A point-by-point comparison of various RISC OS web browsers
Which ones are available?
At the time of writing, the following web browsers are available for the RISC OS platform:-
| Name |
Developer |
Status |
Notes |
| ArcWeb |
Stewart Brodie |
Freeware |
No longer developed but nonetheless a good reliable browser, if only lacking some of the more recent internet additions. |
| Browse |
Acorn |
Commercial |
No longer in development. Future uncertain. |
| Firefox |
Peter Naulls |
Freeware |
A port of the world standard Mozilla Firefox browser. Potentially the best browser on RISC OS but rather slow at present. |
| Fresco |
Ant |
Commercial |
Currently the best, but development seems to be on hold. |
| NetSurf |
Netsurf Developers |
Freeware |
A very fast open source browser with ongoing development but unfortunately no Javascript support. |
| Oregano 1 |
Oregano UK Ltd |
Commercial |
Looking good so far. Lacks a few features and is no longer developed. |
| Oregano 2 |
Oregano UK Ltd |
Commercial |
About the best all-round web browser for RISC OS at the moment. Soon to be superseded by Oregano 3 |
| Oregano 3 |
Oregano UK Ltd |
Commercial |
Looks like it will soon be the best RISC OS browser available. |
| WebsterXL |
R-Comp |
Commercial | Currently rather too slow in my personal view. |
A brief comparison of features
The following table briefly summarises some of my personal findings. If you would like me to experiment or test a particular feature please contact me and I will see if I can check it for you.
The points are in no particular order of preference, other than the order I thought of them. :-)
Where I have listed Javascript compatibility, a browser passes if it correctly renders the page listed with no rrors. Any JS error will result in a 'no' being awarded. This may allow you to access the site with partial JS support, or with JS turned off. This test is merely Javascript parsing ability and does not indicate actual accessibility of the site in question.
I don't actually have WebsterXL myself, so the values for Webster have been provided by Andrew Pullan of RComp.
| |
ArcWeb
v1.92 |
Browse
v2.07 |
Firefox
beta |
Fresco
v2.13 |
NetSurf
23 Jun |
Oregano 1
v1.10 |
Oregano 2
v2.2.18 rev.3 |
Oregano 3
v3.1.0 rev.9 |
WebsterXL
v1.98p |
PNG rendering ability. |
? |
full |
? |
partial |
? |
partial |
? |
? |
Full |
Dithering of GIFs in 256 colour modes |
yes |
no |
? |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
? |
yes |
Dithering of JPEGs in 256 colour modes |
yes |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
? |
yes |
| Dithering of PNGs in 256 colour modes |
? |
yes |
? |
partial |
? |
partial |
? |
? |
yes |
| |
ArcWeb |
Browse |
Firefox |
Fresco |
NetSurf |
O1 |
O2 |
O3 |
WXL |
| Ability to export a page as a RISC OS Draw file. |
yes |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
no |
? |
? |
yes
Saves in !PrintWeb compatible format to allow you to split them into A4 pages if you wish, although clearly the browser has its own printing functions |
| Ability to render RISC OS Draw files. |
no |
no |
? |
yes |
? |
no |
? |
? |
? |
| Drag URL bar to paste URL into text editor. |
yes |
no |
? |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
? |
yes |
| Javascript capability. |
no
-
- |
no
-
- |
? |
yes
yes
no |
? |
yes
yes
yes |
? |
? |
yes
Yes
Yes |
| www.bt.com |
- |
- |
? |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
? |
Yes |
| www.independent.co.uk |
- |
- |
? |
no |
? |
yes |
? |
? |
Yes |
| Plugin support. |
no |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
? |
yes |
| Keep History list across sessions. |
? |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
no |
? |
? |
yes |
| 40 bit SSL support as standard. |
no |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
? |
yes |
| 128 bit SSL support as standard. |
no |
no |
? |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
? |
free module |
| Language support |
yes |
? |
? |
no |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
| |
ArcWeb |
Browse |
Firefox |
Fresco |
NetSurf |
O1 |
O2 |
O3 |
WXL |
Speed to render my RISC OS links page (searching for everything)
(using 56K modem) |
? |
8 mins 20 secs(stopped at 'Psion') |
? |
3 min 15 secs |
? |
3 min 38 secs |
? |
? |
? |
Speed to render my RISC OS links page (searching for everything)
(500K broadband) |
? |
- secs |
? |
- secs |
? |
- secs |
? |
? |
? |
| Support for <font face=> |
yes |
no |
? |
no |
? |
yes |
? |
? |
yes |
| Support page saving with images. |
? |
? |
? |
yes (with WebTool) |
? |
no |
? |
? |
yes |
| Search text on page facility |
? |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
no |
? |
? |
yes |
| Has disc cache. |
yes |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
no |
? |
? |
yes |
| Ability to OLE hotlink with text editor (!Edit,!Zap and !StrongED) for interactive web design (absolutely indispensable in my view!) |
no |
no |
? |
yes |
? |
no |
? |
? |
yes |
| Save page as text |
? |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
? |
yes |
| Onscreen text highlight and saving |
? |
no |
? |
no |
? |
no |
? |
? |
yes |
| Search page for text |
? |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
no |
? |
? |
yes |
| Skins support |
no |
no |
? |
no |
? |
yes |
? |
? |
yes |
| Supports Cascading Style Sheets |
no |
no |
? |
no |
? |
yes |
? |
? |
yes |
| Can use Bookmaker for hotlist |
? |
? |
? |
yes |
? |
yes |
? |
? |
yes |
| Supports HTML format hotlists |
? |
? |
? |
yes |
? |
? |
? |
? |
yes |
| |
ArcWeb |
Browse |
Firefox |
Fresco |
NetSurf |
O1 |
O2 |
O3 |
WXL |
Various rendering speed tests
The following tests have been timed as accurately as possible using a digital stopwatch. The timer was started as soon as the page was told to fetch, and stopped when downloading and rendering was 100% completed.
All tests were performed using a Demon 500K broadband connection.
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Useful information like this one must be kept and maintained so I will put this one on my bookmark list! Thanks for this wonderful post and hoping to post more of this!
I’m a fan of lazy registration, but it’s still a source of annoyance in shopping cart systems. I get really frustrated when I’ve navigated a site, filled a shopping card, am about to check out, and suddenly I need to come up with a username, password, and other registration cruft. Just take my credit card and shipping info and/or redirect me through PayPal, and then use that information to build a provisional “soft profile” that you can use to prefill my shipping form next time.
Thanks for this wonderful post and hoping to post more of this!
I need to come up with a username, password, and other registration cruft. Just take my credit card and shipping info and/or redirect me through PayPal.
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