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http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/09/28/stainless.browser.for.mac/

Google Chrome inspires new 'Stainless' browser

updated 09:30 pm EDT, Sun September 28, 2008

 

Stainless browser for Mac


Mesa Dynamics has released a beta version of Stainless, a browser for Mac OS X inspired by Google Chrome. The application features multi-process browsing, allowing each tab to run tasks separately. When a site is visited that contains content that is typically slow to load, the other tabs can still run unhampered. In the event of a page crash, the browser itself remains responsive and other pages unaffected.

The company says that Stainless completely frees memory when a tab is closed, eliminating the footprint experienced with traditional browsers -- which it claims reduces reliability as more pages are opened and closed.

Other features include the ability to drag tabs between windows, a combined address and search bar, and a mode for browsing discretely without leaving information in the history.

Google is already working on a Mac version of Chrome that uses more complex WebCore rendering, but the project has not yet been released into public beta.

Stainless for Mac OS X Leopard is available as a free download from Mesa Dynamics, however the company notes that the project is primarily a technology demo at this point and will probably not be developed into a full function browser.


by MacNN Staff

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  1. Chelsea 848

    Joined:

    -18
    09/29, 02:49am | report spam | Reply | delete

    Unsubscribe

    Please un-subscribe me from all your emails & newsletters as at 29 September 2008, I wish to cancel my registration

  1. FireWire

    Mac Elite

    Joined: Oct 1999

    +1
    09/29, 03:36am | report spam | Reply |

    Impressive!

    Wow, simple as that! The app is only 1 MB, yet it is very snappy! I'm wondering why don't all apps work this way, now that multi-core CPU and modern OS are the norm...

  1. bobolicious

    Junior Member

    Joined: Aug 2002

    0
    09/29, 09:03am | report spam | Reply |

    one working browser...

    ....on the mac platform would be nice - Safari for whatever reason seems incompatible with many sites, and I need to use Opera for java, Firefox for image uploads, etc, etc - the web would seem much more world wide with more congruity...

  1. UberFu

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Oct 2002

    0
    09/29, 02:30pm | report spam | Reply |

    re: one working browser..

    I agree!

    Although not for entirely your specific reasons. Things like Safari not being smoothly compatible with Google's Gmail - even though Apple and Google both claim a tight working relationship. Not to mention serverl other Apple/ Google products not compatible with each other or Mac users getting left behind their Windows couterparts for months or a year or 2.

    Aside from my Apple/ Google rant - I am currently working on a project for work that forces me to use Firefox for opne part of the project - while using Safari for a different part of the project - same website where some of the features of the project are available in one browser but die in the other.

    I was originally a Netscape fan waaay back in the day - OS 9 realm - then IE 5 came out for the Mac and much as I dislike M$ - IE5 for the Mac was solid - robust - stable - reliable and fast. Then the switch to OS X and M$ dropping support for IE on the Mac [stupid move by the way] because Apple was releasing Safari. And ever since - jumping from Opera to Safari to Firefox to Camino constantly - can't even get Chrome yet [but that's okay 'cause it's an early Beta and it's unstable and sucks right now anyway] - simply because any given web developer has to code specifically to lock out certain browsers or user base [Mac users] is c***.

    On a side note: I pulled a copy of Stainless and have been playing with it [specifically on my project I mentioned above] and it flies quicker than FF and Safari - it's very responsive - so far I can manage everything I do on the project in the same browser - it has not crashed on me yet [as much as I've thrown at it].

    The only downside I've found so far is that it's only a Demo and might never be a full release.

  1. bhuot

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2003

    0
    09/29, 03:54pm | report spam | (1 reply) Reply |

    no safari troubles

    I have used Safari 3 ever since it came out and have never found a website that wouldn't work with it - I also am a web designer and have no trouble with style sheets rendering properly with Safari. But I have heard from JavaScript developers that Firefox works much better than Safari. I have recently had to switch to Firefox as my ISP, Comcast is placing limits on how much bandwidth we can use each month and I don't know of any script, Flash, and ad blockers for Safari. I don't mind the ads but I am not going to pay for them.

  1. Guest

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 1999

    0
    09/29, 05:59pm | report spam | Reply |

    ...

    For those of you who are complaining about sites not allowing you to use Safari, go to the preferences, go to the advanced tab, and click "Show Develop menu in menu bar". Then click on the develop menu, go to "User Agent", and choose a browser that is allowed. That should work, if there is no legitimate reason that you need to use the other browser.

    About Stainless: It seems quite nice, but it's disappointing that it's missing features that should be quite simple to implement. And it's proprietary, so we can't add a few needed features. :/

  1. Terrin

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jan 2006

    0
    10/01, 10:38pm | report spam | Reply |

    Browser War

    Unfortunately, I have not found a browser I am totally happy with. I always seem to rely mostly on Safari because it's tight integration with the rest of the OS makes up for a lot of it's other faults. I especially like that it integrates the best with PDF support and Quicktime. However, it has some issues that have made me want to abandon it often. For instance, it's integration with keychain and it's autofill features are severely flawed. Often it refuses to remember passwords for sites that Firefox has no problems with. Moreover, it often refuses to remember sign on information for some sites where Firefox has no problem. On the other hand, Firefox has poor PDF support when compared to a Mac and even though the latest version is a big improvement over version 2, it is still a bit sluggish compared to Safari. Safari, however, often freezes when Firefox does not.

    I think I am happy with the Google browser because it will force more innovation in the browser front and any market share stolen from Microsoft is good for everybody. I, however, think one of Google's main motives for developing it's own browser have less to do with innovation and more to do with reclaiming the hundreds of millions of the dollars it pays out to companies like Firefox and Apple when people use Google search in those browsers. If people use Google on Chrome, Google will keep more money to itself.

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