Shiira 2.0b1 Web Browser Mini-Review - Browser Watch
The Shiira Web borwser is undergoing another metamorphosis, which a whole new interface that is unlike any other browser but incorporates elements borrowed from many and synergizes them into what is arguably the most unique browser interface available now that Opera has toned down its unconventionality It will probably appeal more to some than to others, but I rather like it, both in terms of aesthetics and functionality.
Probably the most striking new feature is a thumbnail "tab" bar, of the sort pioneered by Omniweb, but differently executed with the thumbnails arrayed along the bottom of the browser window.
The Shiira "Shelf" is no longer a Cocoa shelf, but a pane that opens up within the main browser window in which you can monitor and manage Bookmarks, downoaids, History, and search engines.
Shiira is a web browser written in Cocoa. It uses the KHTML rendering engine provided by Apple's Web Kit. Since this is the same rendering engine used by Safari, HTML content rendered by Shiira will look the same as in Apple's own browser.
The Shiira Project is an attempt to development a web browser using Web Kit. All source code is publicly available under the BSD license. We hope that our code will help other developers just starting out on their own Web Kit projects.
The first Shiira milestone is to implement the features used in everyday web browsing. The following has been implemented in the current version:
• Tabbed windows
• Bookmark management
• Sharing bookmarks with Safari
• Side drawer showing bookmarks and history
• Bookmarks toolbar
• Search field with choice of search engine
• Customizing toolbar
• Cache control panel
• Window appearance switching (Aqua and Metal)
• Toolbar icons switching
• Removing Cookie and cache at the termination
• Displaying favicon list
• Enable/disable favicon with bookmark
• Help document (Japanese only)
• Multiple source windows per one browser window
• Displaying HTTP header in source window
• Wheel button operation (open in new tab, and tab switching)
• Auto-tab for bookmark folder
• Displaying back-forward list on toolbar buttons
• Search text field for bookmark and history
Shiira also supports alternate appearance themes, which can be downloaded here:
http://hmdt-web.net/shiira/icons/en
New in version Version 2.0b1:
The developers say:
We release Shiira 2.0b1, that is the "Preview of New Version". Note that this is a beta version software. Very unstable and many features are not implemented yet.
We planned to create absolute new user interface for 2.0. It was hard to extend 1.x style interface. We discussed "what is the best user interface for the browser of the latest Mac OS X" from scratch.
We had made a lot of prototypes. We had tested various interfaces and dropped them. We had tried to implement many features and provide simple interface, both. Shiira user interface expects drastic changes, but still that is Shiira.
The purpose of this release is to introduce our new design. Almost fixed. We will implement remained features.
Shiira 2.0 requires Mac OS X 10.4, because one of the purpose of the Shiira project is to leverage latest Mac OS X features, ex. Core Data. But we have plan to release the successor of current 1.2 version, that is for 10.3.
The Shiira 2.0 beta is definitely buggy. I had a crash fairly early on, and although the program had imported my Safari bookmarks upon forst startup, they were lost in the crash, and I was unable to restore them, even after trashing the program preferences and restarting.
Not ready for routine browsing duty yet, but I look forward to subsequent, more stable builds.
System requirements:
Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Shiira's source code is released under the revised BSD license. This means you can use, modify, and redistribute this source code, if the copyright notice is retained. There are no restrictions for personal or commercial use. It is also not necessary to publish modifications made to the source code. See the document included in the downloaded image file for further information.
For more information, visit:
http://hmdt-web.net/shiira/en
Charles W. Moore
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