MacSurf 1.68 – NetSurf on OS 9 Released

https://github.com/mplsllc/macsurf/releases/tag/v1.86

by mplsllc • 15 days ago

85 22 15 days ago

mplsllc9• 15 days ago

The single biggest change since 1.5 is under the hood: MacSurf's JavaScript engine has been replaced. Duktape (ES5) is gone; MacSurf now runs macQJS which is a QuickJS port for Classic Mac OS and executes modern ES2023 JavaScript natively on Mac OS 9.

anthk• 15 days ago

This needs to backported to main Netsurf ASAP.

mplsllc9• 15 days ago

The most annoying bug I was able to fix that is also present up stream was this weird viewport, extra scroll bar, that would appear on some pages. I need to figure out how to get involved with the main repo if they'll have me.

system7rocks• 15 days ago

Wow. Just wow, I will give this a run on my old iMac G4 later today. Very cool to see this progress, and I am a big fan of NetSurf.

thisislife22• 15 days ago

Yeah, I wish more people contributed to Netsurf and it gets the momentum it needs to compete with Blink, Gecko and Webkit. So many divided efforts in this area - there's Ladybird, Flow, Servo, Goanna. Even just improving Webkit and making it truly multi-platform (it isn't available for Windows, and the Linux version is apparently not as performant) would greatly even the field.

mplsllc9• 15 days ago

Netsurf seems pretty closed in terms of who they allow to contribute. However, I need to look more into it and not use the excuse that it's "too complicated" to see if they are interested in my bug fixes.

MetalSnake2• 15 days ago

Awesome stuff! I love retro computing especially with Macs.

But it's a bit weird that old PPC Macs get modern browsers, but Intel Macs running 10.14 are stuck with Firefox 115esr.

cgyvbunji• 15 days ago

Hmm, no, you have latest Chrome, via Boot Camp ;)

1over137• 15 days ago

Or by installing a BSD or linux.

MetalSnake2• 15 days ago

Well, then they are not running Mac OS 10.14. ;)

Wowfunhappy• 15 days ago

They are not!

https://github.com/aobaharuki2005/momiji-web-browser

thisislife22• 15 days ago

You can use PaleMoon - https://www.palemoon.org/download.shtml

crims0n• 15 days ago

This is awesome and greatly appreciated, going to boot up my iMac G4 and give it a go.

mplsllc9• 15 days ago

Awesome! Please let me know how it goes (good or bad) I am always open to feedback.

LetsGetTechnicl• 15 days ago

Writing a JS engine for OS 9 in 2026 is like, genuinely impressive

steve-atx-7600• 15 days ago

Seriously. I am going to check this out. Otherwise, I can only use the last release of tenfourfox on my g4 but only through the https://github.com/ttalvitie/browservice proxy running on another machine.

pKropotkin• 15 days ago

Not working, “Bad Parameter”

mplsllc9• 15 days ago

I'm trying to figure this out now, I can't replicate it myself. Actual hardware of emulation? Spinning disk drive of SSD?

mplsllc9• 14 days ago

I've pushed a couple stability fixes, give it a try if you get the chance. Thanks!

mplsllc9• 11 days ago

Check the newest release!

mplsllc9• 12 days ago

Having issues with MacSurf? I have set up a web page for you to send me MacSurf logs to help with debugging issues and crashes. I also have a version that has much strong logging so we can really see what's going on. http://macsurf.org/debugs.html - Works with IE 5 or Netscape.

mplsllc9• 11 days ago

2.0 Released!

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48875353

MacSurf 1.68 – NetSurf on OS 9 Released

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