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Chimera Developer Considers Dropping It

Posted by pudge on from the this-story-posted-with-chimera dept.

The Infamous Grimace writes "Chimera's developer is seriously considering dropping it, since 'Safari has already won.' This would be unfortunate, indeed. I still use Chimera at times, although it's true that Safari has become my browser of choice." I cannot use Safari regularly, it lacks too many features and has too many bugs. Of course, how long will this remain so? But even if Safari adds tabs and fixes bugs, will they add all the features I need from Chimera/Mozilla, like remembering form passwords, site navigation bar, more fine control of security and privacy? I guess there is always Mozilla if Safari doesn't fit the bill ... but Chimera is so much faster and Mac-like. Update: 01/22 19:54 GMT by P : The web site has been updated: "Chimera's not going [away], regardless of whatever I post on this blog."

4 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. unlikely demise by ubiquitin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Dave Hyatt's weblog, the Confessions of a Mozillian, indicates that there is a sizeable team working on Chimera, so I wouldn't expect everyone to just walk out the door all at once. Sure, development on it may become less of a priority, but that doesn't mean the fat lady has sung. Also, the overwhelming response to the safari announcement was for tabbed browsing. It is quite possible that Apple simply won't cave in to the demand for tabbed browsing in which case you can have my chimera when you pry it from my cold dead hands.

    --
    http://tinyurl.com/4ny52
    1. Re:unlikely demise by Rip!ey · · Score: 5, Insightful

      ...there is a sizeable team working on Chimera...

      Even if there was only one person working on the codebase, it is open source. No one person/corporation/entity can effectively 'kill the code'. The code is free to live.

  2. Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful
    What kind of an argument is *that*? I mean, so far Mac OS came bundled with the 90%+ browser from Microsoft. How was that easier to beat than a (relative) newcomer browser?

    Of course, if one actually reads the article ...

    "I'm torn about what to do with Chimera. It's obvious it will only ever be a marginal product on a even more marginal platform. AOL and Netscape have no interest in supporting it. Who aspires to be number two in an already over-commoditized space? Working my ass off for 3% just isn't any fun any more. Safari has already won, the rest is just to see by how much."

    This is not about evil Apple killing off independent developers, but about someone who just lost interest in his pet project, IMO ...

    "Perhaps what is more disappointing is that my fifteen minutes of fame are just about up and I've really got nothing to show for it."

    I know exactly how you feel *sigh*

    b.

  3. Wait a second by ethank · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People are saying "don't take Chimera!" because Safari doesn't render well and lacks tabs....

    OK.

    Safari is in beta release 1. Chimera in the .6 release (post). By the time Chimera is indeed "dropped" Safari should be upwards of beta 3 or 2 or possibly even release. The developers of Safari maintain their own weblog (http://www.mozillazine.org/weblogs/hyatt/) and from what you read there, its indicative that CSS compliance is of the highest priority.

    I'll go with the best browser that provides the best user-experience. For me, I use Safari right now because its bookmark management rocks, its history view rocks and its fast as hell. I used Chimera from the time I bought my Mac (September) to when Safari was released. Sure, Safari has some CSS problems, and Chimera is still always running for that very reason, but it boils down to the typical mac idiom: what lets me do my work faster.

    Ethan