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Several Nice Browsers for Windows XP - Callahan - Dec. 08, 2017 09:59 AM

I decided to update all this old information in this first post. At the time it was just roytam1 working with a fork of Pale Moon called New Moon. Roytam1 now has several browsers being updated on a weekly or almost weekly basis.

One or two of these browsers may be of interest to someone here. I get the impression roytam1 lives in Hong Kong and I have no idea where he finds the time for all the browser updates. He may well have 'other' projects that he's working on.

So first there is still New Moon ...

New Palemoon 27 Build!
* This build is on par with official 27.9.4 build.
(Last update 14 July 2018)

There is now a New Moon 28 build:

PM28XP pre-release build.
(Last update 28 July 2018)

There is a New Pale Moon 26.5 for Win2000 build.
(Last update 18 July 2018)

Also an updated test binary of K-Meleon 74 with Goanna 2.2(palemoon-26.5) that works in Win2000.
(Last update 18 July 2018)

There is a new build of basilisk/UXP for XP! (Basilisk 52)
(Last update 28 July 2018)

Also new build of post-deprecated basilisk/moebius for XP! (Basilisk 55)
* Notice: This repo will not be built on regular schedule, and changes are experimental as usual.
** Current moebius patch level should be on par with 52.8, but some security patches can not be applied/ported due to source milestone differences between versions.
(Last update 07 July 2018)

Also new build of Firefox 45ESR SSE.
(Last update 28 July 2018)

Also new regular KM-Goanna release:
(Last update 14 July 2018)

I may have missed one ... but these are all the browsers that roytam1 is currently working with. An amazing bunch of projects but he seems to enjoy doing all this at MSFN and also at the K-Meleon forum.

... just to add, there are not always weekly updates for all these browsers. There used to be in the earlier stages.


RE: Very Nice WinXP Browser - Greyhat Harry - Mar. 06, 2018 12:41 AM

+1 Very good XP browser indeed, and quite a rare beast in this day and age.

I've been using it for about as long as it has existed, and it's properly loaded virtually everything I've thrown at it no sweat (a far cry from the venerable but dying Opera 12 which I've already given up on for everyday browsing, though it does still have it's rightful place in a handful of Freenet/TOR operations).

Security-wise...well, still testing while getting the hang of it (never really bothered to seriously learn Firefox before), but so far so good, and I'm now a lil more enthusiastic about the future of XP.

I'm generally drawn towards the low-footprint alternatives to whatever it is that I need to run, (Light or even K-Meleon in this particular case), which are fine but largely unmaintained and lacking in many aspects: NewMoon, however, fixes that for the pro user, and I'm very thankful for that.

By the way, here's the official GitHub page where you'll find the latest builds: https://github.com/Feodor2/Mypal


RE: Very Nice WinXP Browser - ProxRocks - Mar. 07, 2018 05:45 PM

New Moon became my default browser when Callahan introduced us to it.
VERY much impressed by it.

Before then, I was "forced" to use QupZilla v1.8.9.0 and Chromium v15.0.874.21 because some SSL sites would work with one but not the other Sad

GreenBrowser remains my default for non-SSL general browsing Smile!


RE: Very Nice WinXP Browser - Callahan - Mar. 08, 2018 12:31 AM

Old outdated information deleted ... see first post.


RE: Very Nice WinXP Browser - ProxRocks - Mar. 09, 2018 06:42 PM

i tend to get a crash-error when closing New Moon only after a browsing session utilizing "plugin-container.exe"

i renamed it to "plugin-container.exe.bak" (ie, essentially DELETED it) and everything works FLAWLESSLY

the "plugin-container" is 'optional' based on readings at several forums


RE: Very Nice WinXP Browser - Callahan - Mar. 10, 2018 10:55 AM

ProxRocks ... I am not having that problem for now. I have to go back and look at my notes, I'm sure I turned that 'off' in 'about:config' ... I didn't care for that little window popping up at various times. Found the information in a Google search earlier.

In K-Meleon it still pops up at times. I have been too lazy to see if I did the same fix in 'about:config' with KM as I did in New Moon.

If you have a membership (free) over at MSFN ... you could mention all that to roytam1 ... he usually responds fairly quickly with answers and fixes.
----------------------------
My build of New Moon (temp. name) a.k.a. Pale Moon for XP
By roytam1, October 1, 2017 in Windows XP
----------------------------
This is the current page ... Page 36 ... there is a post there from 20 hours ago from roytam1 replying to a poster.

https://msfn.org/board/topic/177125-my-build-of-new-moon-temp-name-aka-pale-moon-for-xp/?page=36

You have fixed your problem ... but it might be something he'd be interested in.

I have found some notes (two) I made about turning off the Plugin container popping up all the time. Should also work with K-Meleon, if that is also a problem ... just not 100% sure for now. I need to check my KM setup.
---------------------------------------------
Disable Plugin Container:

Type about:config in the Address bar and search for ipc in the seachbox at the top of the about:config page.

