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PowerFox Browser

powerfox.jazzzny.me

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Re: PowerFox Browser

#41

Post by pndy »

hagbard_c wrote: post #9
walrus01 wrote: post #2

This is probably off topic to the browser itself, but a mac of that age due to its limited capabilities is probably best used as a thin client to a modern desktop environment (like a full screen VNC-over-SSH session to a x session and desktop environment running on a linux server) and will be overall a better experience. The screen, keyboard and mouse may be totally fine to use as a thin client.

Better still is to install some Linux on the machine which will make it useable for normal daily tasks. I'm typing this on a 'late 2009' 27" iMac running Debian, on longer train trips I'm using a 2011 Macbook Air also running Debian. No special browsers needed, just install Firefox.

I had Xubuntu, Lubuntu on mentioned above eMac and frankly, it was awful - only OSX and OS9 were making that machine somehow usable. I had fun running that computer during mid-pandemic with all sorts of gems found in macintosh garden.

Re: PowerFox Browser

#42

Post by vages »

JSR_FDED wrote: post #28
ishanr wrote: 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.

Could you elaborate? I just looked at the screenshots on https://www.apple.com/os/macos/, but did not see anything too different from the previous version.

Re: PowerFox Browser

#43

Post by vintagedave »

JSR_FDED wrote: post #28
ishanr wrote: 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.

What's changed? I know there's a Liquid Glass slider, and unified toolbars, and corner radiuses are consistent, but that seems about it.

I hope there's more. There is a lot of room for improvement in macOS UI beyond those changes.

Re: PowerFox Browser

#44

Post by bjoli »

vintagedave wrote: post #43
JSR_FDED wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What's changed? I know there's a Liquid Glass slider, and unified toolbars, and corner radiuses are consistent, but that seems about it. I hope there's more. There is a lot of room for improvement in macOS UI beyond those changes.

It is hidden by default and when you mouse over it it is so bland that it is hard to see where you are on the page.

I havent used Mac is in a while, so I am not sure about how it is today, but this seems to have been the development everywhere.

Re: PowerFox Browser

#45

Post by JSR_FDED »

vages wrote: post #42
JSR_FDED wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Could you elaborate? I just looked at the screenshots on https://www.apple.com/os/macos/ , but did not see anything too different from the previous version.

This attention to detail is making me optimistic:

https://basicappleguy.com/basicappleblog/macos-golden-gate-i...

Im addition to the 263 small things that were on a single slide at WWDC 26

Re: PowerFox Browser

#46

Post by zamadatix »

userbinator wrote: post #22
thisislife2 wrote: post #11

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.

What you're looking for only makes sense for browser "forks" that just re-skin/layer on top of the latest releases of the main project. Basilisk is an actual fork which has lead development in it's own direction, i.e. they have features newer than the date/version of the fork but it's not because they rebased on the newer Firefox XYZ git and now have equivalence to that version.

Re: PowerFox Browser

#47

Post by thisislife2 »

gpvos wrote: post #39

How do I know it's secure against recent security breaches? Apparently the code base has diverged a lot from current Firefox and Gecko, so they can't just apply patches from there. Do they fuzz it, do static analysis, etc.? I guess the main security feature is that so few people use it that there are very few attacks on it.

Don't know about Powerfox / Basilisk, but Palemoon developers have outlined How are security vulnerabilities handled? - https://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=23577 - in their FAQ. As both Palemoon and Basilisk do share codes from each other, as they started from a common codebase, I am guessing that most Palemoon fixes also apply to it.

(Then again, Powerfox is meant to run on OSes that have been EOLed for more than a decade now ... so I am not sure how secure a browser, any browser, will be running on it. :)

Re: PowerFox Browser

#48

Post by thisislife2 »

SG- wrote: post #34

I was just reminiscing on the Camino/Chimera browser earlier today and this looks fantastic. I kinda wish there was a build for modern macOS on Apple Silicon to see how light and fast this little browser is.

Try PaleMoon - https://www.palemoon.org/download.shtml - it is the version meant for "modern" OSes. Powerfox shares a heritage with it as it is based on its rendering engine, Goanna (Palemoon -> Basilisk -> Powerfox).

Re: PowerFox Browser

#49

Post by herewulf »

weisk wrote: post #24
CursedSilicon wrote: post #16

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 c…

I recently got an iMac from the same era up and running. First as a FOSS gaming machine for my kids, then as a gift for a friend who was lacking computing options. The secret (as you probably know) for installing a lot of FOSS software is MacPorts not Homebrew.

I thought my Firefox LTS was updating fine, but I could be wrong. I could certainly browse with it.

Re: PowerFox Browser

#50

Post by wolvoleo »

classichasclass wrote: post #19
pndy wrote: 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.

Thanks! I still have a g4 mini and a g4 imac for old times sake.

I moved off Mac these days but it reminds me of when they were still awe inspiring Unix machines. These days they're way too iOS for me to be interested.

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