Test Drive The New Gnome Web Browser Prototype [Download]

After a long time association with Gnome, it appears that the default Gnome web-browser, Epiphany, is nearing it’s retirement. With the new GNOME design approach, it appears, that Epiphany will now have a new successor. This browser is primarily focused to provide a minimalist looking browser with a clean interface. This application is being designed to provide page search, page multi-tasking (without the need of reloading content), page view history, etc. Currently a raw design of this upcoming browser is available, which can be downloaded for a test drive.

To try out the prototype of this browser, download the zip file from the Github link given at the end of this post and make the Web.py file executable. You can do that by right clicking on the web.py file and selecting Properties.

Properties

From the new window that pops-up, check the Execute option. Click Close and double click the Web.py file to launch the browser.

Permissions

Gnome (browser) prototype.

Browser

The Pages option within the browser takes you to the recently visited, in queue and favorite web pages. The problem with the “Pages” section is that once you enter it, there is no way of going back to the main interface. Moreover, I did not find any kind of option to open new tabs, however, there was a refresh option. Having said that, I believe that we will definitely see a lot of improvements before the final release of this browser, including common features available in standard browsers, such as a tabbed interface.

Recent

Another thing you might find quite tricky is the method for entering a new URL, as the URL bar needs to be clicked to give it a text-box like look. Once a page is loaded, the website title is displayed instead of the URL bar, which can confuse users as to where to enter a new URL. Furthermore, the current URL is not displayed until you click the URL bar, as the title takes it’s places when the page is loaded.

Ubuntu 11

To see this browser in action, check out the below video.

Download Browser Prototype (from Github)

[via iloveubuntu]