New Firefox, Camino, and SeaMonkey Releases - Mini-Review Update
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Camino 1.5.2 does offer some new or upgraded features. See details below.
I spent part of my weekend downloading and checking out all three updated browsers, and in general terms they all proved to be smooth, fast performers and I encountered no bugginess or instability.
Mozilla's cross-platform flagship, Firefox, is the most popular Gecko browser on the Mac platform. Camino's distinction is its Mac-only status and its pretty Cocoa user interface, SeaMonkey - which carries on the classic Netscape/Mozilla suite browser tradition, incorporates an email/newsreader, html authoring, and chat modules along with the browser module, - the latter two being developed under the umbrella of the Mozilla Organization. The fourth major Gecko-based browser Netscape, was just released in its version 9.0 final three weeks ago, and I'm not sure whether it incorporates the 1.8.1 version of the Gecko rendering engine yet or not.
Personally, I don't see much consistent difference in speed among the latest versions of Firefox, Camino, and SeaMonkey, or for that matter Netscape 9.0. They are all excellent performers and in the same league as the speedster Opera browser. It's more a matter of which feature set you find most useful and desirable, and which user interface you like the look of best.
Firefox 2.0.0.8
Firefox is of course the benchmark Gecko browser, and it's a perfectly competent one. It's also the one of the four major Gecko browsers that I find myself using least, not because there is anything wrong with it particularly. It's just that I find it sort of plain-vanilla bland compared with the looks and features of its cousins, although it has been catching up in the features context recently.
On the other hand, if plug-in additions turn your crank, Firefox is the one for you, with a wide selection of add-ons available, and there are also "skins" that can glam up its appearance. Personally. I'm not much into plugins or other add-ons, and prefer using a stock browser for the most part, although there are a few browser add-ons that have beguiled me, like Safari Stand and CaminoSession - the latter now rendered superfluous since Camino got built-in session restore support with the latest version 1.5.
New in Firefox 2.0.0.8
:
The following security issues were fixed.
Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) Support:
Firefox 2.0.0.8 is compatible with Mac OS X 10.5, although there are some known issues affecting some media plugins.
New Languages:
Official releases for Georgian (ka) and Romanian (ro) are now available. Beta release for Kurdish (ku) is also available for testing.
Known issues:
All Systems
• Some firewall software may silently block Firefox from running. This often happens immediately after Firefox has been installed or updated from a previous version. There are configuration instructions available for most popular firewall programs to help you ensure that Firefox is allowed to connect to the Internet.
• Dictionaries for several locales can't be packaged with the builds, and must be manually downloaded by right-clicking in a text area and selecting "Add Dictionaries..." from the shortcut menu. New dictionaries are regularly being added to Mozilla Add-ons, so if you don't see the particular dictionary you need, check back later.
• Access key definitions provided by web pages can now be triggered using Alt+Shift+key on Windows, Ctrl+key on Mac OS X, and Ctrl+Shift+key on Unix.
• The Session Restore functionality provided in Firefox 2 will restore connections to services which use session cookies to maintain login state such as GMail. It is recommended that users with concerns about the privacy implications of this behavior change the value of browser.sessionstore.resume_from_crash to false.
• The option for "Shrink to fit" has been removed in Firefox 2. If you wish to change this from the value you had set in your previous version of Firefox, change the value of browser.enable_automatic_image_resizing.
• Software Update will not work if Firefox is installed to a location on your disk to which you do not have write access, since Software Update needs to replace or create files in this location.
• Some financial institutions use port 563 for secure logins, which results in an error message. If you encounter this error, make sure that network.security.ports.banned.override includes 563 in the comma-separated list of banned network ports to override.
Mac OS X
• On OS X 10.5 (Leopard), there are known problems with some media plugins as well as Add-ons that contain binary components. Also, the tabs in Preferences > Advanced will not render properly.
• The "Close Other Tabs" action on the shortcut menu of a tab can fail with an error when more than 20 tabs are open.
• Some users have reported problems viewing Macromedia Flash content on Intel Mac computers. To work around this problem, users can remove or move the PowerPC version of "Flash Player Enabler.plugin from /Library/Internet Plug-Ins.
• After installing a new plug-in, Firefox may continue to display information for the older version of the plug-in in about:plugins. If this happens, quit Firefox, delete the "pluginreg.dat" file from your profile folder, and relaunch Firefox.
• Java does not run on Intel Core processors under Rosetta.
• There is no Talkback on Intel-based Macs when running natively or under Rosetta. The Apple Crash report program should launch in the event of application crashes.
For more information, visit:
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/
Camino 1.5.2 Web Browser - Mozilla Power Mac Style
The Camino project has worked to create a browser that reflect the aesthetic elegance of the Mac OS and Mac hardware.
