Jump to content

Future versions of Firefox on Windows 98


ivanbuto

Recommended Posts

Yes, as I learned earlier today, not only a shim library, but some work on Cairo too has to be done to achieve Win9x compatibility. But that won't be easy, because of API calls like SetWorldTransform, and such.

I don't know how many W APIs are implemented in Microsoft's Layer for Unicode, and would prefer to avoid it if possible. As I said, Gecko already has the necessary functions to convert to Unicode and back.

Good news: one of the developers who was instructed to participate in removing Win9x support is going to help me put it back. And he only lives one time zone apart. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Yes, as I learned earlier today, not only a shim library, but some work on Cairo too has to be done to achieve Win9x compatibility. But that won't be easy, because of API calls like SetWorldTransform, and such.

I don't know how many W APIs are implemented in Microsoft's Layer for Unicode, and would prefer to avoid it if possible. As I said, Gecko already has the necessary functions to convert to Unicode and back.

Good news: one of the developers who was instructed to participate in removing Win9x support is going to help me put it back. And he only lives one time zone apart. :)

Good luck to you BenoitRen! Let us all know when you have tacked on to a firefox website project, or set-up a web page. I guess there will be some way provided for others to comment/help-out?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If this project is successful, it should also resolve the SVG issues with Firefox and Windows 98, because they also have to do with Cairo.

Furthermore, it could help other applications that use Cairo with Win9x compatibility, for example GTK+.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, I asked on IRC, and Cairo is indeed used for SVG since Gecko 1.8.1 (that's Firefox 2.0 and SeaMonkey 1.1, folks). Cairo has always been used for canvas, though. Before Gecko 1.8.1, GDI+ was used for SVG.

Looks like it's mainly the text rendering part of Cairo that is incompatible with Win9x.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Preserving 98 reminds me of keeping that old classic car around.

Why throw years of experience in an OS away, when it still works?

Noticed this too: Firefox Version 4.0

On October 13, 2006, Brendan Eich, Mozilla's Chief Technology Officer, wrote about the plans for Mozilla 2.0, the platform on which Firefox 4 is likely to be based. These changes include improving and removing XPCOM APIs, switching to standard C++ features, just-in-time compilation with JavaScript 2 (known as the Tamarin project), and tool-time and runtime security checks.

Edited by Rainmaker
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Depends on if I heard right that MoFo will allow such a project to be hosted. By the way, it's all about Gecko. And Cairo, named Thebes in the source.

I got side-tracked, and now I have exams again. I'll resume work soon. I was in the process of documenting what needed to be done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Depends on if I heard right that MoFo will allow such a project to be hosted. By the way, it's all about Gecko. And Cairo, named Thebes in the source.

I got side-tracked, and now I have exams again. I'll resume work soon. I was in the process of documenting what needed to be done.

Hi BenoitRen!

It would be great if you could get through the initial phase of the project (i.e. document what exactly needs to be done and hopefully start up a devoted page on www.mozilla.org) while Firefox 3 is still in Alpha stage. Of course nobody can "demand" anything from you, seeing as you are the only one who has voluntarily shown some initiative regarding this issue. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...