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Mozilla Businesses The Internet Apple

Mozilla-Based Browser Sports Cocoa Front End 46

Posted by pudge from the perhaps-carbon-would-be-better-for-me-though dept.
Aqua OS X writes: "Looks like there is a new project over at mozdev.org. The guys are working on a new gecko-powered Mac OS X browser, Chimera (not to be confused with the X11 browser which bears the same name), built using Mac OS X's Cocoa API. It renders well, and scraps the bulky Mozilla/Netscape UI. Supposedly, version 0.2 should support Quartz rendering." Most excellent. XPFE (cross-platform front-end) has been my biggest problem with Mozilla on Mac OS, and perhaps my biggest obstacle to long-term adoption of Mozilla as my primary browser.
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Mozilla-Based Browser Sports Cocoa Front End More

Mozilla-Based Browser Sports Cocoa Front End

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  • Well I've found Chimera to be innovative as far as interface goes. It uses a tabs within a window to allow you to look at different pages between tabs. Certainly is very useful at eliminating screen clutter that an active web user can end up with while visiting 10 sites at the same time. It also seems way faster than netscape on OS X. I think Chimera breathes some air into mozilla on OS X.
    • mozilla is my main browser, irc client, mail client, etc. on my win2k machine and on my macs. if chimera really is better, i'll be instantly converted. especially if the improvements come in the area of speed. ;)
    • those same tabs, BTW, are available in mozilla, for browsing and for IRC. it's wonderful to use.

    • Chimera should try to become the Galeon [sourceforge.net] of Macosx !
      It also is a browser that uses Gecko, but with native widgets (GTK+) for Linux

      It pioneered ( i think ) tabbed browsing for Linux, and has lots of nice features not found in any other browser. Nice search toolbars, autobookmark folders, nice fullscreen mode and lots more...

      I really miss it on my Powerbook when I run OSX ( I also run YellowDog Linux [yellowdoglinux.com] ), and I consider it to be the best browser on earth. It has Gecko's rendering speed with speedy native widgets and alot of features !

      If chimera could follow that design it's bound to be a success ( no mean feat though )

      I really love Mozilla because of the speedy rendering and whatever platform I use, I always know there's at least one browser that fits all !! But on MacosX it hogs alot of memory and isn't up to speed with the Windows/Linux versions.
  • OmniWeb. It isn't open source like Mozilla (or presumably Chimera), but it runs quickly, is relatively small and EXTREMELY fast, and (even better) fully uses the Aqua interface rather than its own, like Mozilla (?).

    My two personal favorite features, though, are image filtering and JavaScript checking. Blocks ads and popups almost perfectly, in my experience.

    • Unfortunately, OmniWeb's CSS implementation is near-nonexistant, and it completely breaks any site using CSS for layout.

      For instance, I just tested my site [djwudi.com] under 10 different browsers (plus 2 other screenshots that a friend sent me) and the only browsers to completely muck up the page were OmniWeb, iCab, and links (big surprise there...), as I've stopped using tables and use CSS specifications for my layout (browser test summary for my site is right here [djwudi.com]).

      I like OmniWeb's speed, size, and rendering quality, but until they actually support CSS like they claim to, they're not going to be my browser of choice.

    • Ya, but OmniWeb seriously sucks with JS and CSS. Moreover, it rendering engine draws pages slower then IE or Mozilla.

      The UI, and multithreading, and Quartz text to make the browser look and feel nice. But the rendering engine leaves much to be desired. Almost all of my heavy JS and CSS sites do not load properly in OmniWeb. I feel like I am developing for Netscape 4 or something.

  • Nice (Score:3, Insightful)

    by dhovis ( 303725 ) on Wednesday February 27, 2002 @03:13PM (#3079213)
    I just went and downloaded it to give it a whirl. I've been using Mozilla 0.9.8 lately because it gives me fewer problems than IE (IE tends to make sections of pages disappear until I scroll down and then back up).

    Chimera is definitely beta, though. I've noticed three bugs already.(I'm using it right now to make this post, so they're not major bugs)

    • Cursor postion does not update when changed unless you type something.
    • Pop-up selections do not pop up (you can make selections by selecting a pop-up menu and use the arrow keys)
    • Preferences menu item is greyed out.

    All in all, it is really nice, though. It is already much snappier than Mozilla. I'll be following this one.

    • I like it a lot already. As much as I love mozilla's composer, I do not need another mail and news reader, and as far as that goes, I don't need an integrated IRC client either.

      I will certainly follow this one closely. I'm using it now, and except for some minor MINOR bugs, it seems pretty good. Muche better than a 0.1 version would indicate.

      Is it just me, or is Mac OS X really starting to get some pretty cool open-source apps? (I mean besides the ports of the linux stuff)

  • very nice so far - beats the current mozilla for looks and function. this is for precision and speed where I thought mozilla woulw be by now - i still dl it and delete it regularly - no release has made me want to stick thus far. this one'a a keeper even in beta.

  • Mozilla's Crappy Tabs (Score:2, Informative)

    by RevAaron ( 125240 )
    Ok, I admit it. Maybe I'm not a part of the most average type of web-user. But I like to have a lot of tabs/windows open, not just 1-3 like a lot of people seem to have. We're talking about at least 5, and often around 15. iCab under OS 9 never had a problem with this. OmniWeb 4.0.6 got pretty slow with a lot of windows open, but the newer sneaky peaks haven't been. Opera kept it's pace with 15 windows being used, but it increased the probabilty that it would crash.

