Filed under: Software, Internet Tools
Shiira v2 beta released
Remember that Shiira v2 beta preview that delusions of grandeur had at the end of July? Well instead of simply reading about it, now you can take your own copy for a spin, as a public, localized beta has been released. Shiira, if you haven't been following the coverage as of late, is an open source and uniquely feature-packed browser based on WebKit, the same web (and also open source) rendering engine that powers Apple's own Safari.
Most of the new features that were previewed seem to be implemented, including the Shelf, Tab Exposé, a tab thumbnails option (instead of standard tabs found in Safari and Firefox), FullScreen Mode with a really slick and self-hiding navigation overlay, a palette replacement for the sidebar and more.
When this first landed on digg, the download was only a PowerPC build, but it has since been replaced with a true Universal version. So what are you waiting for? Get downloading!
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
benjamin ellis said 6:26PM on 8-06-2006
this is not new I've been using version 2 for weeks
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Adrian vG said 6:37PM on 8-06-2006
Yes, and it even says: "released 06/03/14" ...
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SW said 6:37PM on 8-06-2006
I'm kind of waiting for it to do something useful that Safari can't.
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extensor said 6:39PM on 8-06-2006
sorry benny but the world doesn't revolve around you and what you know. I am still using 1.2.2. So thank you David for posting this even though master of the universe benny already knew about it.
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Milk said 7:05PM on 8-06-2006
The beta still feels like an alpha, but boy am I excited about the future of this app! Soon, it might even replace Safari!
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blackout said 7:07PM on 8-06-2006
crashed within 3 minutes.
i don't like it.
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Jim of Davao said 7:35PM on 8-06-2006
Doesn't not even warn before closing a window with multiple tabs. Back to Camino for me.
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rds said 8:45PM on 8-06-2006
Wow. I have not been impressed by a browser in years. This has _a lot_ of potential. I hope they don't do a Flickr and add loads of tosh.
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Ben said 9:26PM on 8-06-2006
why did they get rid of the "plus" icon to open a new tab that was in the tab bar, next to the right-most tab? that was such a simple function yet incredibly useful. i think it should have been left in as an option.
also, this version looks way too much like camino, with the exception of the nav buttons. although i do admit i like them better than camino's
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Ben said 9:31PM on 8-06-2006
also, the scrolling in this using the two-finger trackpad ability is FANTASTIC. even better than safari and i did NOT expect that! usually, other mac browers fall short of this capability and shiira has somehow been able to exceed my expectations. very very very cool.
however, another gripe about the tabs is that i wish they could be shrunk down in height a bit more. i had to customize the toolbar so that it would display "icon only" to make the toolbar less heavy and take up less space. i mean, if i left the default toolbar and had the page dock on as well, it left VERY little webpage space. i'd recommend an option to move the pagedock to the left/right like in omniweb or just simply do what opera does preview a tab by hovering your mouse over it for a few seconds.
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Joe Jacobs said 11:15PM on 8-06-2006
Hmmm, I don't think I like it. It's.....well.....diffrent....
Part of what I like about Shiira right now is the sidebar. That option so stay in Shiira 2. I mean, I couldn't even figure out how to pause a download.
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John said 11:32PM on 8-06-2006
I agree The Sidebar was an awesome idea and to me an advantage over every other browser I use. I hate a popup downloads window I hope when the make the final version 2.0 it has that feature back.
Ill be using 1.2 until a stable version is released
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Will said 2:12AM on 8-07-2006
Umm... I like it. Way better than the old Shiira. Like they say, it is not entirely useful yet as a beta, but I will be downloading it again when version 2 comes full circle.
I don't like Safari, so I am trying to find a good webcore based browser and so far I'm empty handed because of the one thing mozilla's creatures still have on us: ad blocking. (pith helmet, I know) This new shiira has no ad-blocking-via-css ability, which I really really want.
P.S. Tab expose is cool.
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Dan said 3:17AM on 8-07-2006
New. Innovative. Brings something to the table. I welcome Shiira 2.
I'm a Camino man, but I love any browser that pushes the rest to improve, and Shiira is certainly breaking many norms. Hoorah!
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bonzo said 4:37AM on 8-07-2006
@blackout: Its a beta. Its says "very unstable" on the second line of the blog entry. What do you expect?
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Le Citadin said 6:45AM on 8-07-2006
Hmmm... Omnigroup should get worried about this...
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Don Parr said 12:45PM on 8-07-2006
I'm very impressed indeed! Yes, it is unstable, yes, all features have not yet been implemented - but - they told us as much :). I can see where a lot of thought, debate and midnight oil has been burned in producing this beta, and am truly looking forward to great things from the "Shiira Project," as others have already mentioned, the potential is awesome :)!
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drivebybiped said 1:54PM on 8-07-2006
I really don't see anything getting me off of firefox any time soon. The ability to use all the extensions and write me own to customize it and have it be the same environment on every computer I work on, be it windows, mac, or *nix just is too nice to make me want to change for some fancy UI effects which in my opinion tend to always just slow me down trying to use my browser.
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miyamotofreak said 4:48PM on 8-13-2006
I saw Shiira mini and downloaded it. Pretty cool.
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