General- What is IBrowse 3 and what happened to IBrowse 2.5 ? :: New!
- How can I find out the latest news about IBrowse ? :: Updated!
- What exactly has changed in IBrowse 3 ? :: Updated!
- How can I support IBrowse development ?
- Do I need to register IBrowse 3 ? :: Updated!
- I installed IBrowse 3 over a previous version and it now runs in demo mode ? :: Updated!
- Will there be further updates to IBrowse after 3.0 ? :: Updated!
- Why did the development of IBrowse 2.5 take even longer than "normal" ?
- What about the OEM IBrowse 2.4 version supplied with AmigaOS 4.x ?
- IBrowse 2.4 was announced as being PPC in AmigaOS 4.x, is that true ?
PowerPC- Will IBrowse be going PPC only ?
- Does IBrowse have a AmigaOS 4.x native version ?
- Can I use the 68k AmigaOS 3.x version on AmigaOS 4.x ?
- Will there be a MorphOS native version of IBrowse ?
Contact- I've found a bug in IBrowse, what shall I do ?
- I've got a suggestion for the next version of IBrowse, what shall I do ?
- I need to contact the IBrowse team for another reason ?
Technical- Does IBrowse support the full alpha channel of PNG images ?
- Should I use the PPC datatypes on AmigaOS 4.x rather than the internal decoders ?
- Will images be scaled if I use the PPC datatypes ?
- HTTPS / SSL connections do not work so well with IBrowse 2.4 - has this been improved ?
- Why do I keep getting SSL connect errors with "error:00000000:lib(0):func(0):reason(0)" ?
- I don't use Miami, so I cannot use MiamiSSL - is there another way to use secure connections in IBrowse ?
- Is there any way to change the settings of the string gadgets in IBrowse, as I've tried every option in MUI and none of them affect it!?
- Does IBrowse support CSS/DOM and/or HTML5 ? :: Updated!
- Does IBrowse support UTF-8 ?
- Does IBrowse support Flash ?
- Does IBrowse support graphical printing ?
- Does IBrowse support graphical printing via PostScript in colour ?
- Is Java supported yet ?
General
| 1. What is IBrowse 3 and what happened to IBrowse 2.5 ? |
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IBrowse 3 is built on the foundations of IBrowse 2.5. It was originally developed alongside IBrowse 2.4 and 2.5 on a separate development branch. These branches unfortunately diverged heavily and this ultimately held back development of IBrowse 2.5 as a result, but now we have merged everything from the old IBrowse 3 branch with the IBrowse 2.5 branch. This essentially means that all previously unreleased features and changes made for IBrowse 3 have been combined with IBrowse 2.5.9, with further development to add more new features, to create the new IBrowse 3.0 release. After over 20 years of development, IBrowse 2 has now been retired. | |
| 2. How can I find out the latest news about IBrowse ? |
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See news page on our website or the mailing lists page for subscription details to sign up for product announcements or subscribe to our @IBrowseAmiga. Twitter/X feed. | |
| 3. What exactly has changed in IBrowse 3 ? |
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A summary of the main new features and changes can be found on the new features page and you can view a list of all the changes via history log. | |
| 4. How can I support IBrowse development ? |
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Download IBrowse 3 for free and register your copy, for personal non-automated e-mail support, unrestricted usage and free updates, direct from the developers. We have developed our own registration system, using Stripe as our payment processor. | |
| 5. Do I need to register IBrowse 3 ? |
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IBrowse 3 is free to download and use, but you need to register it to gain access to the full unrestricted experience. It may seem a strange concept to some, in this day and age, but the full version of IBrowse is not free. We hope this will help cover the future hosting costs of this website and for the past 20 years or so since IBrowse 2.4 was released, whilst also making further development possible. | |
| 6. I installed IBrowse 3 over a previous version and it now runs in demo mode ? |
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If you registered for the full version of IBrowse 2.5, the installer should copy your key across to your new IBrowse 3 drawer. Otherwise, you need to register IBrowse 3 first. Discount options are available for registered IBrowse 2.5 68K, 2.x and 1.x users wishing to upgrade. If you have already registered, please contact support for help. | |
