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Chimera 0.2 Available for Download

Posted by pudge on from the batman-now-you-face-a-true-chimera dept.

Aqua OS X writes "Chimera, the new Gecko-based Cocoa Mac OS X browser, has just reached version 0.2. It is available for download and it includes native Quartz rendering, new icons, expanded menus, and a spiffy new fading splash screen. Unfortunately, plugin support did not make the cut like it was supposed to. Check it out, this browser should be awesome once it is done."

21 comments

  1. Very usable... by Big+Sean+O · · Score: 2, Interesting

    For a 0.2 release, it's quite good.

    It's a cocoa app and it supports tabbed browsing. I started using the last release and it did about 60% of what I need a browser for. When this one is done, I'll probably switch from Mozilla.

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    My father is a blogger.
  2. this is a great browser by Hadlock · · Score: 2

    i normally use .2 as my primary browser, and revert to mozilla .9.9 for downloading (chimera doesn't yet support downloading).

    on their page they say they're going to be implementing the quartz...somthing (layer?). this is going to SLOW DOWN render speeds. why are they doing this? that doesn't make any sense. less cpu usage? beats the pants off of any pay-for browser, sans downloading. drag links/pictures to the desktop like IE would be really nice...

    what is fizzilla, exactly? aqua-ized mozilla (mail, browser, text edit?)??

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    moox. for a new generation.
    1. Re:this is a great browser by Panix · · Score: 4, Informative

      The Quartz rendering that you speak of was already completed for 0.2 and it is what provides the beautiful antialiased (smoothed) text that you see already in Chimera. So, don't worry the speed you see now will probably only improve! It actually appears to be *much* faster than the stiffest competition (OmniWeb) for me.

      Summary: have no fear, that Quartz rendering is already here =)

  3. Re:WOW how impressive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How very troll...cheap shots & no guts... and the _poster_ had to go anonymous, can you say Useless *cough* lamer?

  4. Re:WOW how impressive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Well, one thing you forgot to mention was that it also add quartz rendering. I don't know about you, but that is one hell of a upgrade. Compare text rending in Mozilla and Chimera and you tell me if the verison changed anything.

  5. Potential... by mkoz · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is not ready for primetime. No plugins, don't even try to print. But when it matures I see it becoming quite a force. Who doen't like a nice light browser?

    1. Re:Potential... by SlamMan · · Score: 2

      Right, but when some of us view as "Mauture" can slo be veiwed as "bloat". My money say that unfortunatly, as it gets more fo the features we expect, it'll get as bogged down as allthe other browsers out there.

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      Mod point free since 2001
    2. Re:Potential... by singularity · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is not always the case.

      iCab, which is what I am using currently, is a good example of a fairly well done browser that is fairly mature without too much bloat.

      I use K-Meleon when running Windows and I am glad to see a similar browser to that appearing for Mac OS X. I think that Chimera is going to be closer to something like K-Meleon and Galeon than it ever will be to a larger Internet suite. We already have Mozilla for that.

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      - (c) 2018 Hank Zimmerman
  6. may i reminde people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the main body of work chimera is based off of are the mach-o builds. As of yet no plug-in support has made into to the mach-o builds let alone a patch. So if you want plug-in support for chimera your going have to wait till the next version of netscape (MachV) ships. After MachV ships the mach-o builds will become what the next release of netscape is based off of for mac os x.

  7. Icky pull-down support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Looks like this has the same problem as Chimera 1.3 -- no support for pull-down menus in forms. Until that's fixed, I can't use it (it's critical functionality for what I do -- read slashdot as an AC).

    1. Re:Icky pull-down support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Pull-downs do work, jut not correctly. Try clicking on the tab, and then using your arrows to select whatever, then click the go button. I know it sucks, but it is a work around.

    2. Re:Icky pull-down support by damiam · · Score: 2

      So log in.

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      It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
  8. nice looking browser by azosx · · Score: 2, Informative
    Launches about twice as fast as Mozilla which is a plus. According to top, it uses just about as much memory as Mozilla though.


    639 Navigator 4.2% 0:24.55 7 98 431 8.43M 25.0M 27M 108M


    638 Mozilla 1.4% 0:10.08 6 86 308 15.4M 24.2M 31.7M 96.9M


    It's really difficult to want to continue using this browser when it doesn't even support downloading. One would expect more from a 10mb download. Mozilla isn't much bigger yet has a lot more features. All the bugs that prevented previous builds from accessing certain essental webpages i go to have been fixed. The text entry field is a lot Slower than I'm able to type it, kind of annoying. It's a good looking browser that ties in nicely with OS X. Get download support in the next release, then I'll consider switching.

    1. Re:nice looking browser by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only reason the download is large is that it's including all of Mozilla still (even stuff it doesn't use). The authors just haven't gotten around to stripping out the features that they won't end up using yet. I'd expect the download to get smaller as the version numbers go up.

  9. little late? by tarzan353 · · Score: 1

    has just reached version 0.2



    ...a week ago.



    Great browser, though. Showing lots of potential, although it's going to take quite a bit to unseat OmniWeb for me.

    1. Re:little late? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      May I ask what makes OmniWeb so great? Sure it makes the text look nice but thats about it.

  10. Nice! by SIGFPE · · Score: 1

    I played with Mozilla a few times but I found it hideous. Chimera looks truly beautiful by comparison. The rendering speed is quite tolerable - even though it's using the planet's slowest 2D API - Quartz.

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    1. Re:Nice! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haha Mozilla isn't hideous at all... just the classic theme.

      What is it with people and the need for nice looking text? Personally I don't care for the spiffy looking rendered text much.

    2. Re:Nice! by SIGFPE · · Score: 2

      Humans have spent the last 5000 years trying to perfect the art of making their text look nice whether it's carved inside pyramids or displayed on an LCD screen. What is it with some people happy to work in the most unaesthetic environments?

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  11. When it's done? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I apologize for being a wet blanket, but how can anyone say this with a straight face any more: "Check it out, this browser should be awesome once it is done."

    Does software EVER get out of beta these days? I'm serious now, when exactly are we to believe that Mozilla, or Chimera, or iCab, or ICQ (the Mac client has been in beta for what, FOUR years now...) will finally be "finished?"

    I really don't think people are even trying any more.