Ubuntu Netbook Edition dropping Firefox for Chromium?

Firefox has been a Ubuntu default app for ages, but there's a chance that it might not be around come version 10.10 -- at least on the Netbook Edition of Canonical's OS.

Developers are currently examining other options -- specifically Chromium and Midori. As Ubuntu HQ points out, there are currently several issues that would need to be addressed should Chromium be handed the default browsing duties. Among them: printing, theme integration, and certain websites which reportedly don't work in Chromium.

Midori is an excellent option, too, though it certainly doesn't get the recognition that Google's open source browser does. Like Chromium, it's open source and based on WebKit. It's also very lightweight, though it lacks some of Chromium's security and stability features.

It's just part of the discussion for now, but the development team could make the switch soon and make a final decision by the time the third alpha version is released. Plans are always subject to change, of course -- remember Canonical switching the default search provider to Yahoo in the Karmic Koala betas? Ultimately, they decided to stick with Google for the final release -- so Firefox could very well be UNE 10.10's default browser.

Source: Downloadsquad