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wreckedcarzz:
Some cool news: I have been helping Walt learn Visual Basic .NET (he has 05, I have 08) and after a couple basic things he wanted to make a web browser. This has evolved into a somewhat large scale project. It would appear I am being shown up (and based on the graphics, this battle isn't looking so good for me), so it is time to add some new things into SmartBrowse 2.2!
Improvements:
* Less extra crap (code based) - there was a lot of extra variables and whatnot not being used, these have been removed
* Better URL bar - the URL bar now focuses "better" than before, so you don't have to type URLs twice over if your a fast keyboard fanatic
* Stop/Refresh - now for the opera fans; these two are now one button! It is pretty cool, and comes in handy for smaller screens
* Auto-hiding progress bar - for the slower internet/insanely large web page browsers out there: the progress bar at the bottom right will now vanish when web page loading has completed. Helps screen space and keeps things tidy (not like I use the status bar, but hey, it's an improvement)
* A clock has been added to the right of the status bar (similar to the Firefox addon FoxClocks) - it just displays the current local time (12 hour format)
* McAfee SiteAdvisor - with a single click, see your current websites SiteAdvisor rating (however correct it may be ;))
I am also fixing the issue with the Web Security Level, where upon switching tabs it would not update - it is somewhat fixed at this point, but still may be glitchy. Basically I just recommend not using this with tabs. Overall it is looking/acting better than before. I hope to have some extra stuff up as well, as it appears that this little browser battle is going to be somewhat of a pain. :P
FYI: SmartBrowse has a SiteAdvisor GREEN checkmark icon - this is an ICON, it does NOT dynamically update! Just so you don't get fooled by it. You have to click the button to get the actual data.
SmartBrowse - "Change the web, one less wasted CPU cycle at a time!" ;D (if you didn't get that, Firefox/IE/Opera hasn't finished wasting its share yet)
-Brandon
mouser:
id still love to see you solicit ideas for a new project that people think would be useful and work on that.. it can be very rewarding to work on a project that has active testers who are craving it.
wreckedcarzz:
I might do that, but the problem is I don't want to undertake something and have this amazing idea and then... "Crap, I can't do this because <reason>" and have to keep putting it off until I can find a way around it. I have done this before and I start talking about how good <Option> will work, and then... it isn't there anymore.
EDIT: Examples: Starter in SnapSuite, an email client in SnapSystem (I didn't post about this @ DC), opening images in Crayons n Markers, instant messaging client in SnapSystem, online multiplayer in Maze Craze... the list goes on. Things that were going to be made that, for one reason or another, didn't happen.
I might do a vote or something for a new program soon, but I will hopefully be able to learn a bunch in this Programming class here coming up in August to allow me to do more.
wreckedcarzz:
I have made a few changes to SmartBrowse's statusbar and re-organized the code a bit more. Walt's browser is seriously looking good, so if he posts (or lets me post) it here, you can compare the two. I still have tabs though (HA! >:D Just kidding ;)).
This new version will be released with SnapSuite alpha 3, and while talking about that...
SnapSuite A3 aims to alleviate all bugs, polish off the simple update helper, and have all features except Maze Craze 3 integration and Printing for Notes. It has been sent to only a couple people as an update to their Alpha 1 versions, and those people will be notified via IM when alpha 3 is officially out.
Any suggestions for SnapSuite 09? Post them here or PM them to me! At this point SnapSuite is almost complete, and there are another 5 months until 2009! :feedback:
(Attached is a screenshot of Walt's browser, version 0.1 beta - compare it to the above image)
-Brandon
wreckedcarzz:
Still babbling about browsers, I am working to see if I can make SmartBrowse the default browser (similar to how Firefox and IE set themselves) on a machine. Not sure if it will work yet (if it does, it will be totally optional of course!).
I made a resources & features comparison of SmartBrowse versus Easy Browser Beta, click the button to see it:
EDIT: It should be stated that this was tested on an Intel Pentium D single core @ 3.5Ghz with 2GB of DDR2 ram, on Windows Vista SP1
SpoilerSmartBrowse 2.3 vs Easy Browse Beta 0.1 (!)
Technical stats:
SmartBrowse:
0% Idle CPU
2-77% Active CPU (loading microsoft.com - flash/silverlight included)
3 second loading (microsoft.com - flash/silverlight included)
10,424kb Idle RAM (google.com)
EBB:
0% Idle CPU
3-66% Active CPU (loading microsoft.com - flash/silverlight included)
4 second loading (microsoft.com - flash/silverlight included)
7,558kb Idle RAM (google.com)
Features:
SmartBrowse:
Full set of browser navigation buttons
Keyboard activated controls
Combined Stop/Refresh buttons
Status bar notification and loading progress
Complete tabbed browsing
Tab list - view all open tabs in a simple drop down list
Printing/Print Preview w/ page setup
Easy Copy/Paste/Select all access
Automatic website encryption level detection and notification
Popup blocker
StatusClock (accurate to the second)
ESA - Easy Site Advisor, allows access to a websites SiteAdvisor rating page with a single click
Automatic after-browse cleanup
EBB:
Browser navigation buttons (no home)
Keyboard activated Go button
"Switching" Stop/Refresh buttons
Status bar notification
Clock (accurate to the minute)
Summary:
EBB is easier on resources but lacks MANY features. However this is an impressive feat for a 0.1 beta, and Walt continues to add features, so I might have to replace SmartBrowse soon if he gets enough things together. :o
I am also looking into adding a FoxyTunes type of media controller into SmartBrowse (like the old SnapSuite 2007/NANY MediaControl). Favorites might make a comeback too... not sure yet. Trying to keep resource usage to a minimal while adding new things isn't really that possible; kind of like putting a 5 pound turkey into a 3 pound bag. You can cram, but the result isn't going to be positive. ;D
-Brandon
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