Classic Mac OS Software (Discussions on Applications) > Browsers, FTP, & Remote Control
iCab
Jakl:
--- Quote from: Knezzen on November 23, 2015, 12:13:45 AM ---iCab is essentally a port of the Atari browser CAB to Mac, made by the same guy and distributed by ASH software back in the 90's. Cab stands for "Crystal Atari Browser".
It's pretty fast, but I don't see any reason to use it except if you have a really old pre-G3 Mac.
--- End quote ---
It is even ported to Macosx up to and including 10.11, it
has been around for macos 7.5 - 9.2.2 so I don't think that it is only for old macs.
I was hoping that the owner might be able to update the 9.2.2 version because of all his experience with modern browsers and their modern components - and it is such a small file like 2.3mb(the 9.2.2 version).
Mat:
iCab is still a cool webbrowser. There are some pages that are rendered correctly with iCab that Classilla cannot do. And you have to understand that in 2008 when the latest Mac OS 9 version came out, it was absolutely up to date! Not very fast, but rendering was top, and it is not so demanding like Netscape/Mozilla/Wamcom/Classilla are.
A few years ago I had some mailcontact with Alexancer Clauss (the developer), but he told me that he doubt that there will be a new version. Especialy as there are many new webtechniques that would require huge amount of work. Nevertheless, I can imagine, that he would do it if there is enough demand. We even could try to aks him how many new sells would convince him into doing a new up to date version.
I am not talking about 10 or 20 mails to him, but if we would start a kind of community campaign and gather - let´s say 500 people who are willing to pay for a new version there might be chances, … and as Classilla has about 20k downloads alone for the last version I think 500 or 1000 new buyers for iCab should be a realistic aim. Of course it would mean to organize, …
GaryN:
--- Quote from: Mat on November 23, 2015, 04:25:18 PM ---A few years ago I had some mailcontact with Alexancer Clauss (the developer), but he told me that he doubt that there will be a new version. Especialy as there are many new webtechniques that would require huge amount of work.
--- End quote ---
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.
C.K.'s (actually clever) attack on this problem is providing a menu to change the Classilla user agent to identify as a mobile browser so that the site will load those far smaller, simpler pages instead. Older Macs with smaller screens are actually a pretty good match for mobile webpages. If you haven't tried this, you definitely should - it actually works pretty well - the important stuff is still there but the clutter isn't!
With who knows how many thousands of web designers out there working on unnecessary bells & whistles every day to justify their salaries though, a real solution to this just gets more and more unlikely by the minute.
In the end, you can have 100 thousand potential buyers for a modern OS9-and-below browser for old machines and it won't solve any of the above.
Hmmm… you know, maybe a NuBus / PDS card with an auxiliary chipset dedicated to the task would work.
Yeah, that'll happen…
MDD:
iCab is my main browser on Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, iPhone and iPad. ;D
I have used iCab since late 1990’s when I got my first Macintosh. After some time with Netscape I found a light browser from a German developer and I was impressed. This tiny browser has got all the options you can think of and lots of powerful tools, a download manager where if you mess things could end downloading the whole Internet LOL, a cookie manager, a form manager, an incredible powerful filter manager, on which you can do the magic of iCab, a cache browser, a Kiosk mode that made it the browser of choice on the Spanish ‘Ciutat de les arts y les ciències’ at Valencia http://www.cac.es/?languageId=1 on their iMacs and eMacs, a powerful find tool, a HTML validator, etc … all built-in, without any add-ons that made your browser work as a percolator!!
And don’t forget that the latest version for Classic, 3.0.5 is not even optimized for speed, as Alexander was working on turning the Carbon iCab into the Cocoa WebKit version that 4.0 was.
Some other accolades of iCab were.. it’s the only browser with Tabs for 68K Macintoshes, the first browser to get a 100/100 on Acid3 test, the fastest browser on Mac OS X (tested on 2008)
I doubt that Alexander keeps a classic Macintosh nowadays to develop for Mac OS 9. I know he is super busy with the iOS version of iCab Mobile, he updated iCab Mac OS X for El Capitan some days ago.
And of course iCab is for Macintosh only, not a thing from another place, a foul, alien and misshapen troll lurking under the bridge named /Applications. :P In fact I asked him some time ago if it was plausible an iCab version for SGI as there the modern browsers available are, umm, firefox 3 only. But he told me that probably the only option to see iCab on SGI machines would be running the SGI Freeware Basilisk II Emulator.
And about Alexander, he replies your enquirers on a daily basis. His Apps, mainly iCab Mobile are his only income, so don’t be a pirate. He has other great apps, but mostly unknown out of Germany, yes, that still happens in the All-Connected Internet era.
ovalking:
I sometimes use iCab 2.9.9a (which is now free).
It works with System 7.5, and can access some sites that Netscape/IE can not (e.g. Yahoo Mail). It's quite quick too, but strangely struggles on some sites that you would not expect to be a problem.
Unfortunately it has a few bugs - the unexpected quits are really annoying!
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