Camino combines the pretty appearance and features of Apple's Cocoa environment with the powerful web-browsing capabilities of the Gecko rendering engine. It's hard to argue with the way Camino 1.0 looks. It's much more attractive in my estimation than either Firefox or SeaMonkey - kind of gorgeous, actually, in a tastefully understated, very Mac-like motif. I would pronounce it light-years ahead of Apple's own Safari in the looks department.
It also has some kick-ass features, like perhaps the best bookmark import and management implementation of any Mac OS browser (now shared with Firefox 2). To import bookmarks from another browser. Run Camino, choose "Import Bookmarks" from the File menu. In the resulting file dialog, choose the bookmarks file you wish to import, and click Open. The bookmarks will be imported into a new container in the bookmarks manager.
New in Camino 1.5:
• Feed Detection Sites with RSS feeds are discovered automatically, and are just a single-click subscribe
• Spell Checking Checks as you type, and suggests the words you might be looking for
• Session Saving All your tabs and windows are preserved at startup, even after a crash
• Improved Tabs 'Single window mode' forces new windows to open in tabs, and 'tab jumpback' to return to your previous page.
From new features like the system spell-checker and session saving to improvements in trademark features like annoyance blocking, Camino 1.5 makes all your web tasks more enjoyable. Built on the world's most compatible rendering engine, Mozilla's Gecko 1.8.1, it displays more pages more accurately than any other Cocoa browser.
Spell-checking
Camino 1.5 includes the built-in Mac OS X spell-checker on every text field. Unlike Firefox, this spell-checker is the same one used throughout Mac OS X. Now you don't have to worry about making spelling mistakes when writing for your blog, leaving comments, or posting on your favorite forum.
Session Saving
Camino 1.5 now includes support for "session saving", or optionally remembering what pages you were visiting when you quit and automatically loading them the next time you start—perfect for all those times you have to install Mac OS X updates. In addition, while crashes are not common, Camino can now load the pages you were visting when you start Camino after it unexpectedly quit.
Annoyance Blocking
Since version 1.0, Camino has included both pop-up blocking and adblocking. But now, it’s even better. Camino 1.5 includes an improved pop-up blocker user interface making it more visible and giving you the option to show the pop-up, whitelist the site, or never get prompted again. Additionally, Camino now includes the ability to keep Flash animation from loading until you’re ready (Flashblock) as well as the ability to disable all plug-ins.
Gecko Rendering Engine
At its core, Camino 1.5 uses Mozilla's Gecko 1.8.1 rendering engine, the same engine used in the popular Firefox 2 web browser. Gecko renders web pages more accurately than any other rendering engine on the planet. Not only is it incredibly fast but it also supports the latest web standards and is built on open source technologies.
Feed Detection
By popular demand, Camino 1.5 supports the detection of RSS/Atom feeds in web pages. When a feed is found, an icon appears in the location bar. Clicking that icon and selecting a feed will send the feed to your default Mac OS X feed reader.
Improved Tabs
Camino's legendary tabbed browsing is even better in version 1.5. New tooltips help you keep track of all your tabs when you can't read their titles. "Single window mode" tames sites that insist on opening new windows by forcing their new windows to open in tabs, keeping window clutter to a minimum. With "tab jumpback", when a site opens a new tab, you can "jump back" to the page you were viewing simply by closing the new tab.
Camino now maintains compatibility with Safari Keychain entries, making migration simpler, as well as new options for the Downloads windows, such as the ability to send items directly to the Trash from the window. Camino 1.5 also includes the ability to save cookies for the current session only.
Camino 1.5.2
This version contains brand new features as well as stability and security fixes.
Changes since Camino 1.5
The following changes and improvements have been made since the Camino 1.5 release.
Camino 1.5.2 contains the following improvements over version 1.5.1:
• Upgraded to version 1.8.1.8 of the Mozilla Gecko rendering engine, which includes several critical security and stability fixes.
• Large download lists and corrupt site icons will no longer cause Camino to stop loading pages or opening windows.
• When viewing the source of a frame, Camino now uses cached data instead of requesting the frame again.
• When JavaScript code wants to focus a minimized window, Camino now properly restores the window from the Dock.
• Pages which perform actions when the tab or window is closed now function properly.
• Camino no longer adds site icons for local files to the site icon cache.
• Upgraded the "Block flash animations" code to use Flashblock 1.5.4.1.
• Upgraded the bundled Java Embedding Plugin to version 0.9.6.3.
• Improved ad-blocking.
Camino 1.5.1 contains the following improvements over version 1.5:
• Upgraded to version 1.8.1.6 of the Mozilla Gecko rendering engine, which includes several critical security and stability fixes.
• When changing Chinese, Japanese, or Korean font preferences, using the "Advanced" sheet will now set the font correctly.
• Camino will no longer crash when right-clicking in certain web page menus.
• Alerts and prompts that appear while Camino is hidden will now display properly when Camino is made visible again.
• Spelling items in contextual menus will be displayed in the correct language in localized versions of Camino.