Right click those top 5 entries and toggle them to the opposite of what they are now.

dom.ipc.plugins.enabled.npswf32.dll - true becomes...
dom.ipc.plugins.enabled.npswf32.dll - false ...and so on...

That will disable all the container stuff and you should be good to go.

---------------------------

Frank, that post says, search for ipc in the searchbox at the top of the about:config page. Right click those top 5 entries and toggle them to the opposite of what they are now.

To disable plugin-container.exe for all plugins, all 5 dom.ipc.plugins.enabled.preferences must be set to "false" in about:config.

The first dom.ipc.plugins.enabled preference is already set to "false", by default. You don't want to set it to "true" since that would enable plugin-container for all other plugins!
----------------------------------------------

.... hope this is of some help.

Callahan


RE: Very Nice WinXP Browser - Callahan - Mar. 10, 2018 02:48 PM

Old outdated information deleted ... see first post.


RE: Very Nice WinXP Browser - ProxRocks - Mar. 16, 2018 04:10 AM

(Mar. 10, 2018 10:55 AM)Callahan Wrote:  Right click those top 5 entries and toggle them to the opposite of what they are now.

as a general rule of thumb I IGNORE INSTRUCTIONS LIKE THIS...

i have ZERO assurance that "my top 5" 'today' are the same exact "top 5" at the time the instructions were written...

so this "fix" isn't even going to be attempted on my end...


having said that, with the newest update the timestamp on the plugin-container is new so it's clearly been updated... i haven't encountered the 'crash' with this updated plugin-container...


RE: Very Nice WinXP Browser - Callahan - Mar. 17, 2018 06:48 AM

ProxRocks - thanks for your input on this. It has me thinking to go back and 'undo' the toggled entries. I am not 100% I did make these changes but I am going to check all that out. I don't think I had all five entries present at that time but not sure.

You said the plugin-container crash is no longer happening ... my thinking now is to wait from now on to see if a newer browser update does fix a problem.

If you have an older browser that hasn't been updated for months or years ... then maybe doing your own fix would be the way to go.

However, the New Moon browser updates (for now) are being released every week, so the chances are good that a problem will probably be fixed in the next update or two. Some of the updates have many changes or fixes applied.

The same would also go for K-Meleon with it's weekly updates at present.

Again thanks for stirring my thought process on this matter.

Callahan


RE: Very Nice WinXP Browser - ProxRocks - Mar. 22, 2018 04:19 AM

just had the plugin-container "crash" with the March 18th version (32-bit, 2nd release because there was a March 17th version also)...

so i kind of need "accurate" instructions (ie, no "top 5" nonsense) on how to disable the plugin-container...

i thought a good disable was to simply rename the .exe - but then i cannot view .pdf files...

so i am assuming that there is a way to disable the "plugin-container" but still have .pdf functionality...


RE: Very Nice WinXP Browser - ProxRocks - Mar. 22, 2018 03:22 PM

found a solution that i'm happy with...

rename New Moon's plugin-container.exe to plugin-container.exe.bak (effectively disables it completely)...

then in Tools -> Preferences -> Applications -
set Content Type "Adobe Acrobat Document" to "Use Adobe Reader 9.5 (default)"...

this setting was set to "Always ask" - but i'd never get 'asked' when a website pdf was viewed from within the website...


i use a "slimmed down [lite]" version of Adobe Reader 9.5.5 and it opens much quicker than any browser-specific plugin does anyway...


RE: Very Nice WinXP Browser - Callahan - Mar. 24, 2018 10:25 AM

ProxRocks ... maybe some good news for you, the latest New Moon weekly update was just released a short time ago and it includes a 'plugin crash fix'.

Could be the fix you were looking for ... but maybe a fix for something else.

New Moon update 03-24-2018

My changes since my last build:
- Applied junk.patch, justify.patch, aac.patch from https://github.com/Feodor2/Mypal
- Applied plugin-crash.patch, bug453200.patch, bug1098415.patch, bug1128467.patch, bug1146313.patch from https://github.com/xunxun1982/pcxfirefox/tree/master/patches/release/firefox/38.0
- Adapted chromium's zlib (non-IA32 build only)

Page 41

https://msfn.org/board/topic/177125-my-build-of-new-moon-temp-name-aka-pale-moon-for-xp/?page=41
...


RE: Very Nice WinXP Browser - ProxRocks - Mar. 24, 2018 02:01 PM

i'm going to keep my plugin-container.exe DISABLED...
regardless of update status...

i've read far too many Firefox / Pale Moon websites that report issues with it for me to keep trying and trying only to keep getting the same results (ie, the very definition of "insanity")...


