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PowerFox Web Browser - A brand new browser for PowerPC (Beta)

JanetTheGreat said:
Does this browser make PowerPC Macs usable for the modern era?
Click to expand...
It means they can access a lot more of the modern web than previous browsers allowed. "Usable" is a matter of opinion, and mostly limited to machine spec. Either way I think it is an incredible achievement, as it prevents these beautifully designed machines becoming e-waste and will certainly benefit PPC enthusiasts going forward. :D
 
As another datapoint, I am running 10.6.8 on a 2005 17" DLSD 1.67Ghz PowerBook with 2 GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD (using Airport Extreme for networking). I have the version straight from the main application page (downloaded with AquaFox) and was very impressed to see smooth playback of 360p YouTube content right in the browser. I did it many times last night to try different settings and it always played very well after a bit of caching and clicking the continue button when a popup complained that a script was not responding.

Not all of the rest of the elements of the webpage rendered reliably but playback with synced audio was good at 360p. It can't quite handle 480p but that resolution playback was actually smoother than 360p in AquaFox (for the same video).

I am impressed!
 
Jazzzny said:
Power Macintosh, meet PowerFox

View attachment 2599957

Hello all, I'm very happy to announce the beta release of PowerFox Browser for the PowerPC architecture.

PowerFox is not a derivative of TenFourFox. Rather, it is a brand-new browser for PowerPC, built from the same codebase as the 10.6 Intel variant. To refresh your memory, this brings a modern web engine (UXP) with excellent support for the modern internet, with features such as OpenGL acceleration, coloured emoji, modern HTML/CSS/JavaScript support, container tabs, language packs, video codecs (no need for an "enabler"), and much more.

Right now, PowerFox is offered in a beta state for PowerPC - expect bugs and other issues, and please report any of them that you encounter to this thread or on the GitHub bugtracker.

System Requirements
  • Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
  • PowerPC G4 or PowerPC G5 processor
  • 1 GHz processor for proper video playback
Known Issues/Limitations
  • JavaScript JIT (Just-In-Time) compilation is currently unimplemented. This means that JavaScript performance will be slower than that of TenFourFox and its derivatives, please consider installing an Ad Blocker and keeping expectations within reason.
  • Certain SVG images will not render correctly - under investigation.
PowerFox for PowerPC wouldn't have been possible without the developers behind the UXP web engine - namely dbsoft. Thank you!

You can download a build from the PowerFox website or GitHub. Let me know what you think, and happy browsing!

- Jazzzny
Click to expand...

Is there ANY way to make a web browser that will still work with MacOS X 10.3.9 (Panther)? My G4 Mac QuickSilver is relegated to JUST being a MIDI music composition machine. I don't have it connected to the Internet and it's useless on the Internet right now... it can't even render the Google start page correctly! I used a version of Linux on it about 10+ years ago, but stopped. I'd like to see just how "capable" my G4 still is, when it comes to rendering the Internet, with MacOS X 10.3.9 (Panther). I use this version because 10.3 is the only version the works right with iPiano (by Cider Software; long since gone)
 
Luposian said:
Is there ANY way to make a web browser that will still work with MacOS X 10.3.9 (Panther)? My G4 Mac QuickSilver is relegated to JUST being a MIDI music composition machine. I don't have it connected to the Internet and it's useless on the Internet right now... it can't even render the Google start page correctly! I used a version of Linux on it about 10+ years ago, but stopped. I'd like to see just how "capable" my G4 still is, when it comes to rendering the Internet, with MacOS X 10.3.9 (Panther). I use this version because 10.3 is the only version the works right with iPiano (by Cider Software; long since gone)
Click to expand...
I mean, Aquafox doesn’t work on 10.3.9. TenFourFox doesn’t work on 10.3.9.

I think Opera 10.10 is okay? But you could keep a 10.5 install for modern web then dual boot into 10.3.9 for work.
 
Luposian said:
Is there ANY way to make a web browser that will still work with MacOS X 10.3.9 (Panther)? My G4 Mac QuickSilver is relegated to JUST being a MIDI music composition machine. I don't have it connected to the Internet and it's useless on the Internet right now... it can't even render the Google start page correctly! I used a version of Linux on it about 10+ years ago, but stopped. I'd like to see just how "capable" my G4 still is, when it comes to rendering the Internet, with MacOS X 10.3.9 (Panther). I use this version because 10.3 is the only version the works right with iPiano (by Cider Software; long since gone)
Click to expand...
Poor Panther really is the red-headed stepchild of PPC OSX. Just enough capability to use particular software (your iPiano, for example) but just too out of date compared to Tiger for people to build newer software for it.

At the risk of derailing, does a lower version of Tiger (>10.4.11) change that functionality at all? Does installing Shuriken over 10.4.11 help? Or, in the opposite direction, is there possibly a MacOS 9 version of iPiano out there somewhere? It might be worth bringing this up in the Panther thread, which I think is a page or two down the forum at this point lol.
 
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