Filed under: Software, Freeware, Internet Tools, Open Source
Camino 2.0 offers Tab Overview and more
Camino seems a bit like the half-forgotten poor sister of Firefox. The goal of the Camino project is to produce a truly OS X-native browser built on the same Gecko rendering engine that drives Firefox. While it was popular among certain Mac geeks for a while (I even remember using it when it was still called Chimera), it seems like it's fallen somewhat out of favor of late given the richness of browser options on the Mac. No doubt part of this was the lack of significant development. Well, no more. Camino is back with a new version number and lots of interesting new features. Perhaps chief among them is the new Tab Overview, which is a little like Exposé for open tabs. It also features improvements in handling tabs, Growl integration, phishing and malware protection and more.
Camino 2.0 is a free download from The Camino Project for OS X 10.4 and later.
[via Daring Fireball]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
YetAnotherMom said 2:05PM on 11-19-2009
I can't remember why I stopped using Camino, but I'm sure I had my reasons. I'm looking forward to revisiting it!
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Richard said 2:22PM on 11-19-2009
No Adblock?
YetAnotherMom said 2:58PM on 11-19-2009
@Richard That sounds about right.
Geoff said 12:01AM on 11-20-2009
@Richard: With no less than 3 comments on this post from you about Camino's lack of ad blocking, some of which seem to get it confused with other Camino features (like popup blocking, which is separate), I presume you're unaware of the "Block Web Advertising" preference that's been in Camino since the previous version?
Camino doesn't use the genuine AdBlock extension, but checking that box does create similar results. There are certainly reasons one wouldn't use Camino, but that's not one I've heard before. In fact, Camino's built-in ad blocking is one reason I use it instead of Safari.
kentawilson said 2:29PM on 11-19-2009
@Richard
Did you click on the link showing the new features? It has "annoyance blocking".
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Richard said 3:35PM on 11-19-2009
Yeah, but pop-up blocking is a far cry from the level of blocking that Adblock does.
aptenergy said 2:29PM on 11-19-2009
Camino is to Firefox as Firefox was originally to the Mozilla Suite of old, in my opinion. I'm told that "you haven't really lived" unless Firefox launches along with 20 different extensions (with many being useful but horribly designed). Sorry, but I don't need the utility knife with 20 different tools... I just need something that does one thing and does it well.
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aptenergy said 2:31PM on 11-19-2009
By the way, I know a lot of people will complain about the lack of Adblock, but I'd much rather deal with a single checkbox (and the occasional ad) than have to continually refine a block list.
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Richard said 3:35PM on 11-19-2009
That is pretty much how Adblock on Firefox works - you just subscribe it to the default block list that other people maintain and update. Point, click, install, forget.
aptenergy said 4:44PM on 11-19-2009
If that's the case, then that's very similar to what Camino does. Camino's ad blocking feature is updated with every release of Camino.
Jayisgames said 3:31PM on 11-19-2009
I stopped using Camino because my bookmarks became unmanageable and Camino doesn't support a sidebar for them(!!) That's one glaring omission that forced me to switch to Firefox.
Oh, and Adblock is more trouble than its worth, I hate it and never use it.
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Andrew said 3:35PM on 11-19-2009
Perfect timing - I've used camino for ages, but it just felt too sluggish under Snow Leopard (I've no idea why!) Still, I'll give it a go, at least until Chrome for OS X comes out - that's been my Boot Camp browser of choice for a while!
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rob said 1:13AM on 11-20-2009
Why wait? I've been using the dev build for awhile now, no issues.
http://dev.chromium.org/getting-involved/dev-channel
Andrew said 2:19AM on 11-20-2009
I might give it a go - Camino 2 has already crashed for no apparent reason when it was sat on in the background doing nothing!
Chris G. said 4:05PM on 11-19-2009
Unfortunately this version of Camino is not using the new JavaScript engine that Firefox 3.5 and above use. Which means, it is going to be much slower on many JavaScript sites.
Too bad really, but Camino is so slow on updates (even security updates) that I have given up on it. I am not going to use a browser that takes days or weeks to release a security update after Firefox already received it. Likewise months (maybe even a year) after Firefox to get any Gecko updates? Sorry, way too slow.
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Nathan said 8:29PM on 11-19-2009
The main reason I used to use Camino was because it had the rendering engine of Firefox, but looked like a Mac app. Back then Firefox looked like crap, with the gray "Windows" buttons and text boxes along with the Windows theme.
Since Firefox has gone more Mac native, with aqua controls and whatnot, I've switched to it. I have been using Chrome, but it's still too buggy for everyday use from what I've seen. I like Firefox, and have used it since it was called Phoenix way back before I had ever purchased a Mac.
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