which would greatly enhance the user experience.

I go into more detail here: http://lmframework.com/blog/2009/07/chrome

Cheers

D.

As a majority of application move to the web and become services, the browser could evolve to reduce the barrier to interoperability and manage security and permission as part of the process. The android application mode includes some of that though the notion of activities. Aza’s vision around intent and tasks has some of that. I think that it is time for people to take a few simple use cases and make them and reality. Mozilla is uniquely positioned to make that happen.

I trusted X :) A security model that makes sense needs to come along for all of this work, for sure.

Awesome thoughts. We need to riff on this at the next labs all hands ;)

Totally agree. There is a tough future for music rights, video rights, etc. Interesting times ahead :)