RE: Very Nice WinXP Browser - Callahan - Mar. 25, 2018 07:57 AM

I found this solution earlier last week to try. I did not intend to publish anything about it since it was for 'myself only' ... you indicated earlier that you're not crazy about trying various things or making too many changes to a program.

Do you keep untouched updates on a flash drive to fall back on? I go that way with New Moon and K-Meleon ... always have a 'pure copy' to go back to for the next update or any fixes.

For instance, the NM update from 03-18-2018 saved on the flash drive is the one that I work with and then I updated the bin folder with the 03-24 update from yesterday. Then that untouched update is saved to the flash drive New Moon folder or K-Meleon folder as they are updated with new released updates.

It's just what I do till I know each update is working OK. I deleted the 03-10 updates yesterday and now have the NM 03-18 and 03-24 update on the flash drive.

I also no longer place the New Moon and K-Meleon portable browser in the 'Program Folder' ... I have a folder called 'Unzipped' where all programs that are not installed or 'unzipped' are placed. I made this change maybe 3 or 4 years ago from a post by Siria in the K-Meleon forum. She's one of the top people there with macro fixes and many other fixes. I don't remember the exact reason why at least the portable K-Meleon browser should not be placed in the 'Program Files' folder but it made sense to me at the time. This was for the 'portable' version only and not the installed version ... which will go wherever it goes ... don't know, only use the portable version.

I decided to also place Pale Moon in that folder and now New Moon ... I no longer use Pale Moon and deleted it last October when roytam1 brought his New Moon version to MSFN.

This is just what I do at this time, with all these weekly updates being released, I have a fresh copy to work with as the updates are released or if I redo my computer from a backup ... I have these newer updated browsers ready to use.

Now the plugin container fix that I found ... I do not have the link as I was only saving this information for my use. There was a Method 01 and a Method 02 fix ... and if that did not work then this drastic final option would or should work in regards to the Plugin container fix.

I just experimented with it and have not made it permanent in the new Mar 24 update.

-----------------------------------------------------
The Best Chosen Solution

If any of the above methods do not work for you, then here is a permanent and best choose solution for you. If you are a Windows user and want to disable the process permanently, then here is an irreversible solution for you.

Right click on the desktop shortcut of Firefox and select 'open file location' option. This will open up installation section of the web browser. If you are a 32 bit windows user, you can visit the path C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox. If you are 64 bit Windows user, just follow the path C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox.

Find the file 'plugin-container' application which is actually a Windows exe file.

Just delete the file. That’s it.

Now, you will not find any 'plugin-container' running process. Thus, you can save your CPU usage and performance lagging in Windows OS by disabling the Windows process plugin-container.exe in Firefox web browser.
----------------------------------------------

I will keep it 'for information' and 'possible future use' if ever needed.

Each NM or KM update get better by the week.
...


RE: Very Nice WinXP Browser - ProxRocks - Mar. 25, 2018 02:30 PM

i rename the plugin-container from an .exe extension to a .bak extension...

this is the same as DELETING it...
it's never loaded/executed because it can't be found by Firefox, Pale Moon, New Moon, Windows, Linux, etc...

the plugin-container was created several years ago...
it was publicly introduced with Firefox 3.6.4 [June 22, 2010]...
it was for the purpose of "crash protection"...

<excerpt>
Firefox 3.6.4 provides uninterrupted browsing for Windows and Linux users when there is a crash in the Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime or Microsoft Silverlight plugins.

If a plugin crashes or freezes, it will not affect the rest of Firefox. You will be able to reload the page to restart the plugin and try again.
</excerpt>

this "crash protection" is the plugin-container.exe...

BUT it is MY experience that New Moon NEVER crashes -
never due to plugins running within the same process as New Moon...
never due to plugins running within the "container" process...

the PLUGINS are simply NOT crashing...
doesn't care which process "contains" them...


RATHER - what i get is the CONTAINER PROCESS crashing when i close New Moon with NO TABS OPEN, ie NO PLUGINS RUNNING...

so whichever TAB that was opened that "loaded" the plugin-container, when THAT tab is closed, the plugin-container should ALSO be shut down, IMO...

because if NO TABS are running ANY plugins, then why is the plugin-container STILL loaded in RAM?


at any rate, for the time being, i simply don't need the "crash protection" that plugin-container.exe is supposedly offering me because it is my experience that there are no crashes to protect me from but rather it is the "protection" that in-and-of-itself is CRASHING Smile!


edit:
additional reading -
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Plugin-container_and_out-of-process_plugins#Windows_and_Linux

i may end up trying the dom.ipc.plugins.enabled from true to false...
in conjunction with dom.ipc.plugins.timeoutSecs to -1...


update:
i tried the dom.ipc.plugins.enabled from true to false in conjuction with dom.ipc.plugins.timeoutSecs to -1 and i'm getting no plugin-container ever loading (i renamed it back to its normal name)... so this should be a better fix...