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PowerFox Browser

powerfox.jazzzny.me

21–30 of 51 posts

Re: PowerFox Browser

#21
I absolutely love that folks keep these old systems going with stuff like this.

But, I do wonder what the browsing experience is like. It was rough using Firefox back on Mac's in the mid 2000's and the internet has only gotten significantly more data heavy since.

Anything less than a G5 would be difficult to deal with.

Re: PowerFox Browser

#22

One thing that seems to be common amongst many of these Firefox forks is they're very difficult to find which official version they're equivalent in functionality to. This one is no exception.

This is actually based on the Goanna web engine (a fork of the Firefox / Gecko web engine) derived from the https://www.basilisk-browser.org/ . You can find out more here - https://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?f=69&p=275829#p2758... .

The same complaint in my original comment applies - at what version was it forked from, what version of Firefox is it equivalent to?

https://www.basilisk-browser.org/features.html

Basilisk supports the technologies required for the modern web, while deliberately avoiding the rapid architectural and interface changes common in mainstream browsers.

Nothing but very vague and useless marketing-speak.

Re: PowerFox Browser

#23
post #8

One thing that seems to be common amongst many of these Firefox forks is they're very difficult to find which official version they're equivalent in functionality to. This one is no exception.

Probably because there often isn't a straight answer to that. I've no idea about the progeny of this browser, but I've seen several Firefox forks "interbreed", borrowing patches and feature backports from each other. So there might be a specific version of Firefox you can ultimately trace the repo to, it likely has code from newer versions spliced in. At least, that was my impression.

The closest they say is:

PowerFox is both standards compliant and feature-rich, supporting the latest web technologies to ensure compatibility with modern websites.

which means.. next to nothing. No "PowerFox version X has (at least) the same web standards support as Firefox Y".

it likely has code from newer versions spliced in

That's a good thing, but making it clearer what to expect will make it easier for potential users to decide whether to give it a try.

Re: PowerFox Browser

#24

Wonderful timing. I just set up an old Mac Pro with Snow Leopard and Vista [1] for retro software compatibility testing. I might download and give this a shot [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiZR3UFaWuU

yeah Allright! talk about timing, I've also recently been restoring a bunch of these iMacs, from the 2011-13 era. Such beautiful machines, and quite capable once configured! Obviously these are not workhorses, but for lightweight electronic appliances they are delicious: beautiful, stable, hackable and super accessible. Things like home accounting, basic office, photo and media libraries.... The only big issue I've crashed into is getting the modern web to work.. I've had very faint success using some specific older ArcticFox releases, but nothing solid... But I'd be super happy if this could play LowRes youtube.

Re: PowerFox Browser

#25
Bashed of comments here I checked https://www.basilisk-browser.org/ which is this bashed on looks great when you want lightweight browser to run on old laptops or whatever. Look like still some work being done looking at the repo (not a abandonware) I opened 20+ random tabs and ram usage still round gig, very nice I use old laptops to show some dashboards and stock ticker updates etc and I am fine with opening some trusted site or own designed dashboard in this thing even if underlying engine might not be secure ( worse case I mean I don’t know security/patches of underlying engine but it opened all random stuff I opened )

Re: PowerFox Browser

#26
post #7

There was a similar project called TenFourFox that was halted in 2022: https://www.floodgap.com/software/tenfourfox/ https://tenfourfox.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-end-of-tenfourfo... Some 12 years ago I had to order a new motherboard and at that time all I had at hand was some old eMac. I'm not sure if it had 512MB or 1GB of ram installed by previous owner but browsing the Internet was tiresome. Still, both that chunky…

(TenFourFox maintainer) Thanks, glad it was helpful to you. There is some TenFourFox code in this respin which is being used to support the widget code, and there is work in progress to forward-port its JIT. I'm not writing that code but I am advising on it as questions come up.

Thank you for your work on it! I love that I can browse most of the modern web on G4 and G5 Macs still.

Re: PowerFox Browser

#27
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably because there often isn't a straight answer to that. I've no idea about the progeny of this browser, but I've seen several Firefox forks "interbreed", borrowing patches and feature backports from each other. So there might be a specific version of Firefox you can ultimately trace the repo to, it likely has code from newer versions spliced in. At least, that was my impression.

The closest they say is: PowerFox is both standards compliant and feature-rich, supporting the latest web technologies to ensure compatibility with modern websites. which means.. next to nothing. No "PowerFox version X has (at least) the same web standards support as Firefox Y". it likely has code from newer versions spliced in That's a good thing, but making it clearer what to expect will make it easier for potentia…

> That's a good thing, but making it clearer what to expect will make it easier for potential users to decide whether to give it a try.

There are not that many options for the potential users.

Re: PowerFox Browser

#28
post #15

Seeing that aqua scrollbar fills me with such joy. This is when tech was joyful and fun. I think what happened to the scrollbar is such a reflection of our industry as a whole. A microcosm.

Well put. It’s why I’m so happy that the beta of MacOS Golden Gate shows proper designers who sweat the details are in charge again.

Re: PowerFox Browser

#29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is actually based on the Goanna web engine (a fork of the Firefox / Gecko web engine) derived from the https://www.basilisk-browser.org/ . You can find out more here - https://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?f=69&p=275829#p2758... .

The same complaint in my original comment applies - at what version was it forked from, what version of Firefox is it equivalent to? https://www.basilisk-browser.org/features.html Basilisk supports the technologies required for the modern web, while deliberately avoiding the rapid architectural and interface changes common in mainstream browsers. Nothing but very vague and useless marketing-speak.

Lookup PaleMoon and Basilisk in Wikipedia. The codebase of Goanna has diverged from Firefox / Gecko a lot, so trying to compare by versions won't tell you much. PaleMoon Goanna is regularly updated and supports nearly all the feature sets of a modern browser rendering engine and is feature compatible with Firefox / Gecko though it doesn't support webRTC - https://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?t=28182, DRM and webExtensions ... https://www.palemoon.org/technical.shtml

Re: PowerFox Browser

#30
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is actually based on the Goanna web engine (a fork of the Firefox / Gecko web engine) derived from the https://www.basilisk-browser.org/ . You can find out more here - https://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?f=69&p=275829#p2758... .

Ah, that explains why there is still NPAPI plugin support.

Yup. The only browsers that still support Flash.
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