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iCab released another new browser beta (available only to registered iCab users) this week. iCab 4.2.5 beta 70 adds more refinements, mainly several Bookmarks tweaks and Javascript tuning added to the Multi-touch trackpad gesture harmonization for the MacBook Air and the new MacBook/MacBook Pro, and a YouTube Download filter that were added to beta 69.I've become accustomed to expecting stability from iCab - final or beta - and version 4.2.5b70 seems typically solid and unbuggy. Because of some limitations of the Apple WebKit browser engine, which iCab is based on, the setting "JavaScript may open new windows without user interaction" didn't always work as expected.Now iCab tries to compensate this by some additional checks. You can read more about the changes in this build in the change notes below.
In the Bookmarks window you can 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 4.x builds 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 versions.
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
Changes in Beta 70 (10.02.2009)
- When filing news bookmarks it's now possible to create new folders directly in the "File Bookmark" dialog box.
- The "Enter Kiosk" dialog box the close button in the window title bar was active, which shouldn't be the case.
- In the experimental settings it is now possible to configure iCab so that it will decode "%nn"-encoded character in URLs when displaying the
URLs in the status bar.
- Because of some limitations of the WebKit, the setting "JavaScript may open new windows without user interaction" didn't always work as expected.
Now iCab tries to compensate this by some additional checks.
- When synchronizing the Bookmarks via WebDAV iCab will now check if the current date and time can be valid (if the backup battery of
the Mac is empty, the date and time is wrong and this will usually cause some issues when synchronizing data)
- When saving Web pages as ZIP archive and the web page contained an extremly large number of IFRAMEs and images, iCab did
temporarily use an extremly large amout of memory. Now iCab will free the temporary needed memory much earlier.
- The Javascript call "prompt()" did return the default value when the user clicked "cancel" instead of "null".
- When manually creating bookmarks in the bookmarks window, the "Cancel" button did the same as the "OK" button.
Charles W. Moore
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