E-Musings Mon Immorata

Searching for the Perfect Browser Multi-Tab inlays vs. pay to add vs. Open-Source The whole multi-tabbed browser debate is becoming pointless. Unless you first attempt to understand the beginnings of its universe. Opera 5 was the first I think) to offer the multi-document interface (MDI) to users. This let you open multiple windows (in a straight row) within a single instance (session) of the software. The approach was a trifle clunky. And the code unstable: Opera was (and still remains) seriously resource-hungry! Next came NeoPlanet which introduced skinning and channels. But after a brief run, it seems to have died a not-much lamented death. If you are really interested, the download site is still available. NeoPlanet tried to be everything for everyone. And moved from custom portal browser (an idea that Microsoft usurped, and marketed more successfully a few years later with their MSN Explorer browser) to compleat suite but with a very unstable Java-based setup. When it's home portal fell victim to dot com crash, so inevitably, did Neoplanet. The next serious MDI browser was NetCaptor. This ad-ware supported IE-add-on (it needed IE4 installed to work) was the first to offer multiple, stackable tabs -- a trick I've never managed to get Opera's MDI to perform! And included refinements like a pop-up blocker, support for favicon. An enhanced sidebar for all-in-one access to Web Search, Favorites, and History. And even allowed you to search Favorites and History. It also introduced URL-completions shortcuts: Ctrl+Enter for .com; Shift+Enter for .net; Ctrl+Shift+Enter for .org. NetCaptor also introduced its unique set of bookmarks or CaptorGroups. These were stored as ASCII text and could be edited manually. Or you could use the built-in Organizer. NetCaptor is still available, but in the face of MyIE2: a free clone, seems to have lost ground. After all, why would you pay when you can get almost all NetCaptor features for free. It seems de rigueur for every Web browser today, bar Internet Explorer, to support MDI. And URL shortcuts as well. Mozilla and its browser-only spinoff, MozillaFirebird, support it. As does AvantBrowser. And MyIE2 of course. Of course Opera has to do things differently. But the Opera Wiki is a great tip resource. Use it to really optimize Opera. My copy is now a speed demon and even auto-detects domain names. Internet Explorer from being an integral part of the windows OS seems to have reached the end of its life cycle. Microsoft has gone on record that post-IE6 versions will be a part of the OS and not available separately. The code base too hasn't improved much since IE 5.x: we're still awaiting an MDI. As well as extended domain completion: all we have is the Ctrl+Enter shortcut. As well as (hopefully) fewer security-related vulnerabilities. IE for the Mac too is going to see an incremental release: 5.2.3 before the curtain closes. Microsoft cites Apple's refusal to share code as the reason why they are stopping development. The only Mac-web browser clients will be Apple's own Safari. And various Mozilla-spawned open-source alternates. In case readers think that IE for Mac is hot shit, it ain't. If anything its code base is rather similar to that of IE 4 for PC! But if you are an IE for PC fanatic. And don't want to (or aren't allowed to) change. Yet are envious of MyIE2 features. You can get most of them using Microgarden WebTools consisting of Tabs to open multiple sites within a single browser window. Plus drag-and-drop support where any in-page link can be dragged 'n dropped on to the tab toolbar to open it in a new tab. As well as pop-up blocking. It costs $15 and can be downloaded from here. But far more interesting. And still free for personal use, is ieSpell add-in. This integrates into IE as a toolbar icon. For alternate browsers like MyIE2 and NetCaptor it's available as a context-menu item. Use it to spell check email, message board posts, blogs, and data for form submission. You can also define, store and add to your personal word list (custom dictionary). User may also select more than 1 custom dictionary. The latter can even be on network shares so that multiple users can share a single list. Which is also shareable by Word. The add-in is far more flexible than the standard Microsoft dictionaries. It can ignore words with numbers as well as HTML markup and escape sequences. And v2.0.577 brings online lookup. Got get your copy today. Courtesy the Lockergnome newsletter I learnt about an interesting and innovatively executed Flash piece titled about which Windows desktop will triumph. As well as Gizmodo: a blog dedicated to gadgets, gizmos, and cutting-edge consumer electronics. And the most interesting of all: using Word as a syndication client. G Menon Click Here to Email Me