Mac users are finally getting more, and it appears better, browser choices thanks to Alexander Clauss and the iCab Company of Germany. The program, iCab, is presently in beta development but is due for final launch in early 2001. The latest version is available at www.icab.de .

iCab combines the best features of Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator in a lighter, custom-tailored package. And I'm not talking about surface changes like skins. This is the real deal -- customizing features that actually improve your online experience and make your browser work for you.

My favorite modifiable feature is the cookie filtering. Like many regular web users, I prefer not to be tagged and bagged on my travels through the Net. iCab's cookie filtering allows me to make very specific modifications to the browser preferences to automatically reject cookies from certain domains (such as Doubleclick and other advertisers) or always accept cookies from other domains (such as my Barnes & Noble account). You can also establish a general setting from Never Accept to Ask to Accept with a couple of nice additions including "Accept, expires at the end of session" or "Accept, don't use". And finally, if that wasn't enough, the Cookie preferences menu box list all of the cookies currently being stored by domain, name and expiration date and allows you to view them or delete them. Cookies without the pain of total abstinence or total absorption -- every dieter's dream.

My next favorite changeable feature is image filtering which allows you not only decide to show or not show images, but allows you to filter them by URl or size. In other words, you rarely have to look at another Doubleclick, Adlinkexchange or other annoying banner ad again. iCab comes with a number of the more prevalent North American and European advertising URLs and image sizes pre-installed but not activated, so you can implement the feature quickly and easily.

In addition, the Download Manager settings put you back in control of where, when and how downloads are handled. iCab integrates fully with your Mac Internet Config settings automatically and it doesn't intrusively make changes without permission -- a big plus for those who like to remain in control of their own system for various reasons.

It does automatically integrate your Bookmarks or Favorites file from Netscape or IE installations (including your Personal Toolbar) as well as the History files. A no-brainer feature for those of who have spent a great deal of time organizing and collecting our bookmarks. Again, however, you can modify this feature and iCab does not actually remove or make any changes to your Bookmark or Favorites files. iCab, by the way, can also bookmark individual frames outside the parent window. I recently found this very useful when I was doing research and wanted to bookmark a few particular sites that were being presented inside a frame of another site. In the current beta release, it does not support the IE feature that allows you to organize your bookmarks as you add them, however, the options are listed for the final release.

iCab can also bundle up an entire web site in Zip format for download to your hard drive for offline viewing. Again something I've found useful while researching. (Web development control-freaks probably just had a heart attack.)

The Preference interface for making these changes and many others to the browser functions is extremely easy and well organized. I tested the interface on a less than tech-savvy friend. She had no problems modifying a copy of iCab to meet her preferences. It took her awhile with all the options, but she had no actual problems doing it.

For those who demand strong search capabilities and control, iCab again offers some highly flexible features. It even integrates automatically and smoothly with Sherlock. iCab also includes the now basic features like automatic URL completion, automatic forms completion and so forth. But again only if you wish it. It is entirely at your command.

There are many more features than I can really list in a short review, but I would like to mention a unique feature of iCab that I find extremely useful as a web designer and developer. iCab comes with a small Smiley icon as part of the menu bar. This is actual an error reporting icon that tells you whether a page is HTML compliant. You can, like most everything else in iCab, turn off this feature or specify which HTML version of compliance, however, I've found it fascinating to discover less than 1% of the pages visited are HTML compliant (especially the larger and IIS sites). In addition, by clicking on the Smiley (which doesn't smile for non-compliant pages), you can actually view a report of the errors found line by line. Again you can customize this report to include or ignore Netscape and IE browser specific tags. And as if this wasn't enough to endear the program to web developers, iCab also allows me to use the BBedit syntax checker as well.

Another feature of great appeal to me as a web developer is iCab's automatic reloading of pages that have been changed in another application, for example, a page I've modified in BBedit that's presently loaded in the iCab browser.

So why isn't iCab my default browser yet?

Basically because it's still in beta and doesn't support CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). The company assures me it will be supporting CSS2 by the time of the final release. In addition, they have been resolving a number of bugs. The first preview copy I ran had problems with fairly basic javascript such as rollovers. Version 2.2 (the latest at the time of this review) seems to have greatly improved javascript support and to have improved "garbage cleanup" (i.e., memory and cache handling). Frequent crashes after intense use due to memory overload was my second greatest complaint with the first beta I tested. The iCab company also eliminated assorted bugs in the latest release -- some of which I thought were just me -- which makes me confident that the final release will be relatively pest-free. The company has actively solicited feedback from testers in earlier versions and has been sensibly incorporating serious requests instead of just looking for something "cool".

In Summation

iCab is already a better browser. It offers the Mac user more and more easily modifiable features than the other browser options, particularly in gaining some control of the darkside of the Net -- advertising and cookie stuffing. iCab allows the user to fully customize the browser functions. So far the company has been very diligent in listening to their customers' needs and desires and in striving to release a quality, relatively bug-free product.

On the downside, iCab is only available currently in beta, but is due for final launch in early 2001. The lack of support for style sheets or organizational control of bookmark additions in the beta release, plus the need to improve memory handling, should be solved by final release.

I've found very few security issues with this browser in the initial release, largely because of the control I had on setting up the automatic and download features. Those I did identify were resolved by the release of version 2.2.

For web site developers, iCab offers many useful features the other browsers don't -- automatic reload after modification in another program like the HTML editor; automatic, customizeable HTML error reporting for any page; image and URL exclusion which allows checking pages with advertising or affiliate links offline and much more.

The actual iCab product release will cost US$29, however, a free version of some sort will be offered as well. Personally, I find $29 cheap for a more reliable, better quality piece of essential software used several hours every day. But then I also believe a web-based business has to turn a profit at some point to exist.

Hey, if I'm really strapped for cash when the final release launches, I'll skip the lattes for a week. That's how much I love this browser!





Recommended: No