Is ''Web Rendering Proxy'' Any Good?

[Appleuser201]

I know this is a dumb ''noob'' question here, but I've been seeing this pop up now and again on these forums, using a Web Rendering Proxy to make the most out of older web browsers on system 7, Mac OS 8, and 9, such as Internet Explorer 5 and Classilla. I get the basic idea, using gif images to display webpages with clickable spots on the image.
What I would like to know is how many of you use it, is it fast and reliable, how to install it and get it working and can you do most basic stuff on the web with it? I know gmail works with it (the full version plus google hangouts, not just the basic html) from videos I've seen but I'd like to know how well it works on an actual 20+ year old machine instead of a Windows 3.1 emulator.

Is it now more or less possible to use the modern web on a 1996 Macintosh Performa with WRP?

 

[TzunamiOSX]

I have tested it only for short.

The WRP (server) must have installed Google Chrome
The browsing was fast but the usability on my test was very limited. Mostly links doent work or were not klickable. You can use it, but you dont have the same feeling like a real browser.

her you see how it works. https://github.com/tenox7/wrp

it is like a picture in the picture

 

[Appleuser201]

I have tested it only for short.

The WRP (server) must have installed Google Chrome
The browsing was fast but the usability on my test was very limited. Mostly links doent work or were not klickable. You can use it, but you dont have the same feeling like a real browser.

her you see how it works. https://github.com/tenox7/wrp

it is like a picture in the picture

What do you mean google Chrome in the server? Does this work standalone or will I need a modern machine running at the same time?

 

[z970]

What do you mean google Chrome in the server? Does this work standalone or will I need a modern machine running at the same time?

To my understanding, it must be run as a proxy server on a modern machine (or at least one capable of browsing the modern Web, like a Raspberry Pi). The client machine then connects to the proxy server on the modern machine, and then simply displays Web pages as rendered by the modern machine.

...Or at least something pretty close to that effect...

 

[Appleuser201]

To my understanding, it must be run as a proxy server on a modern machine (or at least one capable of browsing the modern Web, like a Raspberry Pi). The client machine then connects to the proxy server on the modern machine, and then simply displays Web pages as rendered by the modern machine.

...Or at least something pretty close to that effect...

The modern machine would still have to be up and running every time I use wrp though?

 

[z970]

The modern machine would still have to be up and running every time I use wrp though?

Presumably, yes.

 

[TzunamiOSX]

To my understanding, it must be run as a proxy server on a modern machine (or at least one capable of browsing the modern Web, like a Raspberry Pi). The client machine then connects to the proxy server on the modern machine, and then simply displays Web pages as rendered by the modern machine.

...Or at least something pretty close to that effect...

Exactly

 

[Dronecatcher]

I'm surprised no one has offered a subscription based web rendering service tailored for all the retro machines out there - it's not like there's not a market for retro, there is and judging by the hefty prices it's quite healthy.

 

[Amethyst1]

I'm surprised no one has offered a subscription based web rendering service tailored for all the retro machines out there - it's not like there's not a market for retro, there is and judging by the hefty prices it's quite healthy.

This is just a guess, but I'd be inclined to think the main retro markets are for gaming consoles (indicated by the recent wave of miniaturised re-releases of the classics) and, as sort of an extension of that theme, old computers used for retrogaming. People wanting to use these machines for surfing the modern web, YouTube etc. might just be an infinitesimally small minority not yet recognised as possible customers.

 

[Dronecatcher]

This is just a guess, but I'd be inclined to think the main retro markets are for gaming consoles

I was thinking specifically of cpu accelerators/expansion modules for Amigas, SCSI HDD interface modules, serial port wifi interfaces - peripherals that make ancient hardware more usable. That market is thriving and people appear to be prepared to pay premium prices too.

 

[Imixmuan]

Or something like the Puffin Internet Terminal, which like Opera used to do with Turbo mode offloads a ton of the heavy lifting of modern web browsing to cloud based servers. They claim to turn a Raspberry Pi 3 into a viable desktop replacement. I contacted them awhile back and said there was definitely a market for a Puffin like browser for Windows 7, XP and older Mac OS computers that needed help on the mo-dern web to stay relevant.

Never heard a Chinese whisper back.

https://www.puffin.com/raspberry-pi/

 

[z970]

Or something like the Puffin Internet Terminal, which like Opera used to do with Turbo mode offloads a ton of the heavy lifting of modern web browsing to cloud based servers. They claim to turn a Raspberry Pi 3 into a viable desktop replacement. I contacted them awhile back and said there was definitely a market for a Puffin like browser for Windows 7, XP and older Mac OS computers that needed help on the mo-dern web to stay relevant.

Never heard a Chinese whisper back.

https://www.puffin.com/raspberry-pi/

I lost interest at the required subscription part.

A Raspberry Pi 3 is a viable desktop replacement as long as you install Raspbian onto a SATA III SSD, overclock the SDRAM, SoC, and GPU, and increase the swapfile size to 1 GB. In practical comparison, the Pi 4 really just comes with most of this stuff out-of-the-box.

Chromium is butter-smooth, especially when playing YouTube with h264ify (up to 1080p HD). Even with several other applications open!

 

[Amethyst1]

I lost interest at the required subscription part.

I don't think $1/month is too bad actually - I'm put off by the fact that it's restricted to a maximum of three devices per license and you can't even sign up for a free trial without providing some kind of payment method (at least according to their FAQ).

A Raspberry Pi 3 is a viable desktop replacement as long as

...you don't need more performance than it provides or applications only available for x86.

 

[sparty411]

I was thinking specifically of cpu accelerators/expansion modules for Amigas, SCSI HDD interface modules, serial port wifi interfaces - peripherals that make ancient hardware more usable. That market is thriving and people appear to be prepared to pay premium prices too.

I would pay pretty good money for an AGP to PCIe adapter, if someone were to manufacture such a thing.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

You mean to use an AGP card in a PCIe computer, or to use a PCIe card in an AGP computer?

Because AGP card in PCIe exists. (But it's apparently rarer than hen's teeth, and was made for one specific "AGP/PCIe transition period" video card.)

AGP, PCI, and PCIe are all based on the same signalling, just over different physical connectors (and PCIe over different electrical, but the actual data signal is still "PCI".) So adapters for each direction do exist. You may just need to use two adapters...

PCIe card in PCI slot

AGP card in PCI slot

PCI card in AGP slot

PCI card in PCIe slot

Combine the AGP in PCI with the PCI in PCIe, and you'll have a very tall way of putting an AGP card in a PCIe slot. Combine the PCIe in PCI with the PCI in AGP and you'll have a goofy way of putting a PCIe card in an AGP slot.

I should note that you're not going to get full AGP speed in any direction on any of this though - the difference between AGP and PCI is that AGP offers "double data rate" signaling (or quad, or eight times,) that plain PCI doesn't support. So using any bridge that goes through regular PCI will lose that, and make the AGP portion run at plain PCI speed. (AGP 1.0 was just 32-bit, 66 MHz PCI with some extra extensions for direct memory access. AGP 2.0 was 32-bit, 66 MHz PCI running at double data rate (two data bits per clock cycle,) AGP 3.0 was quad data rate, etc.)