OmniWeb Update

[Yosuke Arai]

Wouldn't OW lose its unique features, if Omni Group would decide to 
make a Web Kit-based version of OW? I remember Tim Omernick - I think 
he's left Omni Group - told daringfireball.net how it was a good idea 
to use their customized versions of WebCore, when the first beta of OW 
5.0 was released.
http://daringfireball.net/2004/02/omniweb_5_public_beta

Many of you probably know Shiira, a Web Kit-based browser.
http://hmdt-web.net/shiira/index-e.html
It's free of charge, and their development speed is incredibly fast. If 
the next version of OW would be Web Kit-based, OW would have to compete 
with Shiira - actually would have to beat it, because OW is shareware. 
Besides, Web Kit-based browsers could conflict with third-party hacks 
and/or plug-ins designed for Safari. (e.g. PithHelmet conflicts with 
Shiira.)

So I believe it's the best way to stick with Omni versions of WebCore 
and JavaScriptCore, brush them up, fix bugs, and optimize for OW. The 
WebCore v125 doesn't have irritating bugs affecting daily browsing (as 
v85 did) anymore, IMHO.

Yosuke Arai

On Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:36:06 -0700, Scott Maier wrote:
> 
> There have been some messages posted to this list lately wondering 
> about the status of OmniWeb and so I would like to give everyone an 
> update on where we're at.
> 
> Currently we are working on getting localizations into OmniWeb for a 
> 5.1.1 release.  This release will also include some security fixes 
> and most likely one or two other fixes for urgent bugs that are 
> affecting a lot of people.  (For example, there are currently issues 
> for many of our users when trying to browse the New York Times 
> website.)
> 
> Beyond 5.1.1 one of the most immediate concerns is updating the 
> engine to make use of the latest updates that Apple has released.  At 
> this time we're investigating two possible avenues:
> 
> 1) Sticking with our customized versions of WebCore and JavaScriptCore
> 2) Moving OmniWeb on top of WebKit.
> 
> Our customized versions of Apple's frameworks are A Good Thing™ for 
> many reasons, but it means that we're constantly having to play 
> catch-up as Apple releases new versions of the frameworks.  It also 
> means that a lot of work is involved when it comes to supporting new 
> technologies like the scriptability extensions recently added to the 
> Netscape Plug-In API - something we would practically get for free 
> from WebKit.
> 
> So that's where we're at.  Expect a minor update in the short-term, 
> and an engine update of some kind a little farther down the road.  
> Where we can we will also do other bug fix releases to address the 
> needs of our customers as best as we can.
> 
> 
> 
> Scott Maier
> Product Manager, OmniWeb
> The Omni Group