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| discontinued =
| discontinued =
| programming language = [[C (programming language)|C]]/[[C++]]
| programming language = [[C (programming language)|C]]/[[C++]]
| operating system = [[Windows]], [[OSX]], [[Linux]], [[Android (operating system)|Android]]* (dropped as of version 25.4.1)[http://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7993]
| operating system = [[Windows]], [[OSX]], [[Linux]], [[Android (operating system)|Android]] (dropped as of version 25.4.1)http://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7993
| engine = [[Gecko (layout engine)|Gecko]]
| engine = [[Gecko (layout engine)|Gecko]]
| platform = [[IA-32]], [[x86-64]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.palemoon.org/ |title=Minimum system Requirements at Home Page |accessdate=2015-02-10}}</ref>
| platform = [[IA-32]], [[x86-64]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.palemoon.org/ |title=Minimum system Requirements at Home Page |accessdate=2015-02-10}}</ref>

Revision as of 03:39, 12 June 2015

Pale Moon
Developer(s)M.C. Straver
Initial releaseOctober 4, 2009 (2009-10-04)
Repository
Written inC/C++
EngineGecko
Operating systemWindows, OSX (only development builds available)[1], Linux, Android (dropped as of version 25.4.1)[2]
PlatformIA-32, x86-64[3]
Available in85 languages[4]
TypeWeb browser
License
Websitewww.palemoon.org

Pale Moon is a free and open-source web browser based on Mozilla Firefox, available for Linux, Windows, and Android, developed and distributed by Dutch developer M.C. Straver.[5][6][7][8] Pale Moon is a fork of Firefox, retaining the fully customizable user interface as seen in the previous era (4–28) of the Firefox browser, and focusing on the core tasks of web browsing.

Because it is a fork of Firefox, Pale Moon is compatible with most (but not all) of the available Firefox extensions and plugins.[9]

Features

Pale Moon is a fork of the Firefox web browser, with a number of notable differences from its sibling:

Optimization

Pale Moon on Microsoft Windows makes use of compiler optimizations by using the Microsoft C compiler's speed optimization, auto-parallelization, and auto-vectorization features, and targets NT6 based operating systems to increase performance of the browser.[13][14] The resulting browser will not run on particularly old hardware as a result.[15] Pale Moon on Linux makes use of the -O3 switch in the GNU Compiler Collection; like the Windows build, Pale Moon on Linux is stripped of older processor support and additional features not specifically serving web browsing.[16]

Further performance tuning is achieved by disabling/removing uncommonly used functions of Firefox, including disabling accessibility hardware features, parental controls, telemetry, and completely removing the crash reporter.[8][17]

User interface

The user interface of Pale Moon since version 4.0 substantially differs from that of Firefox. The status bar was reinstated by the authors to keep the information provided by web applications and messages about the current state of the browser accessible without being intrusive and to contain other status element removed from the Firefox user interface, such as the webpage or file download progress bars. Initially this was achieved by bundling an edited version of an open source status bar extension, which became fully integrated into the browser core as of version 12.[18][19] Pale Moon's tab bar sits directly above the webpage display and below any toolbars, rather than utilizing Google Chrome's "tabs on top" design as Firefox did beginning with version 4. 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.[20]

Incompatibility with older hardware

For a while, Version 3.x of the browser (based on Firefox 3.x source code) was 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.[21] In August 2012, the lead developer announced the end-of-life for that legacy Pale Moon browser citing dropped functionality, maturation of the next-generation code and increasing difficulty for back-port security patches (especially issues related to JavaScript).[22]

The main-line version of the browser no longer supports older hardware that is locked to Windows XP as an operating system,[23][24] but an official, specialized, Atom/WinXP build is offered to close that gap.[25]

Versioning

The browser followed Mozilla Firefox's rapid release schedule before 12.0 was released. Subsequent versions adhered to select versions of the Firefox browser, and eventually the ESR 24 version of Firefox, with continued additional independent development on top.

