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Opera Releases New WebKit-Based Browser 'Coast'

Michael Goff said:
And this is what happens when you put anemic levels of RAM in your devices...
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That's not quite the right conclusion to walk away with. An iPhone could have a terabyte of RAM, and the "trick" that iOS uses to boost javascript performance in Safari would still be just as beneficial.

In any computer, the amount of RAM and the performance of the system are completely unrelated until you reach the point where the system needs more RAM. Extra [unused] RAM doesn't do anything (which is why modern OSes have started trying to make use of unused RAM by leaving stuff cached in it).
 
Spent 20 seconds with it... Wow! :eek:

Its a pleasure to use. No fumbling about with tiny buttons and tabs etc.
 
redscull said:
That's not quite the right conclusion to walk away with. An iPhone could have a terabyte of RAM, and the "trick" that iOS uses to boost javascript performance in Safari would still be just as beneficial.

In any computer, the amount of RAM and the performance of the system are completely unrelated until you reach the point where the system needs more RAM. Extra [unused] RAM doesn't do anything (which is why modern OSes have started trying to make use of unused RAM by leaving stuff cached in it).
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Would the trick really be needed, though, if Apple gave the devices sufficient RAM?
 
Michael Goff said:
Would the trick really be needed, though, if Apple gave the devices sufficient RAM?
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The "trick" would always enable Safari to render javascripted web pages a little faster than 3rd party browsers regardless of hardware improvements. But as someone else said, as raw CPU/GPU power improves, there is less need for this extra bonus.

I myself am a web developer with a pretty heavy dependency on javascript (or I think so; maybe my definition of "heavy" is not in fact all that much), and I don't even notice a difference between running my code in Safari vs. say this new browser. I haven't done a technical benchmark to see if Safari renders it faster, but that isn't important. If a user doesn't perceive a difference, the difference isn't relevant.
 
redscull said:
The "trick" would always enable Safari to render javascripted web pages a little faster than 3rd party browsers regardless of hardware improvements. But as someone else said, as raw CPU/GPU power improves, there is less need for this extra bonus.

I myself am a web developer with a pretty heavy dependency on javascript (or I think so; maybe my definition of "heavy" is not in fact all that much), and I don't even notice a difference between running my code in Safari vs. say this new browser. I haven't done a technical benchmark to see if Safari renders it faster, but that isn't important. If a user doesn't perceive a difference, the difference isn't relevant.
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Ah, alright.

I just read the part about it being a hack that is a security problem and... well, mostly I wondered why the *buy some apples* they would be doing that in the first place.
 
A lesson for Ive

Really nice stuff! Elegant, ergonomic, beautiful! Ive should have a look at this! Maybe it can teach him a few important things?
 
Setting the bar high

Opera is rising to the challenge. Their new WebKit desktop browser I bet will be quite innovative.
 
A functionally-limited wrapper for WebKit, with a terrible app icon. I do not understand all the love for this browser from the majority of the previous posts.
 
redscull said:
I really hope the new iOS 7 Safari (which I myself have not tried) understands and does the kind of stuff that iPhone Chrome and iPad Coast are doing. This is good user interface design, something Apple hasn't really made progress on in quite a few years.
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The UI is basically identical to the iOS home screen, including page indicators and "wiggling" icons if you keep pressing, to rearrange or delete them.
 
subsonix said:
The UI is basically identical to the iOS home screen, including page indicators and "wiggling" icons if you keep pressing, to rearrange or delete them.
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Well, I didn't mean to imply it was unobvious or brand new. Heck, I have touch web browser design docs that I spec'd out over a year ago which are very similar to what Coast did. I just lacked the time and manpower to build a web browser. But Coast didn't just copy iOS desktop; they blended in some of Android's better features and then added some very nice polish of their own. That's the best kind of innovation. Fix up what's good, and then take it that next step.

Sure, Apple did some good UI design with their iOS in general.. six years ago. They never bothered taking the new patterns from the iOS to all the apps. They just stagnated. Copied desktop design paradigms in some apps, especially Safari. They didn't evolve anything either. Other app makers had to establish the new, superior menu system (slide in from left and right instead of an antiquated toolbar). Android had to demonstrate what a proper notification center might be like and how fast app switching should work. Etc.

I don't know everything iOS 7 has, and I really hope it does more than just copy the basic functionality from Android and prominent apps that iOS should have had a long time ago. But the sterile, flat icons taint anything it accomplishes. Human beings are instinctually wired to want to touch textures and things familiar to them. Shiny and smooth are associated with rocks and metal, hard surfaces, often hot or cold and sharp. iOS 7 looks like a clinic, or a museum; it's not exactly ugly, but it sends a very clear message: do not touch. This fundamental piece of user experience design has somehow been lost on Apple.
 
philosopherdog said:
Opera is rising to the challenge. Their new WebKit desktop browser I bet will be quite innovative.
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I've played with it some (this is the desktop Opera browser based on Webkit after Opera abandoned their own engine Presto) as I used Opera previously. It's basically a gutted version of Chrome - doesn't even have bookmarks integrated at this point. Most Opera desktop users are using the last Presto version 12.16, which can still be downloaded from their site and has tons of power user features. IMHO, Opera should have kept Presto going (stopping functionality updates) until their Webkit engine based version reaches feature parity, then switched over.

beautifulcoder said:
I love Opera but does it handle tens of tabs well? Safari is wretched in this regard.
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You'll have to try it yourself. I'm quite impressed and love the UI action. For tabs you touch the tabs area in the bottom right, your current site shrinks just a little and then you can scroll through the pages visually with a flick of your finger.

It needs a way to handle large bookmarks separately from its "top sites page", which is all it has at this point (you basically put together your own Top Sites page ala Safari for your active pages you hit all the time - very easily by the way).

I really like it, its very nice to use - feels much more integrated into the iPad touch UI than little back and forth buttons etc.. The group that did it at Opera, did a wonderful job.
 
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I tried it out last night... pretty cool. I like the swiping to go back, reminds me of using my MPB and its trackpad. I like also how when you search, it's trying to find what you're looking for (suggestions I suppose).
 
redscull said:
Sure, Apple did some good UI design with their iOS in general.. six years ago. They never bothered taking the new patterns from the iOS to all the apps.
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You seem to be missing that what you find innovative, is lifted from iOS here. That makes your previous comment a bit ironic. Besides that, Apple's implementation is better. For example, using a red circle on the icon itself to delete. Also, not all patterns fit in all contexts.
 
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