The Online Newspaper for Linux and Open Source
http://internet.newsforge.com/
Title A trio of open source niche browsers
Date 2005.07.20 15:00
Author Lee A. Spain
Topic
http://internet.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/06/29/1344207
Tired of debating which Internet browser is superior? Then you may want to
try out a trio of niche browsers that are simply interesting: Ghostzilla,
BrowseX, and Amaya. Each takes a different approach to the Web experience to
serve different kinds of users: Ghostzilla offers a stealthy browser for
paranoid surfers, BrowseX provides a minimalist browser, and Amaya serves as
both an authoring tool and a browser to showcase new Web technologies.
I tested each of these browsers by visiting three diverse Web sites: Edward
Jones, a large financial services company; NewsForge; and auto maker Audi
USA. Edward Jones strives to keep its Web site on the simple end of the
technology spectrum. NewsForge is a common frame of reference for us all.
And the Audi Web site takes maximum advantage of graphics and multimedia
technology to dazzle customers that expect the latest technology.
Ghostzilla
If you think someone is watching over your shoulder, Ghostzilla just might
be your browser. It offers a sneaky route to the Web. The Mozilla-based
browser for Windows 98 or later hides within the work area of a typical
office application like AbiWord. Web pages simply appear within the
application with toned-down graphics and fonts. An extra toolbar lets you
handle surfing functions. If you use the CD-ROM version (version 1.0.1), you
can even set the browser up to run from the CD and write your browser
history to a diskette.
To get started with Ghostzilla, you simply activate an application, bring up
a document, size the application window as you want on your screen, and then
activate Ghostzilla. The browser appears within the boundaries of your work
application. Anyone walking by will simply assume that you are working on a
document. If they start getting too close to your computer, you can simply
move your mouse off the window and the Ghostzilla browser will disappear
like magic and leave only your legitimate work on screen. When the danger
has passed, a simple mouse gesture to the left of the screen, back to the
right, and back to the left again brings the Web content right back.
Ghostzilla blocks pop-up ads and lets you choose from six different "hiding
levels" for graphics. The first level shows all graphics and full color,
like any other Web browser. Level 2 shows the page in black and white and
hides big graphics. From level 2 on, the graphics only appear when you let
the mouse hover over them. Level 3 shows the page and graphics (when they
appear) in black and white. For level 4, the page appears in subdued gray
and pictures are in color when they appear. On the level 5 (the default),
the page is gray and pictures are black and white when they appear. Finally,
level 6 shows the page in gray, and big pictures are gray and pale when they
appear.
To a company's network administrator, tracking user surfing habits,
Ghostzilla should have the same "signature" as Mozilla, according to the
developers.
In practice, on an old Windows 98 machine, I found Ghostzilla to be
unobtrusive and easy to use. The browser stayed hidden and didn't appear on
the task bar. On a dial-up connection, I found that Web pages were rendered
slightly more slowly with Ghostzilla than with my other browsers.
Nevertheless, Web pages were accurately rendered and readable. In keeping
with its nature, Ghostzilla did not play any movies or sounds from the Audi
Web site.
While the Ghostzilla browser seems like a nifty piece of technical work, the
project's Web site contains some important warnings about the software. The
developer warns users to stay away from naughty Web sites because most
companies keep Internet access logs. Further, the developer calls the
Ghostzilla a bad idea and warns users not to use Ghostzilla to waste time.
Ordinarily it would be easy to laugh aside such warnings, but on the
Ghostzilla Web site; the still anonymous programmer admits to having wasted
months of company time surfing with Ghostzilla. He developed Ghostzilla just
to surf while stuck in a dead-end job under an overbearing boss. After
squandering all this time, the developer's problems were solved within days
when he finally asked for a transfer to a new position. The developer's
conclusion: don't use Ghostzilla to escape important work issues. I'll also
add that surfing too much with a conventional browser can lead to a warning,
but surfing too much with non-standard personal software that helps to
conceal your Web habits can lead to immediate termination.
BrowseX
Comparitive Screenshots of The Browsers
Amaya - click to enlarge
BrowserX - click to enlarge
GhostZilla - click to enlarge
BrowseX version 2.0.0 is an alternative browser developed entirely in TCL
and C for both Linux and Windows. A 3.8MB download, BrowseX is a rather slim
browser. The project Web site claims BrowseX can run in an X Window on an
old 386 with as little as 12MB of RAM. BrowseX also offers some nice
built-in features such as an address book and password manager.