The current (version 25 and above) versioning scheme of the browser is independent from other Mozilla-based browsers as the Pale Moon browser has broken its previous ties with the Firefox rapid release schedule and Firefox as a product.[26]

Android

Pale Moon for Android was first released on August 3, 2014 as an APK on Pale Moon's own servers, beginning as version 24.7.1.[27] Version 24.7.2 could be downloaded from either the Google Play store or the Pale Moon servers.[28] Although Pale Moon originally supported all devices running Gingerbread (2.3) or later, the developer announced on November 7, 2014 that the minimum requirement would be Android 4.0 for the future versions.[29]

Pale Moon supports mobile Firefox extensions, but Firefox does not support mobile Pale Moon extensions. Pale Moon also uses Pale Moon Sync instead of Firefox Sync.[30] The application is built upon the Gecko source code for the desktop version.[31]

On April 16, 2015 the Pale Moon lead developer announced (via the Pale Moon forums) that he was considering abandoning development of Pale Moon for Android.[32] On May 8, 2015 it was officially announced that version 25.4.1 of Pale Moon for Android would be the last version developed by M.C. Straver,[33][34] but he was hoping that members of the Pale Moon community would pick up the project and allow it to move forward. To this point, no developers have stepped forward in an effort to further develop the Android version of Pale Moon.

You can view the most recent version on the Google Play Store or check out the release notes.

License

Like Firefox, Pale Moon's source code is released under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 except for parts relating to branding; likewise, officially branded Pale Moon binaries may only be redistributed under certain conditions to ensure quality.[5] The project's name and logo are trademarked and the intellectual property of M.C. Straver, and cannot be used in e.g. third-party Firefox builds or other related products without the author's prior permission.[17][35]

References

  1. ^ "Pale Moon (Mac) 25.4.0b2++ build". Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  2. ^ "Pale Moon for Android discontinued". Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  3. ^ "Minimum system Requirements at Home Page". Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  4. ^ "Pale Moon language packs". Moonchild Productions. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  5. ^ a b c "Pale Moon redistribution", Official website, retrieved 2012-02-16
  6. ^ Purdy, Kevin (2010-04-14), "Pale Moon Is a Faster Firefox Clone for Windows and Linux", Lifehacker, retrieved 2012-02-16
  7. ^ "Pale Moon 24.6.2" by Razvan Mihai Asmanow Serea, Neowin, 16 June 2014
  8. ^ a b Snyder, Bill (2012-01-10), "Pale Moon: The Fastest Browser You've Never Heard Of", Consumer Tech Radar, CIO Blogs, retrieved 2012-02-16
  9. ^ "Pale Moon: Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.)". palemoon.org. Moonchild Productions. Why do some add-ons not work (properly) with Pale Moon?. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  10. ^ Pale Moon x64 build
  11. ^ "Browser Pale Moon Integrates New Personal Start Page" (Press release). Amsterdam: PRWeb. February 11, 2015.
  12. ^ "Adblock Latitude".
  13. ^ Firefox Optimized for Windows – Pale Moon Custom Built Browser, TECK.IN, 2011-04-08, retrieved 2012-02-16
  14. ^ "Pale Moon Home Page", Pale Moon Home Page, Moonchild Productions, retrieved 2013-04-01
  15. ^ Wilson, Mark (2011-04-06), "Pale Moon 4: Firefox's leaner, meaner twin – and, whoa is it fast", betanews, retrieved 2012-02-16
  16. ^ http://sourceforge.net/p/pm4linux/wiki/Building%20Pale%20Moon%20for%20Linux%20yourself/
  17. ^ a b "Pale Moon: Technical Details", Official website, retrieved 2012-02-16
  18. ^ Finalization of the integration of status bar (Part of PM12 official announce in forums)
  19. ^ Pale Moon – Release Notes, retrieved 2012-06-01
  20. ^ "About the Pale Moon layout in version 4 and later", Official website, retrieved 2012-02-16[non-primary source needed]
  21. ^ "Pale Moon: AthlonXP", Official website, retrieved 2012-02-23[non-primary source needed]
  22. ^ End-of-Life announcement for Pale Moon "Legacy" (Official forum)
  23. ^ Pale Moon end of Windows XP support
  24. ^ "Pale Moon: The Web Browser Made For You", eCloudBuzz, 17 March 2015.
  25. ^ Pale Moon for Atom/WinXP
  26. ^ Pale Moon versioning F.A.Q. entry
  27. ^ "Pale Moon for Android 24.7.1". August 3, 2014.
  28. ^ "Pale Moon for Android 24.7.2". September 11, 2014.
  29. ^ Pale Moon for Android change in system requirements
  30. ^ Pale Moon Sync service
  31. ^ Pale Moon for Android "read me first"
  32. ^ [1]
  33. ^ [2]
  34. ^ [3]
  35. ^ Pale Moon branding

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pale_Moon&oldid=666575715"