So, the story continues..... the update 2.1 has been published and HiSoft
have done wonders issuing mails to all who registered and giving the URL
to download the update and keyfile.
The first thing I noticed was that this version still wasn't complete
as with the new set of preferences I had enabled javascript. This resulted
in my Browser crashing whenever I went
to a site containing Javascript! It should be noted that most sites
contain javascript nowadays and it led to me disabling it in the prefs
,in order that I could actually stay on-line.
More e-mails winged their merry way to HiSoft and it turned out I was
not alone and there was an update to the Javascript library.
Again provided conscientiously by HiSoft. I was starting to feel for
them :)
So far this is the last update I have received and I am happy now that IBrowse is again working
So, lets take a look at the new version. The major change is to the
preferences and the cache browser, not forgetting the Javascript
,of course. This may be over simplifying here as the
majority of IBrowse has had a rewrite although it still looks much
the same. It is only when you start to use the Browser that the differences
become clearer. The preferences have had a major overhaul and are laid
out in a totally different manner. All the old preferences are still there
i.e. use fast ram for images, proxy settings etc. However, there are plenty
of new options to play with, how to display specific sites. security settings,
the ability to remember passwords on sites just to name a few. The GUI
is much more customisable, with the ability to change the options on the
fast menus and the toolbar images .I know you could alter your toolbar
images before but it is so much easier now.
Plug-ins are a simple case of drag'n'drop into the plug in drawer as
well. In security, I'm afraid the SSL libs for the new version aren't
ready yet, although I have set it
to use Miami SSL in the meantime. You can now enable or disable certificates
and can select what type of SSL you use as well as being able to cache
secure documents and images, (a
definite boon if you forget what you actually put into a form). Javascript
options are included in this part of the menu as well. You can disable
the Javascript error messages which is
another good point as quite a lot of sites use Javascript that IBrowse
doesn't like and will report errors on it. Whether this is down to the
sites using different variants of Javascript ,I
couldn't really say but it means that you can save cancelling error
messages every two minutes by disabling it anyway.
The last new part of the menu is the URL prefs part where you can decide
what to use on specific sites! Just for instance, you can spoof as Mozilla
if you visit M$ (although why you
would want to visit the anti Christ's site is beyond me ). It means
you can also disable images for a particular site if you are going to a
graphics heavy site and only want to read the text.
As for the cache browser ..... it has been completely changed as well.
The cache now is able to show the address of all files and is generally
more accessible. All files are sorted by domain
or you can use the options to display any file type ,do a search of
the cache , show by date etc.
Right, how does the Browser actually work? Welllllllll, its better !!!!
The updated preferences and the updated cache browser definitely improve
it. Having Javascript also improves it and it is nice to see that
Amiga Browsers are keeping up! Again,
the layout engine has been updated and IBrowse displays tables better.
On the downside, its not as stable yet as IBrowse 1.22 . It still gives
me random crashes
although not too many and even crashing hasn't knocked me off-line.
It lacks its own SSL libs and some of the other features don't work too
well. e.g. the cache browser which can
tend to hang and show misleading figures when you start to explore
exactly what is in it. It now can output to postscript printers (don't
have one ,so can't comment). The graphical print
feature isn't enabled yet so there's still work to do on this part
as well. However it is a major improvement over the old print prefs ( a
part that used to let IBrowse down badly.) The
Browser seems smoother and faster than before although this might just
be my relief showing that it works finally.
There is now a cookie browser as well and that does make interesting reading!!!
You can now see exactly what is being stored in your cookies file ,
you can also delete specific cookies. There is a password manager which
lets you see which passwords or authorisations
you have stored and can remove them if the need arises. This will make
a difference when you log onto a site where you have to remember a password
to gain access. Of course .........
you don't need to store them and IBrowse gives you the option. In lieu
of a manual, IBrowse comes with a set of HTML docs which explain the various
parts on the new version and help you to set it up. These are pretty basic
so far and generally only give an overview of the workings. I feel that
if there isn't going to be a full manual, then the docs will need to be
substantially expanded. It would be nice to say that this particular version
is the finished article but I feel that a few more revisions are necessary
before IBrowse is back to being as stable as before.
There are still areas of the Browser requiring bug fixes and completion
with a few gripes thrown in . This said, I am sure that this will happen
and IBrowse will continue to be a contender for the best browser
on Amiga.
However, this is not to say that it is not worthwhile updating your
current version with this one. The new parts are well worth having and
as I said , it is more responsive than before. I
could point out that the new version is stable enough for me to use
it ,not only that but use it in preference over the more stable 1.22 version.
I also think it should be taken into
consideration that Stefan is practically writing this single-handed
and not (as other platforms Browsers) had a squad of programmers
on it full time. It is very good to see that Amiga
products are still being updated and I feel they deserve all the support
that we can give them, especially in these turbulent times. If you
haven't updated IBrowse yet, I urge you to do so as
soon as practical. Give the guy his due and buy the thing !!!!