Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Freeware, Internet Tools, Developer
Stainless: Another attempt at Chrome for OS X
At this rate, Google won't even have to release Chrome for Mac OS X -- our devs will have done it all already themselves. We've already reported about CrossOver putting their own port of Google's web browser together just to show they could do it, and now word has come in about Stainless, another attempt to bring Google's Chromium kit over to our favorite operating system.Unfortunately, it's still just a tech demo and not really a full-fledged browser (and the guys behind it, Mesa Dynamics, say that they didn't even try doing the cool stuff that the real OS X Chromium team is working on). But they did create a multi-process browser (one per tab), and they used some of the tech from their other app, Hypercube (Edit: NOT HyperCard, sorry -- I would have been more excited about that, too) to do it. I haven't tried it (I haven't tried the real Chrome on Windows either, Firefox is good enough for me so far), but like the other OS X Chrome, this app really only exists just so it can.
And it shows just how desperate OS X users are to get their hands on Google's browser. Just how much longer do we have to wait?
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
AriX said 7:21AM on 10-02-2008
Whoa there... Hypercube and hypercard are very different ;)
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puhsitch said 8:29AM on 10-02-2008
Ha, I actually got excited there for a second. I want Hypercard again!
Colin said 8:57AM on 10-02-2008
Aaaah... Hypercard. Those were the days. Back in school when I hated Apple but looooved Hypercard. There was some kind of Windows version of it that I used. Supercard or something like that. I would always brag how mine was color!
Christina Warren said 9:11AM on 10-02-2008
I got excited too -- Hypercard forever! Although in my middle school, our Power Macs ran HyperStudio -- which was like a more kid-centric version. It was still pretty cool. I remember doing my presentation on the history of computers and embedding video files I got off a Microsoft Movies CD-ROM (yes, I had to use my PC's media -- this was during the Mac's dark ages) so I could have a clip from War Games. Had to spread the .mov across two floppy disks and then reconstruct it in System 7. Ahh, memories.
Oh wait - topic. Yeah, this looks cool but it kept crashing on me. I want my Chrome now. Heh.
Balls said 1:22PM on 10-02-2008
Wow. I sucked at hypercard, but it was the shiz.
That and KidPix!
Adam said 7:34AM on 10-02-2008
That name just doesn't sound right....it's a word more associated with my under-roos... :-)
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Think Adrian said 7:40AM on 10-02-2008
hideous icon...
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Jeedee said 8:09AM on 10-02-2008
Nice little demo, tried it a couple of days ago. It would be nice to have a real solid browser on OSX... Safari is crashing really often (especially with flash) and Firefox is sluggy/slow.
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Jash Sayani said 8:32AM on 10-02-2008
Using it since a week.... Is it open-source? In that case, I can develop it further.....
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peijin said 8:53AM on 10-02-2008
found it to be quite crashy...as in couldn't even use control apple esc to quit the thing much less the usual force quit method...it could be just me, but not in a hurry to use it again
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Mehul said 9:03AM on 10-02-2008
How is this better than firefox (with ABP, cooliris and Piclens addons)?
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splateagle said 9:17AM on 10-02-2008
"And it shows just how desperate OS X users are to get their hands on Google's browser"
um, no it doesn't. It shows just how eager developers are to play with anything Google-ey but doesn't say anything about users.
Of the Mac users who've actually heard of Chrome (which is likely to be a small percentage) I'd say it's probably a 50/50 split between those who are keen to see what it's like, and those who are happy with whatever other browser they're already using and aren't terribly interested in Chrome. Personally I'm in that second camp.
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Taylor said 3:34PM on 10-02-2008
Agreed.
This is not reflective of users. Additionally, this is a tech demo, not meant for actual daily browsing.
Chill.
Joshua Ochs said 10:57AM on 10-02-2008
Knock knock, TUAW. Have any plans on fixing that glaring Hypercard typo above?
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Ryan said 11:37AM on 10-02-2008
check their website, stainless is similar to chrome, but is NOT built on the chromium kit. How many errors are in this post?
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josh said 12:20PM on 10-02-2008
Anyone remember the Neoplanet web browser for Windows? That was pretty chromed out too. When's that coming to Mac, eh?
and no, not really.
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steve said 12:45PM on 10-02-2008
lol while reading this article Safari locked up trying to play one of the ads or widgets on this page. Had to force quit and reload session.
Ironic.
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mtfootfun said 5:29PM on 11-20-2008
This doesn't have the web application shortcut feature I'm trying to get. I hate losing my gmail in my tabs. I know about MailPlane, like it, but don't want to pay for it. Plus, I use lots of other Web Applications and need a To Do list (Remember the Milk), GDocs, GCal, etc. Any suggestions?
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Martin said 1:47PM on 11-27-2008
Actually, with a bit of patience and the right tools (XCode), it's pretty easy to compile Chrome for MacOS. At this moment there is no real UI yet, just the so-called "TestShell", but you can use it to browse the web!
If you don't want to install XCode just to try a new browser, I try to post updated builds at http://securityandthe.net/chrome/ on a regular basis.
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