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nooon · 06:34 PM

iCab 3.0 Beta 222

The new iCab beta (registered users only) supports �CSS 2.0/2.1 probably more complete than most other browsers,� and it works on systems all the way back to Mac OS 8.5 (the first version to include ATSUI). The CSS support does seem to be much improved, but it was not evident to me how it�s better than in Internet Explorer 5 or Safari, and there are some areas where it�s clearly worse.

Read more and download HERE

edit: It seems this download is available to registered users only. Sorry..

Jacke · Dec 23, 2004, 03:48 PM

Didn't see any link on that page leading to a download

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Dec 23, 2004, 04:02 PM

Why in the world do people still use this thing?

jasong · Dec 23, 2004, 04:04 PM

Has iCab ever not been a beta?

-- Jason

Chuckit · Dec 23, 2004, 06:50 PM

Nope, but like the Little Program That Could, it's somehow gotten to 3.0 anyway.

MacGorilla · Dec 23, 2004, 07:11 PM

iCab is still around????

poocat · Dec 23, 2004, 08:19 PM

First, iCab rocked it back in the os9 days. It was the only browser to ever really give the user choice. I'm so excited to see that they're still working on it.

Except since i'm not a registered user, i can't see. That's ok. But does anyone actually have the beta? Any info?

pc.

F_Elz · Dec 23, 2004, 09:30 PM

Its feature set is nice...but where is the link to download?

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Dec 24, 2004, 12:50 AM

Originally posted by poocat:
It was the only browser to ever really give the user choice. I'm so excited to see that they're still working on it.

Netscape and IE? Does it only become a choice after 3?

Sharky K. · Dec 24, 2004, 02:32 AM

I think it is the best option for OS 9 users. For example: I need to make from old iMac's a kiosk for a little store. If iCab 3 supports a lot I can still use OS 9 instead of OS X.

yukon · Dec 24, 2004, 02:56 AM

Well, iCab has the filtermanager and a real download manager. In other words, all those specialty download programs that were around, iCab does the same functions easily. The filtermanager is an extremely fexible way to customize websites, you can filter images based on size/location/link, you can turn most any feature on for only sites you specify or off for certain ones, that includes javascript/css/cookies etc. It's also extremely fast compared with Safari and Firefox, Omniweb and Camino give it some competition. While rendering speed is a little slower than Safari last I saw, opening new windows and tabs and such is more instant, no more beachballing etc.

That's all great, iCab has had it forever. But it is an old application, and I've been waiting years for another browser to implement the features. Firefox decked out with extensions comes close, but it's still slow on OS X. This new beta sounds interesting. I'll probably end up using it, unless Firefox 1.1 comes out sooner and is improved on OS X.

Nice to hear it's not abandoned (I wonder every once in a while), but if you haven't actually used iCab, then I understand why you all are nonplussed or apathetic ;-)

Forbodium · Dec 25, 2004, 02:35 PM

I wish I could boot that �disgruntled head of C-3PO� over the fence. iCab DOES make it seem like everything else is just one choice. It rocks.

Does anyone know if iCab has had any other updates since 2.9.8 that were only open to registered users?

yukon · Dec 25, 2004, 08:19 PM

Be nice

. And not to my knowledge, though I'm not "registered".

iCab is probably the fastest browser for UI interaction, the features I mentioned are awesome. No other browser, outside Firefox on Windows, seems a replacement for iCab. And I keep trying to move away from it, I have about 5 browsers installed and up to date, but nothing seems to work well enough to replace it. I have high hopes for Firefox on OS X however, worried I'll be let down when 1.1 is released.

F_Elz · Dec 25, 2004, 10:18 PM

Its safari and Opera 8 for me, until iCab3

nooon · Dec 26, 2004, 08:08 AM

Originally posted by F_Elz:
Its safari and Opera 8 for me, until iCab3

Is Opera 8 for OS X out?

F_Elz · Dec 26, 2004, 08:41 AM

Well, betas. Although not out yet

it will be this week. :-D or so i here.

yukon · Dec 31, 2004, 11:07 PM

I've seen it in action. The Forms Manager looks nice, automatic entry of form data based on settings you make. The CSS support does seem to be there now, to the delight of many I'm sure. It's Unicode now, which is why it doesn't work on <MacOS 8.5

Turning on CSS, it makes the browser scroll slowly, maybe this is what everyone is always complaining about other browsers, how they scroll awkwardly. Turning it to 72dpi seems to help a bit, and it is a bit slower scrolling certain pages now even without CSS, but I'll still be leaving CSS off as I have in the past. It still is unable to load a page when a menu is open, though both Safari and Firefox (under OS X, not under Windows however) are equally disabled, not sure if this gauges multithreading at all. I would appreciate a bit more tweaking on iCab's interface....looks way more aqua-like than Firefox ATM, but it still feels old when compared to Camino or Omniweb. I see Aqua buttons are now being used instead of platinum, pages look nicer now (more whitespace?), which is a start I guess. I can see the blinking I-Bar in this text field through the URL bar however, there are bugs in this bet

Again, glad to see development. Sad to see it's a bit slower on my G4 now.

F_Elz · Jan 1, 2005, 05:23 AM

no public download?

Chuckit · Jan 1, 2005, 06:16 AM

Originally posted by yukon:
I can see the blinking I-Bar in this text field through the URL bar

Good lord, he still hasn't gotten rid of that bug? It was doing that back when I used to use iCab three years ago.

angelmb · Jan 1, 2005, 11:31 AM

iCab works great for me, Firefox is a slow dog under Mac OS X, Firefox under IRIX is much better, Safari is just OK, but does lack options, OmniWeb 5 has nice features trying to mimic iCab options to act by personal site preferences, but it is far for being comparable, nothing compares to iCab Form Manager, the new auto fill tool manager, the way it does save sites... the great thing about iCab is that I have the control all the time. So my choice is iCab, coming OmniWeb and Safari in a close fighting for second place.

MacGorilla · Jan 1, 2005, 11:58 AM

I use Konqueror under Irix and it rocks.

Sarc · Jan 1, 2005, 05:31 PM

my order is:
1st place, Opera and Firefox.
Opera's GUI feels faster, the tab management is unparalleled, the render compatibility and speed are OK, and it's got a boatload of options.
OTOH, Firefox's Extensions allow to extend it's capabilities to amazing limits, and it renders faster.

After using Opera for about a year, I'm using Firefox since, today, waiting for Opera 8. Then I shall make a decision.