Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

http://blog.mozilla.com/blassey/2007...d-on-the-n800/
http://blog.mozilla.com/blassey/2007...mo-repository/

Repo: http://people.mozilla.com/~blassey/ chinook extras

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

Wow! That's cool! I need to try it. The current MicroB browser (to me) is pretty frustrating... it just hangs all the time. I know Minefield is still a WIP, but I think it will be a cool app to try! It sounds promising!

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

Don't be too excited - MicroB already uses Gecko 1.9, the rendering engine of Minefield.

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

Hmmm... well, at least I can be excited about the UI... I'm not a huge fan of bare minimum UI of MicroB. ;)

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

Interesting, slow as hell, but interesting.

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

Wow! Wow! Wow! That IS fantastic! Real Firefox interface right on my n800! Not VNC, not X forwarded... amazing! Keeping my eye on this one. Text input clearly needs to be resolved... and speed optimizing... but again... wow! Thanks!

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

wah!.... I can't get it to accept text input from the n800 keyboard. But this is one project I'll follow closely for sure. Right now if the dev's need testing done let me know. Thanks!

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

Yes, that was in the announcement - known bug.
If you have mapped the finger keyboard to the main button (on the 4 way nav), you can enter text though...

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

-scruffy-
The *wah* was intended to be a worthless whine. The overall view is expressed in the thanks. I'm curious if the problem with keyboard entry isn't OS2008-final.

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

it's slow... but impressive... it can even handle youtube from the start... great start!

please don't drop this project... we really need a tabbed browser around here hehe

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

OK, I'm sorry--I don't understand. Is this just for hacking on, or is this intended (ultimately, when bugs are worked out) to be a MicroB replacement? I know the blog post says, "this is not Mobile Firefox," but later paragraphs in the post lead me to believe that's where this project is headed...

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

Minefield Firefox:
Firefox minefield = Firefox 3.0

Mobile Firefox:
http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/schre...nd_mobile.html

In other words, this is a full firefox, not a 'mobile' version, ala MicroB.

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

Downloading now-can't wait to try it out. Anyone know how the stylus keyboard problem could be potentially solved?

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

As a workaround, tap anywhere on the D-Pad in a text field.

I'm sure a proper patch will come along soon enough.

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

You raise an interesting point. MicroB had tabbed browsing in OS2007 --- I wonder what happened to it in OS2008?

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

Looking Forward

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

oh how i wish for kinetic scrolling, tabs or easier window switching while in fullscreen, far far better handling of long lists of bookmarks and many more. all as standard.

for an internet tablet, browsing is abit of a chore and it can all be fixed in a simple update.

i'll give minefield a try.

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

[QUMicroB /OS 2007 had tabbed browsing?.... are you referring to "open in new window"? I found that feature did not work much of the time in MicroB/OS2007. And that's why I'm still using Opera!

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

I'm most interested in extensions, specifically Google's browser sync (or Weave, I suppose)

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

Out of curiousity, how many of you would be willing to give up application performance for application functionality? As it were, there are already a number of forum posts here complaining about how slow microB is (personally, I have no issues with it), and some people complain about it being unstable (never had that problem myself)

Assuming that Minefield runs the same Gecko engine (v1.9) as Minefield, and assuming that interesting features such as kinetic scrolling, extensions tabbed browsing etc were introduced, I'm quite sure there would be some compromise to the performance of the browser.

The way I see it, when the system is trying to render a web page, it does not matter if it is doing it over 4 open windows or 4 tabs, the amount of computing power needed to execute the rendering should not be all that different.

At some point in time, we are going to have lots of features and UI improvements and live with performance issues (I'm hoping to stand corrected on this one)

As it were the case today, while microB is not perfect, it gets the job done. The N800 by far, in today's world of fat, bloated devices (the Nokia N95 would be such an example) is a breathe of fresh air. It does almost everything I need it to do, with a good balance between UI and performance, enough to satisfy my internet and media needs, while impressing the heck out of users of iPhones, iPod Touch, and other 'consumer' devices.

While I for one, am not adverse to better UIs and functionality, I would be very careful to tread the thin line between bloatware and an effective+efficient application. Perhaps one way to do so would be to focus on developing Minefield in a very modular fashion that allows users to install the functionality and UI enhancements that they need, thereby allowing users to manage the balance between performance and bling :)

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

I completely agree. I believe that on the limited cpu power devices emphasis should be on the responsiveness and simplicity.

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

Just getting onboard with this thread. There's a good bit of excitement with this on my end. I'll be keeping an eye on this that's for sure.

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

But...responsiveness and simplicity do not guarantee function. Why not support the development of firefox for maemo? Simplicity is being able to run the SAME open source browser on any platform instead of clinging to a mobile browser (microb) with no long term benefits to the mobile community.

I say lets get on board and get mobile firefox for maemo on the fast track.

The extension compatibility alone would redefine the possibilities for the n8x0 platform.

Re: Minefield (new firefox) on OS2008
 

You do realize MicroB is Gecko based, right?