Pale Moon (web browser)
| Developer(s) | M.C. Straver |
|---|---|
| Initial release | October 20, 2009 |
| Stable release |
3.6.31 (April 12, 2012) 12.1 (May 22, 2012) [+/−] |
| Written in | C/C++ |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Engine | Gecko |
| Platform | IA-32, x86-64 |
| Available in | English (US) |
| Development status | Active |
| Type | Web browser |
| License |
MPL 1.1 (source code) proprietary (binaries)[1] |
| Website | www.palemoon.org |
 (category) |
|---|
| Contents |
| Origins and lineage |
Pale Moon is a web browser based on Mozilla Firefox.[2] It is available for Windows platforms and distributed by M.C. Straver.[3] Pale Moon builds on Firefox, optimizing for efficiency of code and aimed at current and modern microprocessors.[4] Pale Moon is available free of charge as open source code archive and freeware binary releases.[1] Most of the available Firefox extensions and plugins are compatible with Pale Moon.[5]
Features
Though based on Firefox code, Pale Moon differs in several concepts, including performance optimization, user interface and legacy hardware support.
Optimization
Pale Moon makes use of compiler optimizations by using Microsoft C compiler's "/O2" and "/Ox" flags to increase performance of the browser.[6][7][improper synthesis?] The resulting browser will not run on particularly old hardware as a result, but by cutting out support for older systems, Pale Moon works with an optimized code base that takes full advantage of modern processor instruction sets.[8]
Further performance tuning is achieved by removing rarely used functions of Firefox, including accessibility features, parental controls, crash reporter, ActiveX and Active Scripting[3][9]
These optimization techniques increased the subjective performance of Pale Moon as compared to Firefox.[3][2][10][11]
User interface
The user interface of Pale Moon since version 4.0 substantially differs from that of Firefox. The status bar was re-added by the authors to keep the information, provided by web applications and the messages about the current state of the browser accessible yet less intrusive, as well as keeping other status elements that were removed from the Firefox user interface (page load progress indicator, file download indicator) by bundling an edited version of an open source status bar extension.[12][not in citation given] The tab bar in Pale Moon is also preserved below the other toolbars in the application (as opposed to Firefox's and Google Chrome design). The developer also reordered UI controls with a goal to collect the control elements in the same place to improve the user experience from the usability point of view.[13]
Older hardware support
Version 3.x of the browser (based on Firefox 3.x source code) is maintained separately to provide support for older processors that don't support the SSE2 instruction set, which is required to run Pale Moon versions 4.0 and later.[14]
License
The same as Firefox, the Pale Moon source code is released as open source, with the source code residing under the Mozilla Public License 1.1 except for parts relating to branding. Unlike Firefox, the Pale Moon binaries have a redistribution license[1] which allows free redistribution only under certain conditions. According to the author, this is to prevent the possibility of any confusion with tainted versions. The project name, the logo and project's artwork are the intellectual property of M.C. Straver, that cannot be used in other third party Firefox builds or other related products without the author's prior permission.[9]
References
- ^ a b c "Pale Moon redistribution", Official website, http://www.palemoon.org/redist.shtml, retrieved 2012-02-16
- ^ a b Purdy, Kevin (2010-04-14), "Pale Moon Is a Faster Firefox Clone for Windows", Lifehacker, http://lifehacker.com/5516964/pale-moon-is-a-faster-firefox-clone-for-windows, retrieved 2012-02-16
- ^ a b c Snyder, Bill (2012-01-10), "Pale Moon: The Fastest Browser You've Never Heard Of", Consumer Tech Radar (CIO Blogs), http://blogs.cio.com/browsers/16732/pale-moon-fastest-browser-youve-never-heard, retrieved 2012-02-16
- ^ "Firefox Optimized for Windows – Pale Moon Custom Built Browser", TECK.IN, 2011-04-08, http://teck.in/firefox-optimized-for-windows-pale-moon-custom-built-browser.html, retrieved 2012-02-16[self-published source]
- ^ Habaradas, Jaypee (2011-02-22), "Pale Moon – Custom Built & Optimized Firefox Browser", Jaypee Online, http://jaypeeonline.net/internet/pale-moon-project/, retrieved 2012-02-16[self-published source]
- ^ "/O1, /O2 (Minimize Size, Maximize Speed)", MSDN (Microsoft), http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/8f8h5cxt(v=VS.80).aspx, retrieved 2012-02-16
- ^ "About protocol links", MozillaZine, http://kb.mozillazine.org/About_protocol_links, retrieved 2012-02-17
- ^ Wilson, Mark (2011-04-06), "Pale Moon 4: Firefox's leaner, meaner twin -- and, whoa is it fast", betanews, http://www.betanews.com/article/Pale-Moon-4-Firefoxs-leaner-meaner-twin-and-whoa-is-it-fast/1302107943, retrieved 2012-02-16
- ^ a b "Pale Moon: Technical Details", Official website, http://www.palemoon.org/technical.shtml, retrieved 2012-02-16[non-primary source needed]
- ^ Williams, Mike (2011-06-25), "Pale Moon 5 outshines sibling Firefox 5", betanews, http://betanews.com/2011/06/25/pale-moon-5-outshines-sibling-firefox-5/, retrieved 2012-02-16
- ^ Noyes, Katherine (2011-08-27), "Want a faster Firefox? Pale Moon can help", PC World, http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/238968/want_a_faster_firefox_pale_moon_60_can_help.html, retrieved 2012-02-16
- ^ "Status-4-Evar", Mozilla Add-ons directory, https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/status-4-evar/, retrieved 2012-02-17
- ^ "About the Pale Moon layout in version 4 and later", Official website, http://www.palemoon.org/layout-differences.shtml, retrieved 2012-02-16[non-primary source needed]
- ^ "Pale Moon: AthlonXP", Official website, http://www.palemoon.org/athlonxp.shtml, retrieved 2012-02-23[non-primary source needed]
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