    Mozilla though, is an entirely another story. On my iBook500 with 320 MB RAM, or a 500 MHz UltraSparc II w/ 256 MB RAM, it crawls as soon as I've got either a few tabs or a few windows open. By the time I've got 8-9 tabs or windows open, it's unusably slow, often taking 1-5 *seconds* just to open a new window!

    One of my biggest complaints with Mozilla in the past was that it took so damn long for new windows or tabs to open. As a person who is always cmd-clicking to open links in new windows (so I can continue reading things in the last page, I read many pages at the same time, non-linearily), Mozilla is a pain in the ass to use.
  • Since OS X is taking off, the choices are getting better and better. There is now less and less reason to use IE: since I am running Opera Beta 4, I haven't used IE once. Icab and Omniweb are performing nicely as well, and now this Mozilla clone: The future's bright, the future is OS X!!!

    Dirk

  • IE's Scrapbook? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by HomerJ ( 11142 ) on Wednesday February 27, 2002 @04:44PM (#3079929)
    One of the best things I've seen in a browser is the scrapbook in IE for MacOS. This isn't even in the Windows version of IE and I really have no idea why.

    I'd love to see this in Mozilla, or any of the front-end browsers. It's very convient when you order something, to just toss the reciept page in the scrapbook so you can refrence the tracking number without hassle. Or when I'm looking at a professor's website for his notes, just scrapbook what I have to read and read it offline(i'm on an ibook)

    • Sounds like a cool idea. I did a search for "scrapbook" at Bugzilla and didn't see any existing requests. You could go file an RFE at http://bugzilla.mozilla.org

      If you don't feel comfortable with the (more than slightly arcane) Bugzilla interface, drop me an email (trapper@freeke.org) and I'll file it for you.
  • Tabs are great for browsing porn and warez sites, this is going to be my favourite, I really miss my Galeon

  • chimera (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 27, 2002 @08:29PM (#3081522)
    funny how much the comments on this thread have nothing to do with chimera.

    "have you tried opera?"
    "how about omniweb?"

    who cares? this is about chimera. and, though it is currently in pre-pre-beta probably alpha stage (hell, a good many of the basic features aren't even there yet), it is waaay faster than any browser out there - probably for any platform. check out the speed tests at chimera.mozdev.org. wow. and when you try it, you can see that it's true.

    funny that the person raving about omniweb was saying how fast it is.. their benchmarks nail it as the slowest of the bunch (and i'd agree). omniweb looks great, but it ain't no speed demon. ie is much faster.

    anyway, i check the development site every day to see if there are new versions released. each new release has been leaps and bounds better than the last. i'd say that this will be hands down best browser in a couple months if they keep pushing it forward at the current pace.

    no one has commented on the sidebar yet - very cool. when they finish it, it will even have google search in the sidebar pull-out. hell yeah.. that's one of the few things i really like about opera (and the google toolbar for IE on windoze).

    big round of applause for the fine folks developing this browser!
    • The latest OmniWeb is 4.1 sneaky peek 50 (v361) which is very fast and much better than the released version. Get it from http://www.omnigroup.com/ftp/pub/software/MacOSX/. sneakypeek/ and enjoy. OmniWeb SP is getting better almost everyday.

  • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • question above. pls answer. much appreciated. :)

    (see screenshot of the browser)
  • Maybe I've just used mozilla so long I'm used to it, but I like the 'modern' theme.

    Also, the XPFE makes an interface standard across platforms, which could make it easier for users to move from one to another without having much of a learning curve, as well as allowing for development of cross-platform apps using the Mozilla rendering engine. Anyway, it has so many great potential uses, I fail to see what is so bad about it. At least for me, it isn't "bulky" ... although I'm not sure how that adjective can be used to describe a software program.

    The bottom line is this: If you like your programs to all have the same 'look,' that's great, good for you, and I'm glad someone is building a look for Mozilla that makes you happy. However, don't rip on the XPFE just because you don't use it.
    • I don't "rip on" XPFE just because I don't use it. I "rip on" it because it doesn't look like a Mac app. Mac apps should look like Mac apps. Mozilla doesn't look like a Mac app. Therefore it's bad (for those of us who value the concistency HIG principle, anyway). MSIE, on the other hand, is a fantastic app as far as looking and acting like a Mac app. However, it is crash-happy and from Microsoft. :-)

      In addition to looking wrong, it also doesn't act properly. At least it does drag and drop to the Desktop, but it lacks Keychain support, AppleScript support ... bah!

      I dig Mozilla, but not as a Mac app.
  • I'm almost ready to switch to X. I'm really Really REALLY sick of Nutscrape 4.7.9 taking a big fat dump 5-6 times a day on my classic installation. I'm old school Mac & Linux and X is just too damned funky to please me right off the bat. I think I can force myself to suffer through it until whatever major changes Apple's bound to make to X in the future (too many people are having trouble and this is such a new GUI implementation to not make some major changes soon, maybe 10.5 or something). On X I can't justify using Mozilla. It's lack of decent javascript support is what's holding me back. I have to have that support. The web interface to my Packeteer won't work right without it. I do like Opera. I don't think I've tested the JS support in it yet though. Mozilla developers, if you're listening, fix the JS issues and you've scored at least one more user.

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