Classic Mac OS Software (Discussions on Applications) > Browsers, FTP, & Remote Control
iCab
Jakl:
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I think that's only part of the problem. Huge is an understatement! You seem to be wishing for a usable, up-to-date browser for G3 and earlier systems. Realistically, that's a practical impossibility. Modern webpages, are so full of (mostly unnecessary) Javascript, tracking links, elaborate graphics, more Javascript, fonts, ads, etc. that the (possibly larger) problem is that the hardware is simply not up to the task of rendering said pages in an acceptable amount of time, if at all! The CPUs are simply too slow. The need for cache space in the limited system RAM puts another nail in the coffin as well.
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why only for G3 and earlier - when iCab will work on all Macs Pre G3 and onwards to Mac Intel?
GaryN:
All right… maybe I should have said G4 and earlier…or not. When I said development stopped on icab, I meant the old Mac OS9-and-below version. Alexander moved forward with the times. The newer versions are definitely worthwhile, and the fact that he's packed so much as Universal Binarys, overlapped major updates etc. and even ported to iOS is very cool.
Classilla on the other hand, at least gets the occasional update, although Cameron's first priority is always 10-4-Fox.
The problem still stands: The biggest obstacle to a good pre-OSX browser is the hardware. You're a developer - you want to build it, it'll never make a buck because it's a small niche market AND the only machines you'll probably be able to get decent performance out of are the later PPCs - now your looking at OS 8.6 - 9.2 and the market's even smaller… how much of your spare time can you put into it? Talk about a thankless task!
Mat:
--- Quote from: GaryN on November 24, 2015, 11:43:10 PM ---The problem still stands: The biggest obstacle to a good pre-OSX browser is the hardware.
--- End quote ---
Sorry but that statement is simply wrong. Look at a good Linux - let´s say MiNT-PPC and recent browsers. Thats absolutely accepatable! A Pismo is usable, a G4/1000MHz is fun and can render anything!
The same could be done for Mac OS 8.6 to 9.2.2.
And as said, 20k Classilla users are not nothing!
Belive me, I am living with Classilla and iCab for Mac OS 9 as ONLY webbrowsers!
Mat:
BTW, I had a look at classilla.org about the former downloads, and it seems people keep downloading the 9.3.2 version from google code and not everybody gets the latest 9.3.3 from SourceForge, as 9.3.2 has 26k downloads recently, …
At all there have been 115.069 classilla binary downloads yet!
GaryN:
I'm going to make one final statement on this subject and then I'm going to move on.
You're missing my point entirely. You and I and everyone on this forum are not typical computer users. Your willingness to live with only OS9 browsers without up-to-date plugins, NO HD video, primitive Javascript, expired security certs, and on and on, is NOT typical of the masses. Actually, it's not enough for me either. I don't know where you go on the web, but I absolutely need a lot more browser for my work than I can get in OS9.
Look, I love OS9! I do virtually ALL of my recording in OS9. I've produced entire albums AND designed the graphics for them in OS9. But I'm a Luddite. The music world, like it or not, is centered on ProTools, Audio Units, Melodyne and its ilk, and so on. That's where the user base is and so that's where the development is. I have to deal with exporting files to PT all the time because I'm outside the mainstream - and that's OK by me.
Software devs have the same problems facing musicians, filmmakers, artists, writers et al. Ya gotta be able to make a living somehow. It takes a helluva lot more users than our little niche group to make a viable user base that a developer can earn some kind of return from to pay the rent and that mass of users simply will not put up with the limitations of OS9 browser software and the hardware it runs on.
Those limitations get worse every day as the web continues to evolve.
I have a 2 x 1.8GHz (thank you Sonnet) MDD and my dual-YuckTel MacBook Pro runs rings around it on the internet. That's Firefox OR Safari on ElCrapitan vs. 10-4-Fox on Leopard. I also use the MDD with Classilla a lot when in OS9. Classilla really kind of zips along pretty well at 1.8GHz but YouTube won't even allow it in the house! Facebook? Forget it!
20k Classilla users are not nothing, but at the returns you can get developing software for an obsolete platform that I still say would need a dedicated aux chipset to keep up, they're simply not enough. Plus, as time goes by, that group just gets smaller.
It kinda sucks, but that's life and I'm done pontificating. I'm not actually long-winded, I just type fast…
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