[Background History]
For the last 2 weeks I've been testing various
web browsers to see which one would be the best
for my needs and preferences.
The reason for wanting a new browser is because
I never did like IE. And Firefox uses WAY too
much memory (and never releases it until you
close the browser).
Here are some of the broswers I've tried...
Avant, Orca, QTWeb, Sleipnir, Opera
(don't waste your time with any of them)
Then I came across K-Meleon. It sounded like the
perfect browser. My needs and/or preferences are
simple.
a) The browser should not use HUGE amounts of memory.
b) Web items such as Flash/Shockwave should be blocked
in the same manner that FF's FlashBlock does.
c) Web items such as advertisement images should be
blocked and replaced by a placeholder so that the fluidity
of the web page design remains intact.
d) There should be a spellchecker.
e) Configuring the browser to a users preferences should
be fairly easy (while allowing for complex settings).
f) And last but not least... it should be able to handle
web pages that are "specifically" designed for IE. In other
words... I shouldn't be forced to switch to IE just to view
one specific website.
I did some research before downloading and installing
K-Meleon to be sure it met with most (if not all) of the
criteria that I've set above. Most of the research was
done right here at this forum.
[Latest History]
I installed v1.5.2 two days ago on my WinXP (using the full
installer) and set it up the way I would prefer it to be.
I was EXTREMELY impressed until...
a) The flash blocker blocks Falsh but with no FlashBlock
placeholder button to allow viewing (if I so wished to).
b) The flash blocker did NOT block Shockwave at all.
c) I do not see any spell checking going on.
d) It doesn't handle "some" websites that are IE specific.
e) Advertising images are not shown with a placeholder.
(which meant I accidently clicked on a "rollout" ad image)
(which really ticked me off)
As to the "Flash/Shockwave problem"...
Yes I've tried the suggestion on this forum page.
(http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?3,87151)
But it did NOT work (and the link to the already modified
"embed.jar" is just an empty file).
Before you say maybe I didn't do it right... yes I am
a qualified website builder and application programmer
(albeit only as a hobby). I spent more than 4 hours
trying slight variations of the flashblock.xml but ever
one of them caused v1.5.2 (on my computer) to crash.
By crash I mean...
The browser would start up. It attempted to load "about:blank".
Then the browser closed. Followed by... the Microsoft error dialog
popping up asking me if I want to send an error report to them
(which I did not do).
Restoring the original "embed.jar" allowed K-Meleon to run
normally again. Which makes me wonder... could it be possible,
in some way, that it's doesn't work because of my configuration
settings? I would think that, that shouldn't matter.
As to the "spell checking" problem... I could have sworn I saw
that v1.5.2 has it. Or is it something planned for the next version?
As to "specific IE websites"... is there a way to "temporarily"
navigate these sites as an IE browser? The reason for asking is
because one job-hunting website that I need to go to on a daily
basis refuses to let me open links in a new tab (which if I can
not do... makes it a real pain in the butt). Job-hunting here in
JAX, FL is at an all time high. First one to see a job-posting
gets it.
As to the "ad image placeholder"... is there such a thing? If not...
could it be a new feature in the next version?
Please do NOT take any of the above as me bitching.
I totally understand the pressures a programmer faces.
I just need some help in resolving these issues in a friendly way.
Why? Because I feel K-Meleon is... "thee" perfect web browser!
bigD saying... Thanks In Advance for any/all help.