Microsoft's proof-of-concept JavaScript Browser is built using HTML, JavaScript and CSS
Surprise, surprise. Microsoft released a new web browser yesterday that is not Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge.
The Windows Store page of the JavaScript Browser went live yesterday evening. The new browser is compatible with the company's Windows 10 operating system which means that Windows 8.x users won't find it listed in Store when they search for it.
The browser has been released as a proof-of-concept to demonstrate the capabilities of the Windows 10 platform.
The browser works like any other app on Windows 10: you can open it from the start menu for instance. When you do, the following screen is displayed by default.
Keep in mind that this is more of a tech demonstration than a browser that you may want to switch to right now.
The interface looks similar to modern browsers. What you may notice immediately is that it does not support tabs. This means that you can only display a single web page or service in it at all time.
When you play around with the browser for a bit, you will notice that other components are missing. For instance, while settings are available, they are limited to going full screen and clearing the cache and favorites.
Other missing features include extensions, web permissions, Developer tools or on-page search.
The browser uses EdgeHTML, the Microsoft Edge rendering engine, via the WebView control that Windows 10 apps can utilize.
Microsoft published a blog post that offers additional details about the development process. Source code bits and development information have been posted to Github where interested users can access them.
Basically, JavaScript Browser is a skin that implements the provided WebView controls. It is capable of displaying most websites just fine thanks to its use of the Edge rendering engine. You may use it to play videos on YouTube, or to browse sites like Reddit or Ghacks.
The browser does not support plugins which means that you won't be able to load Flash or Java apps or games on websites.
Closing Words
JavaScript Browser is a proof-of-concept. As such, it is not designed to replace existing (desktop) web browsers. The browser crashed several times on me during tests which happens occasionally with other modern apps as well.
While it worked fine mostly for basic tasks such as watching a video or reading an article, it lacks customization and control options that other browsers offer.
Doesn’t Windows 8 know that www. or http:// are passe ?
Well it is a bit difficulty to distinguish between name.com domains and files for instance.
I know a service made by google that is similar to Google bookmarks.
http://www.google.com/saved
@Ashwin–Thankful you delighted my comment; who knows how many “gamers” would have disagreed!
@Martin
The comments section under this very article (3 comments) is identical to the comments section found under the following article:
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/15/netflix-is-testing-game-streaming-on-tvs-and-computers/
Not sure what the issue is, but have seen this issue under some other articles recently but did not report it back then.
Omg a badge!!!
Some tangible reward lmao.
It sucks that redditors are going to love the fuck out of it too.
With the cloud, there is no such thing as unlimited storage or privacy. Stop relying on these tech scums. Purchase your own hardware and develop your own solutions.
This is a certified reddit cringe moment. Hilarious how the article’s author tries to dress it up like it’s anything more than a png for doing the reddit corporation’s moderation work for free (or for bribes from companies and political groups)
Almost al unlmited services have a real limit.
And this comment is written on the dropbox article from August 25, 2023.
First comment > @ilev said on August 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm
For the God’s sake, fix the comments soon please! :[
Yes. Please. Fix the comments.
With Google Chrome, it’s only been 1,500 for some time now.
Anyone who wants to force me in such a way into buying something that I can get elsewhere for free will certainly never see a single dime from my side. I don’t even know how stupid their marketing department is to impose these limits on users instead of offering a valuable product to the paying faction. But they don’t. Even if you pay, you get something that is also available for free elsewhere.
The algorithm has also become less and less savvy in terms of e.g. English/German translations. It used to be that the bot could sort of sense what you were trying to say and put it into different colloquialisms, which was even fun because it was like, “I know what you’re trying to say here, how about…” Now it’s in parts too stupid to translate the simplest sentences correctly, and the suggestions it makes are at times as moronic as those made by Google Translations.
If this is a deep-learning AI that learns from users’ translations and the phrases they choose most often – which, by the way, is a valuable, moneys worthwhile contribution of every free user to this project: They invest their time and texts, thereby providing the necessary data for the AI to do the thing as nicely as they brag about it in the first place – alas, the more unprofessional users discovered the translator, the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, the greater the aggregate of linguistically illiterate users has become, and the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, as it now learns the drivel of every Tom, Dick and Harry out there, which is why I now get their Mickey Mouse language as suggestions: the inane language of people who can barely spell the alphabet, it seems.
And as a thank you for our time and effort in helping them and their AI learn, they’ve lowered the limit from what was once 5,000 to now 1,500…? A big “fuck off” from here for that! Not a brass farthing from me for this attitude and behaviour, not in a hundred years.