IBrowse FAQ

[Desler]

Oh what, so because they don't give away their hard work for free to people who have never paid to use IBrowse, they are greedy money grabbing people intent on getting rich?

Of course they should get paied for their work, thats not my point. My point is:

1. Just getting your browser as 'The official' amiga browser is worth a lot of money. Even if they dont get  a penny directly from amiga, people will preferebly buy new versions of IBrowse when they are available

2.They said themselves that the specs of ver 2.3 where downsized in order to release it with aos 4. So whats the point in downsizing it FURTHER by making a limitid version, when its obvious that the real goodies will be shipped with ver3.0 of IBrowse :-?

[futaura]

Quote:

But then I dont understand why the Aos4 version is not a full version. If the reason is not for the individual user to buy a full version then please enlighten me

Hyperion are probably paying Stefan a small fee to include a restricted version with the OS, and that fee fits inside Hyperion's budget for OS4 based on the retail price.  Now, I'm sure if Hyperion were prepared to pay Stefan somewhere near the full retail price of IBrowse per copy of OS4 sold, then the full version could be included.  But, that would of course mean the price of OS4 would have to go up to accomodate for the IBrowse costs.  Obviously, there are many more serious reasons why it would not be a good idea to include a full version, like competition issues, for example.

In summary, you get what you pay for - you can't expect a moreorless free fully-featured copy of IBrowse to be supplied with OS4 - you're paying for OS4, not IBrowse.  But, the fact that Hyperion a presumably paying Stefan a small fee, is reflected by the fact that the OEM version won't be as restricted as the demo version (SSL is disabled in the demo, but won't be in the OS4 OEM version, for example).

[futaura]

Quote:

2.They said themselves that the specs of ver 2.3 where downsized in order to release it with aos 4. So whats the point in downsizing it FURTHER by making a limitid version, when its obvious that the real goodies will be shipped with ver3.0 of IBrowse

Where did it say that?  For starters, IBrowse 2.3 will be released before OS4, so the feature set has absolutely nothing to do with OS4 issues.  If you're referring to the plugin API comments - in no way have 2.3 specs been "downsized".  How can features in 2.3 be "downsized" if they have never actually existed or been completed?  In fact, the actual IBrowse 2.3 specs are far higher than originally planned.

[CD32Freak]

Why has the development of IBrowse 2.3 taken so long ?
Stefan took up skydiving

I guess that's the same reason why AmigaOS 4.0 has been delayed..lol :lol: ;-)

[novaburst]

I'm a little confused, so I was hoping someone would help me out here.
Since there isn't going to be a PPC version of IBrowse, what does that mean?  Isn't the AmigaOne going to be PPC? If this is just a 68k version, then it will just run on classic hardware? Does that mean there will not be a browser that runs on the AmigaOne?

Thanks for the help!

[xeron]

I'm a little confused, so I was hoping someone would help me out here.
Since there isn't going to be a PPC version of IBrowse, what does that mean? Isn't the AmigaOne going to be PPC? If this is just a 68k version, then it will just run on classic hardware? Does that mean there will not be a browser that runs on the AmigaOne?

IBrowse 2.3 will be a 680x0 application that will run natively on classic Amigas, and under the petunia 68k emulation layer of OS4.

You probably won't even be able to tell is 68k when running under OS4, though. IBrowse is a very fast browser as it is...

[4pLaY]

It looks real good for outsiders when they hear that the browser comming with the OS is just running under emulation! what it Apple was to do the same? i can see the headlines now.

[xeron]

It looks real good for outsiders when they hear that the browser comming with the OS is just running under emulation! what it Apple was to do the same? i can see the headlines now.

But Amiga is not Apple, OS4 is at best a hobby OS, and to an Amiga newbie, they wouldn't even KNOW it was emulated.

Just be pleased that that all 3 of the main Amiga browsers are actually BEING developed! For a while it looked like we were going to be stuck with AWeb 3.3 and IBrowse 2.2!

PPC and CSS is promised for both AWeb and IBrowse, but it is a very big task to get these done, especially by such small teams!

The authors of these browsers don't owe us ANYTHING! They are doing what they can for the remaining Amiga community, and I salute them.

