by DAN CALLOWAY (Source: Wikipedia.com)
Published 5 February 2010 @ 16:11 UTC
WEAVERVILLE, NC – K-Meleon is a web browser for the Microsoft Windows platform. Based on the same Gecko layout engine as Mozilla Firefox, K-Meleon uses native Windows API to create the user interface (instead of using Mozilla’s cross-platform XUL layer), and as a result, is tightly integrated into the look and feel of the Windows desktop; this approach is similar to that of Galeon and Epiphany (for the GNOME desktop), and Camino (for Mac OS X). This also makes K-Meleon less resource-intensive and more responsive to user input.
K-Meleon is released under the GNU General Public License and runs on the Win32 platform. The current release version of K-Meleon is 1.5.3, which was released on May 8, 2009. This release is based on the Gecko 1.8.1.21 rendering engine.
K-Meleon has a highly flexible interface design. All the menus and toolbar buttons can be customized using its configuration files. This feature can be very useful in an environment where the general public has access to the browser such as a library or Internet cafe. Despite its usefulness, it may be intimidating to an end-user, as there is no GUI to customize the individual toolbars. A user must edit the toolbar configuration file to make any changes in the button layouts, although one can move around the toolbars by simply dragging their handles.
The use of Windows native interface means that K-Meleon does not support Mozilla-based themes. Compatibility with Mozilla extensions is also limited, with only a few extensions that can be integrated. However, K-Meleon has its own plugins (called “kplugins”) and browser themes, (the default being Phoenity) which can extend the functionality and customize the appearance of the browser. There is also a macro plugin which allows users to extend the browser functionality without having to know the C programming language.
Download the latest stable version 1.5.3 in your native language from Source Forge.
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I’ve downloaded the K-Meleon browser and added the 888-Gold Large theme. Aside from the look and feel of the browser, I like the quick response time to user input as mentioned. I’m still holding on to Mozilla Firefox for its visual appeal and better tabbing functionality, but K-Meleon is certainly a browser I will be using from time to time.
The K-Meleon web browser does have a certain appeal that Firefox 3.6 does not. It reminds me of the earlier Opera web browsers. I will also continue using Firefox 3.6 since I have Zotera add-on installed and use it quite a bit. I don’t believe you can install that add-on in K-Meleon.
There is a UserSwitcherAgent built into K-Meleon. You can set the default emulated browser to Firefox 2.0, I noticed. There are other options.