Whilst the userbase sinks its teeth in the recent first release of the Firefox web browser for RISC OS, Jon Ripley has sought to integrate the mammoth application with the RISC OS desktop. Currently still in development, the ported X Windows based browser is drawing mixed reactions from punters and is currently alien to various RISC OS user interface metaphors, such as the iconbar and drag and drop.According to Jon, his program acts as a user friendly 'wrapper' around the web browser, and "helps integrate Firefox into the RISC OS desktop. Features include: iconbar icon, drag and drop support, URI file support and the ability to double-click on a HTML file to launch it into Firefox."
He said: "At the moment Firefox Integration is a personal project to add the features to Firefox that I would ultimately like to see in later releases. The primary goal has been to make current releases of Firefox much easier to use. There is certainly functionality that can be added to Firefox Integration for future releases. Other RISC OS users and developers are welcome to help out with actual code or ideas."
John also added that he's also willing to help develop the X windows related libraries used in the Firefox port to make the port more RISC OS friendly.
Meanwhile, Peter Naulls has uploaded a second, updated beta version of the ported web browser for users to test drive. Peter was unavailable for comment on the progress made since the first beta test release from earlier this month.
Links
Firefox RISC OS Integration
Peter Naulls is a drobe.co.uk writer.