• Camino will no longer auto-fill passwords in disabled form fields.
• Improved ad-blocking.
Features in Camino 1.5
The following are the major changes and improvements made since the Camino 1.0 release. A full list is available on our website.
• Spelling
• Spell-checking using the Mac OS X spelling dictionaries is now enabled in web page text fields.
• Feed detection
• When a web page offers an Atom or RSS feed, Camino will display an icon in the location bar, and clicking the icon will pass the feed to the system's default feed reading application.
• Session restore
• Camino can remember which pages were open when quitting and restore them the next time it opens.
• After a browsing session has terminated unexpectedly, Camino will offer to restore the pages which were open previously.
• Improved tabbed browsing
• Single-window mode: There is a new option to force links that would open new windows to open in new tabs instead.
• Tab jumpback: Camino now supports returning to the original tab after viewing a page in a new tab.
• Keychain compatibility
• Camino can now share Keychain entries with Safari.
• Keychain entries saved by Camino are now saved in a way that allows other applications to read them.
• Pop-up blocking
• The pop-up blocking notification is now more visible.
• The new pop-up notification offers more powerful controls for managing pop-ups.
• Enhanced plug-in control
• Camino 1.5 includes the ability to disable all plug-ins.
• Flashblock : The new "Block Flash animations" option prevents Flash from starting until the user clicks the play icon.
• Window zooming
• The Zoom command now resizes the window to fit the current page's content instead of making the window full-screen.
• Downloading
• A new optional toolbar icon in the Downloads window allows users to move downloaded files to the Trash.
• Items in the Downloads window can now be automatically removed upon completion or when quitting Camino.
• Searching
• The search field in the toolbar is now resizable.
• The context menu for selected text in web pages now includes a "Search" item.
• Cookie management
• Camino now includes an option to accept cookies only for the current session.
• User interface polish
• Camino 1.5 includes a major reorganization of menus and keyboard shortcuts. The preference panes have been redesigned.
• Web content
• Camino now uses version 1.8.1 of Mozilla's Gecko rendering engine, which contains thousands of bug fixes and support for new technologies like JavaScript 1.7.
Known Issues
• Some users have experienced a situation where pages would appear not to load after clicking on a link. In this case, resizing the browser window may allow the page to display properly.
• Microsoft's Windows Media Player (WMP) plugin causes major rendering issues in Camino. Since Microsoft has discontinued WMP on Mac OS X, Camino no longer supports the use of the WMP plugin; instead, all users should download the free Flip4Mac (F4M) plugin, version 2.1 or higher, from http://www.flip4mac.com/. Version 2.1 causes pages containing WMP content to become white when scrolled in Camino; there is currently no ETA for a fixed version of the F4M plugin.
• Camino erroneously claims that the default Japanese and Traditional Chinese fonts are "missing" when they are actually installed; this is due to a mismatch between Carbon and Cocoa font names. Changing these fonts using the Fonts preference pane will result in incorrect fonts being chosen and will cause some characters to fail to display. Users should either keep the default fonts or change the font preferences using the "Advanced…" sheet System Requirements
System Requirements
• Mac OS X 10.3 or later
• 50 MB free hard drive space
Camino 1.5 is a universal binary and runs natively on both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs.
For more information, visit:
http://www.caminobrowser.org/
SeaMonkey 1.1.2 Web-Browser Suite
SeaMonkey is the successor to the old Netscape Communicator the Mozilla Suite application, including a browser, email client, web/html-authoring module and chat/instant messaging clients, allowing users to conduct all their Web activities in one application.
Aside from the much more attractive SeaMonkey logo, this browser otherwise looks almost exactly like old Mozilla 1.7 in terms of appearance, as well as including a Netscape Communicator style email client, a WYSIWYG web page composer and an IRC chat application, plus mozilla.org's DOM inspector and JavaScript debugger tools, SeaMonkey 1.1.5 is a powerful, comprehensive, and secure internet software package. If you are familiar with Mozilla or classic Netscape, you'll feel right at home in SeaMonkey, but underneath the hood much of the core code and the swift Gecko 1.8.1 rendering engine shared with the Firefox 2.x browser.
New in SeaMonkey 1.1.5
MFSA 2007-36 URIs with invalid %-encoding mishandled by Windows
MFSA 2007-35 XPCNativeWrapper pollution using Script object
MFSA 2007-34 Possible file stealing through sftp protocol
MFSA 2007-33 XUL pages can hide the window titlebar
MFSA 2007-32 File input focus stealing vulnerability
MFSA 2007-31 Browser digest authentication request splitting
MFSA 2007-30 onUnload Tailgating
MFSA 2007-29 Crashes with evidence of memory corruption (rv:1.8.1.8)
MFSA 2007-28 Code execution via QuickTime Media-link files
For more information, visit:
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/
Charles W. Moore