| 7. Will there be further updates to IBrowse after 3.0 ? |
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Yes. The release policy was changed starting with IBrowse 2.5 to ensure the lengthy delays are avoided, with more frequent smaller updates around every 6 months. This allows you to benefit from new features and fixes quicker than in the past, rather than having to wait years for the next big update. | |
| 8. Why did the development of IBrowse 2.5 take even longer than "normal" ? |
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Basically, various factors meant that it was hard to find the right time - it has been a continuous battle, like trying to complete a jigsaw with pieces going missing, or even the picture changing midway, until everything eventually comes together. There have been many complications apart from the actual development including server changes, server downtime, server upgrades, sourcecode management, building a new web store, commitments elsewhere, OS changes, Amiga community changes, etc, etc, with the majority now having been overcome. However, with continued development during those years, beta testers still got updated betas every 60 days, at worst. In latter years, since 2012 we were waiting for AmiSSL v4, which ultimately lead to Oliver becoming directly involved with its development as part of the AmiSSL Open Source Team, to help move things along. AmiSSL v4 was itself delayed in part due to continued delays in the official release of OpenSSL 1.1.0. Once AmiSSL v4 was released in 2017, having already been fully integrated in IBrowse some time before then, we could then at last look at moving quickly towards an IBrowse 2.5 release in early 2018, but unfortunately personal issues then intervened, hindering release efforts. Finally, we were able to get everything together for the release in 2019. | |
| 9. What about the OEM IBrowse 2.4 version supplied with AmigaOS 4.x ? |
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This is a non-demo 68k version of IBrowse 2.4, with no time outs and less limitations compared to the demo version (allows five windows or browsers to be opened, rather than just two as per the demo). This pre-dated the release of IBrowse 2.5 and is now considered obsolete. | |
| 10. IBrowse 2.4 was announced as being PPC in AmigaOS 4.x, is that true ? |
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No. There appears to have been some confusion with the announcement originally made by Amiga Inc. Stefan never licensed a PPC version of IBrowse for AmigaOS 4.x. | |
PowerPC
| 1. Will IBrowse be going PPC only ? |
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No. As long as there is a market for 68k versions, IBrowse will continue to be released in a 68k format. From IBrowse 2.5 onwards, an AmigaOS 4.x PPC native version was made available alongside the AmigaOS 3.x 68k version. | |
| 2. Does IBrowse have a AmigaOS 4.x native version ? |
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Yes, starting with IBrowse 2.5 - AmigaOS 4.1 Final Edition is required. All components are fully AmigaOS 4.1 FE native, taking full advantage of the new features available in AmigaOS 4.x. AltiVec acceleration is also utilised. | |
| 3. Can I use the 68k AmigaOS 3.x version on AmigaOS 4.x ? |
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You could, but it is not recommended. Obviously, the AmigaOS 4.1 FE native version is much faster, but it also uses many new AmigaOS 4.x specific features. So, you would be missing out on multi-charset support, compositing, alpha channel support, anti-aliased text rendering, 4Gb+ file handling, AltiVec accelerated JPEG, DST handling, etc. Also, the AmigaOS 4.x 68k emulation does sometimes struggle with IBrowse, causing crashes, as you may have experienced with IBrowse 2.4. | |
| 4. Will there be a MorphOS native version of IBrowse ? |
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Unfortunately not at this time, partly because no MorphOS developers seem interested in porting AmiSSL v5, which IBrowse requires. There will continue to be a fully MorphOS native JavaScript library supplied with the 68k version, which works fine on MorphOS, along with the 68k AmiSSL v5. The 68k version of IBrowse also supports MorphOS specific features such as anti-aliased text and full alpha channel rendering. | |
Contact
Technical
| 1. Does IBrowse support the full alpha channel of PNG images ? |
