I had this idea for a web browser. I don’t have any coding skills so I can’t make this dream come true but if I share it, perhaps someone else may make it their dream too.
Well, for one, large file sizes and slow start up are usually dependent on the gui. I’ve tried Lynx and you can’t compare Lynx’s startup to even Midori.
Obviously there is an advantage to terminal programs, if only they had more options and user friendly features, once opened.
My basic idea was for a web browser, and after seeing Luakit, I thought it might look similar though I wouldn’t mind no GUI at all. The only thing similar to a GUI that I want is a thin line near the top which is actually the url bar.
You can right click for options such as back, forward, stop…etc; and perhaps this browser could have addons as well, I mean why not? You can access it’s options similarly to how you would in Opera.
I don’t mean the Opera preferences, I mean Opera:config. Similarly if you type options in the Url bar of this new browser, you’ll be taken to the options tab. There you’ll find any options you want,(proxies, privacy, tabs, browser settings…etc;) including some advanced ones which come with a warning for newbie users. And since it is such a minimal browser without a gui, (I am a fan of things written with the curses library) it could perhaps have hotkeys and shortcuts configured for advanced users as well. (Or that could be an addon feature)
You close, minimize and resize the browser by moving the mouse to one of the top corners of the browser where it almost goes off screen, which causes a pop up to appear, listing those classic options, or there could be text buttons in the corner.
Now I also had this interesting and daring idea that might replace tabs in browsing. I call them pearls. It’s essentially a black layer that surrounds the url bar and it is covered in small dots. The pearls option is configurable from the options tab but basically for every website you type in the url bar, one of the dots surrounding the url bar turns from white to yellow. And when you hover over each pearl you get a balloon with a number. (You can configure this to even have website titles) You can click the balloon to switch tabs or use hotkeys to switch from one tab to another.
Another option is to move the mouse to the edge of the screen, you’ll automatically switch to the next open pearl.
I think people could have a lot of fun with it.
And of course, what I really wish for and I think is the next step in development for a minimal web browser is of course, flash and web video integration, video plugins and such.
This is the browser that I dream about. And it’s the one I have no talent to create. What are your opinions?