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iCab released another new browser beta (available only to registered iCab users) this week. iCab 4.2.5 beta 69 adds several feature enhancements, including new Bookmarks Smart Folders, more Multi-touch trackpad gestures tuned to work on the MacBook Air and the news MacBook/MacBook Pro, and a YouTube Download filter, as well as the usual gaggle of minor bugfixes and improvements.I've become accustomed to expecting stability from iCab - final or beta - and version 4.2.5b69 has been solid and unbuggy in several days use now.
In the Bookmarks window you can now create "Smart Folders". You can't manually add bookmarks into Smart Folders, instead you have to define some rules for these folders. iCab will then automatically populate these folders with all the bookmarks which macth the rules. So for example you can create a folder where all the bookmarks are listed which were created the last week, etc. For full details and more information on what's new in this beta release, see the changelog at the end of this article.
One thing I love about iCab bui4.xlds is that it's lightning starting up - even faster than Safari if my gut impression serves me. Another is that while I've always liked iCab, going back to experimenting with a German-language version back in the late '90s, it's never been more likeable than it is with these Version Apple WebKit-based 4.2.5 builds.
iCab is a niche player in the browser world, with less than one percent of the market, but it deserves a wider clientele on merit, and reminds me of long-running ad campaign for a brand of beer here in Atlantic Canada, which claims that "people who like it like it a lot." The same goes for iCab's fiercely loyal cohort of fans, and they have a point. There is an awful lot to like about iCab, which I consider the Mercedes Benz of browsers. It may not be the most potent powerhouse on the Information Highway, but it's a tour-de-force of solid and innovative engineering with a quiality feel.
One new feature in recent builds of iCab is the Cache Browser that is now available in the Tools menu if you're runnign MacOSX 10.5 and later. Under Mac OS X 10.3/10.4 the Cache browser is not available because the format of the cache files is unknown under these MacOS versions. The Cache Browser window displays a list of all files that are stored in the web cache, and it's possible to filter out certain items by activating/deactivating the file type buttons or by entering some text. There's also a preview available for all files. Through the contextual menu it's also possible to save the files to disk. Very cool, especially for folks like me who spend a lot of time working offline and are stuck with a slow dialup connection..
Another very cool and handy new feature recently added to iCab is the ability to save Web pages as PDF files.
If you've never checked out iCab, or it's been a while since you did, give this little browser a look. You may get hooked. The only caveat is that while iCab has pledged from the outset that a free version would always be available, it remains one of the last two browsers (OmniWeb is the other) that requires a software license fee for full support. A single user license of "iCab Pro" costs $25 / 25 EUR. Entering this code in iCab will switch off the "shareware reminder" box. At the moment, the only restriction of the free version is that annoying little "shareware reminder" box popping up from time to time. Also users who have paid for a license are able to get newer (beta) releases of iCab like this one earlier than other users who have to wait for final releases.
System requirements for iCab 4:
MacOSX 10.3.9 and newer,
MacOSX 10.4.x or 10.5.x is recommended.
System Support:
PPC/Intel
$25 Shareware/Freeware (NagWare)
For more information, visit:
http://www.icab.de/
Changelogs
New in iCab since the version 4.2 final release:
Changes in Beta 69:
- In the bookmarks window you can now create "Smart Folders". You can't manually add bookmarks into Smart Folders, instead you have to define some rules for these folders. iCab will then automatically populate these folders with all the bookmarks which macth the rules. So for example you can create a folder where all the bookmarks are listed which were created the last week, etc.
- In the Bookmarks window there are two additional columns available (can be enabled/disabled through the contextual menu) to show the creation date and the tags. Tags can be used to categorizes the bookmarks and set keywords. Both new properties are especially useful for the new smart folder feature.
- Multi-touch trackpad gestures do work now (on the MacBook Air and the news MacBook/MacBook Pro):
+ 3 finger swipe gestures left/right: go back/forward
+ 3 finger swipe gestures up/down: switch tabs left/right
+ rotate gestures: reload page
- The YouTube Download filter was updated and now also supports downloading the new HD video quality. But please note, that only few videos currently are available in HD quality. So if the download in HD quality does not work, you have to download the SD quality. (An example video which is available in HD quality:
- When changing the text encoding in the "View" menu, the selected encoding is not force-set for the web page. Until now only the default encoding was set.
- When holding down the ALT key while launching iCab the autsave-session is not loaded.
- In the Download Manager it's now possible to tell iCab to load URLs with a different search part only once when doenloading whole web sites. This can be useful, if a certain web site does not return different content for different search parts in the URLs.
- Using colors for the URL field in the browser toolbar is now the default setting (can be switched off in the experimental settings).
- Cookies for the TLD "name" were not accepted if the full domain name had only 2 levels.
- If JavaScript was disabled in general but for a certain IFRAME JavaScript was enabled, WebKit did enable JavaScript for the main frame again.
- If iCab is configured to ask what to do when loading a session file, it's now also possible to load the session file without closing the windows of the current session.
- Added a workaround for MacOSX 10.4.x and Apple's "me.com" image gallery.Because of a bug in MacOSX 10.4.x the image gallery didn't work when iCab was configured in the cache settings to load files from the "best source" (which means cached files are loaded only from the web, if the file in the web is newer that the file in the cache).
- In Kiosk mode it was possible to use Cmd-2 to switch on/off the navigation toolbar, which should not be possible.
Changes in Beta 66:
- Added a workaround for a bug of the WebKit under MacOSX 10.5.5. When a web page with Flash content was opend in a background Tab so the pages is loaded while it is still hidden, a few pages did not show the flash content. This workaround can be enabled in the "experimental settings" if you visit pages where this issue shows up. This workaround should be switched off if possible, because it has a side effect: This workaound doesn't hide hidden Tabs anymore, it will move it out of the visible area of the window instead. And so input fields can still get the focus when using the Tab key to switch the focus. Most web pages with Flash content are not affected by this bug, also only MacOSX 10.5.5 has this problem, so the workaround usually doesn't need to be enabled.
- Added a workaround for a bug of WebKit which affects links with fragement identifiers which are opened in a new background Tab. WebKit didn't scroll correctly to the fragment identifier when the page was opened while it was hidden.
- Workaround added for printing web pages with Frames.
- Fixes a problem of the Cache Browser. The preview didn't always work.
- In the Download Manager window there are now new shortcuts available: Cmd-I (Information), Space (start/stop the selected downloads) and Control-N (new download).
- Fixed a problem in the Tab Overview.
- In Kiosk mode the menus of the favorites folders in the toolbar were all disabled.
- Added a "list view" in the build-in RSS reader.
- Added code to correct broken feed URLs (like "feed:http://domain/path/file" with multiple URL schemes).
- Fixed a possible crash location (for MacOSX 10.5.5).
Charles W. Moore
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