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Yes, when running on AmigaOS 4.1 FE or MorphOS, 32-bit RGBA PNG images will be displayed as intended, using full alpha rendering. For AmigaOS 3.x systems, IBrowse uses the graphics.library routines to draw the images, and those support only a 1-bit maskplane, so the alpha channel is downgraded to this using a 50% threshold. | |
| 2. Should I use the PPC datatypes on AmigaOS 4.x rather than the internal decoders ? |
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For the PPC native IBrowse, no - the internal decoders will be better than using datatypes, for various reasons. For 68k versions, it is entirely up to you :). Using the datatypes has both pros and cons: The PPC datatypes will be faster than using IBrowse's internal 68k decoders, but you will lose the ability to have progressive display, and for GIFs, the ability to display GIFAnims. | |
| 3. Will images be scaled if I use the PPC datatypes ? |
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Only if you are using picture.datatype v45+. | |
| 4. HTTPS / SSL connections do not work so well with IBrowse 2.4 - has this been improved ? |
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Yes! IBrowse 2.5 removed support for SSLv2, SSLv3 and MiamiSSL completely. Instead IBrowse requires AmiSSL v5 which is based on the very latest OpenSSL 3.1, so allows IBrowse to load websites that require the usage of the very latest encryption ciphers and protocols, such as TLSv1.3. | |
| 5. Why do I keep getting SSL connect errors with "error:00000000:lib(0):func(0):reason(0)" ? |
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Usually, this error is caused by a bug which we have identified in the AmiTCP/Genesis and Roadshow TCP/IP stacks. For AmigaOS 4.x users, the Roadshow bug is fixed in Update 3, whilst for AmiTCP/Genesis users, there is a page available via the resources page which fixes the bug in the AmiTCP kernel. However, you may also see this error if a connection times out (for example, if your Amiga is too slow or the processor is busy running something else at a higher priority). | |
| 6. I don't use Miami, so I cannot use MiamiSSL - is there another way to use secure connections in IBrowse ? |
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Yes. In fact, MiamiSSL support was removed in IBrowse 2.5 as it is too out of date. Instead, IBrowse now relies soley on AmiSSL v5 which is freely available to all via the download page. | |
| 7. Is there any way to change the settings of the string gadgets in IBrowse, as I've tried every option in MUI and none of them affect it!? |
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The preference you need to change in MUI, is that of Newstring. If the Newstring preferences are not listed in MUI, check the spelling of the following file, is IDENTICAL to this, as it is case sensitive:
MUI:libs/mui/Newstring.mcp
If you are using MUI 4 or higher, it replaces Newstring completely with MUI's own String class, so the standard Text settings in MUI will affect IBrowse's string gadgets. | |
| 8. Does IBrowse support CSS/DOM and/or HTML5 ? |
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No CSS yet, and only limited DOM support. The HTML parser and engine has been improved in IBrowse 3.0, laying the groundwork for adding HTML5/CSS/DOM features in future releases. | |
| 9. Does IBrowse support UTF-8 ? |
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Partially. The pages will be decoded in UTF-8, but Unicode characters will be mapped back to the windows-1252 codepage for display. | |
| 10. Does IBrowse support Flash ? |
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Yes, an experimental plugin is available for 68K compatible, AmigaOS 4.x and MorphOS platforms, and can be found on the Download page. | |
| 11. Does IBrowse support graphical printing ? |
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Sadly no. IBrowse has had improvements made to the printing, but currently only to the postscript printing. Graphical printing is another big job, and was beyond the scope of IBrowse 2.x. | |
| 12. Does IBrowse support graphical printing via PostScript in colour ? |
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Yes, for images. Text remains black. | |
| 13. Is Java supported yet ? |
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JavaScript is, but no, Java is out of the scope of the IBrowse Development Team. | |
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