Unfortunately, in my testing, BrowseX did not render Web pages nearly as
well as major browsers. With BrowseX, only the rather straightforward Edward
Jones Web site was rendered quickly and well. Using a dial-up connection, I
was able to find an Investment Representative in my neighborhood, see of map
of the broker's area, and use a form on the site to send an email. On the
NewsForge site, I found the articles were rendered passably, but reader
comments appeared in an almost unreadable microscopic four- or five-point
font. Having seen raging flame wars after some articles, I could see some
merit in BrowseX. However, as I pressed on, I found the browser nearly
useless at the Audi site. BrowseX showed most of the text, but pictures,
movies, and some important menu options were not displayed. It became
impossible to get useful information from the site. On the other hand,
pop-up advertisements, annoying Flash movies, and ActiveX code will not
bother BrowseX users.
While not great for everyday use, BrowseX still may be a viable choice for
hobbyists pushing the limits of ancient hardware.
Amaya
While BrowseX may appeal to the minimalist, Amaya was created by the World
Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to demonstrate future Web technologies. Amaya
version 8.7.4 is available for Windows, Unix platforms, and Mac OS X.
In addition to working as a browser, Amaya is an authoring tool that allows
users to create new Web pages and to create local annotations for Web pages
on the Internet. Thus, the Amaya menu bar offers some typical HTML editing
icons.
Navigation with Amaya differs from navigation with traditional browsers. To
visit a link, you must right-click on it. To create a local annotation for a
Web site, you simply click where you want to position the cursor. Annotation
and the ability to collaborate on Web documents in real time as you surf is
one of the more interesting technologies Amaya offers. Currently,
annotations are stored for your own use on your own workstation, but they
could also be stored on what the W3C calls an annotation server. This might
allow people from all over the world to work on a Web document collectively
in real time. For example, if Audi created a collaborative Web site, I'd
love to annotate it and mark which Audi cars are too small for tall people.
Now, that would be a truly interesting Web experience!
In normal navigation at the Edward Jones Web site, Amaya rendered pages
quickly and for the most part accurately. However, Amaya nearly superimposed
a box for entering your ZIP code with a box for entering your state. On the
NewsForge site, Amaya did not properly render the page. Instead, Amaya
displayed vast whitespace and forced the articles to appear down at the
bottom of the page. Like the other browsers, Amaya had even more trouble at
the Audi USA Web site. It did not faithfully render the graphics or play
movies.
Amaya's strengths stem from its ability to author and display Web pages
using the traditional Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style
Sheets (CSS), and proposed new Web technologies like Extensible Hypertext
Markup Language (XHTML), the Mathematical Markup Language (MathML), Scalable
Vector Graphics (SVG), and the animation module of Synchronized Multimedia
(SMIL Animation).
The special capabilities of Amaya should make it appealing to a variety of
niche audiences. For example, academics, journalists, and other researchers
should find the annotation features useful for adding their own notes to
useful Web content. These notes would be available whenever they return to
the page with Amaya. Web authors can readily use the tool to create Web
content or collaborate with other writers. Finally, mathematicians and
scientists should also embrace Amaya for its ability to create and display
Web pages that use MathML. Currently, only Mozilla/Firefox, Netscape, and
Amaya natively support MathML. Internet Explorer requires a free Design
Science Mathplayer plugin.
Each of these browsers is an interesting Web alternative. Which of these
browsers is the best? I think it depends on whether your boss is lurking in
the next cube, or whether your basement is filled with an eclectic mix of
old machinery, or whether you need to enter your mathematical formula for
the meaning of life into a Web format.
Links
1. "Ghostzilla" - http://www.ghostzilla.com/
2. "BrowseX" - http://sourceforge.net/projects/brx
3. "Amaya" - http://www.w3.org/Amaya
4. "Edward Jones" - http://www.edwardjones.com/
5. "NewsForge" - http://www.newsforge.com/
6. "Audi USA" - http://www.audiusa.com/
7. "warns" - http://www.ghostzilla.com/docs/usage.html
8. "bad idea" -
http://www.ghostzilla.com/guestbook/guestbook.php?displayBegin=275
9. "admits" -
http://www.ghostzilla.com/guestbook/guestbook.php?displayBegin=275
10. " " -
http://www.newsforge.com/blob.pl?id=5bd67f42e0202c13cdffa63032b2a828
11. " " -
http://www.newsforge.com/blob.pl?id=4da6d68ea45539c6924e8d1a423b6218
12. " " -
http://www.newsforge.com/blob.pl?id=af5661e60502ec2530e3286628c85f54
You are a subscribed member of the infowarrior list. Visit
www.infowarrior.org for list information or to unsubscribe. This message
may be redistributed freely in its entirety. Any and all copyrights
appearing in list messages are maintained by their respective owners.