[J]

It looks real good for outsiders when they hear that the browser comming with the OS is just running under emulation! what it Apple was to do the same?

Apple *did* do the same when the moved to PPC. Okay, Apple didn't actually produce a browser but they included a 68k emulator in the OS to run 68k Apps. And Apple did all this years ago.

I can't say I'm impressed by the iBrowse FAQ. It doesn't really make a positive impression. I mean CSS I can understand but Flash, PPC I thought would've beena priority. Again, I can sort off understand time contraints they have.

Having said that, if Amiga OS wants to be taken seriously, it needs a fully featured Web browser and a MS Office compatable office suite.

J

[lordgoata]

I can't say I'm impressed by the iBrowse FAQ.

It's not meant to impress, it's meant to answer frequently asked questions. There is not one item on the FAQ that has not been covered on the IBrowse mailing list, but I tried to ensure the answers gave as much information as possible, where I knew there would be areas of discussion.

It doesn't really make a positive impression.

Depends on your point of view, I mean it answers all the questions people have been asking, they know what will, and what won't be in the release. Everyone always complains there isn't enough information, or people promise things and don't deliver in the Amiga community, so I tried to be as clear about things as I could.

Feature wise it may be dissappointing in that there is no CSS etc, but it was never said it would have CSS, and anytime anyone has asked, the answer has always been no.

I mean CSS I can understand but Flash

It was asked if the API was complete enough to at least do a Flash plugin, but alas it's not at this time.

PPC I thought would've beena priority

PPC was never planned, Stefan said he'd have to change compilers (I'm not a programmer so don't know the technical details, perhaps Oliver can explain that a bit more if required). The problem here was the announcement made about IBrowse PPC in OS4. Stefan was on holiday at the time, the first he heard of it was when he returned!

I'm sorry so many people feel that the FAQ has put a negative spin on the 2.3 release. That was not our (or mine - I compiled it) intention in any way, it was simply to clear up some common questions and missconceptions, and to provide some information for new visitors to the site (and the 100+ new subscribers to the mailing list since the site was "announced").

Best Regards,
Dave Fisher

PS. This is my first post here, so don't be too hard on me  ;-)

[Argo]

I think nowadays browser is quite essential part of OS...

wrong, a web browser should never be part of the OS. Though it is an essential piece of software to have....

[Argo]

Although, I'm sure MS don't agree

I think they are stuck with the mentality from the beginning of the Computing Era, that since there isn't alot of software the OS has to provide all usability...
Come on, you remember the days when they had computers that had builtin programs...  MS have just made one amemdment to this philosophy, there version is better and should be the one used... I'm waiting for them to integrate Office suite into Windows. I guess though with the legal actions that have been taken against them, they'll have to "hide" it.

[System]

You know what? Browsers are not an essential part of an OS. Neither are super-mediaplayers, games, a cd full of skins, or instant messenger clients. Although, I'm sure MS don't agree

Browsers are an essential thing to have available FOR an OS, however..

Yeah...I didn't meant that the browser should be integrated! :-o

But it would be nice to have full PPC native browser included.

On Amiga market it seems that browser developement is stopped or there's no money in it. Aweb is now free and what comes to Voayger...

Anyway my point is...WHY not full version straight out of box (OS)   :-)

If there's new users coming to Amiga...I bet they want full versions too! It's much easier than mess with keyfiles etc.

[Elektro]

I agree with mz. If Amiga wants to attract new users it will have to adopt to other platforms. Paying for absolutely everything is history (like it or not).

Users, not sponsors...

[J]

I'm sorry so many people feel that the FAQ has put a negative spin on the 2.3 release. That was not our (or mine - I compiled it) intention in any way, it was simply to clear up some common questions and missconceptions, and to provide some information for new visitors to the site (and the 100+ new subscribers to the mailing list since the site was "announced").

Thanks for your response. I guess it's preferable to release an honest FAQ than BS the community more with special features that don't exist.

The PPC situation seems to be typical of the Amiga scene at the moment - a PR cock-up. :-x  I wish people would get the facts right before annoucing things..especially about other people's products  :-x

I look forward to the day when we have an Amiga Browser, PPC version with Flash, CSS etc. Hopefully it won't be *too* long  :-)