Camino updated to 2.1, adds offline mode
updated 11:45 pm EST, Tue November 29, 2011
Updated Gecko engine, autocomplete
The volunteer Camino Project has released a final version of Camino 2.1, a free, open-source web browser that has been without a major update for almost exactly two years. Released just two months after the last minor update, the new version updates the Gecko rendering engine to v1.9.2 (as used by the Firefox 3.6 browser) and adds further support for web standards, a new auto-complete feature, better plug-in compatibility and more.
The update to v1.9.2 of Gecko fixes thousands of bugs and improves JavaScript performance, but also drops the automatic inclusion of a Java plug-in (users can still download their own Java plug-in if needed). The browser can now automatically disable insecure or incompatible plug-ins, and introduces a plug-ins folder in a user's Camino profile that allows for Camino-only plug-ins.
The current PDF Browser (2.4 and newer) and 1Password plug-ins are currently incompatible; users can retain version 2.3 of the PDF plug-in to keep compatibility. The developers now require Adobe Flash Player 10.3.183.10 or later on Intel Macs, as older versions are deemed to be too insecure.
The rewritten auto-complete function can now search page titles rather than just page URLs, and searches both bookmarks and history. A new "offline mode" allows for the browser to still perform some functions even when there is no Internet service available. The status bar can also now be hidden from the "View" menu.
The Camino 2.1 browser is free of charge and available now for Mac OS X 10.4 and higher, working with both PPC and Intel Macs.
