Mozilla-based Library Browser?

[Andrew Mutch]

For those of us who are still trying to keep the flame burning for the Mozilla browser, one of the frustrations has been the clunkiness of the interface (why, oh why is the home button next to bookmarks)
and its slowness in loading compared to IE.  However, for those who are looking for a Mozilla-based browser that would be suitable for library use, you might want to check out K-Meleon browser.

http://www.kmeleon.org/

and

http://www.mozillazine.org/articles/article1926.html

A Windows-only (sorry Mac users) browser, it looks a lot like Internet Explorer.  In fact, those who have used Public Web Browser will think you've found its cousin.  However, unlike PWB, which is built
on IE, K-Meleon is built on gecko, which is the rendering engine for Mozilla.  It's the first custom-build that I've seen that has a "smart" and clean interface. It has a "small" footprint and doesn't
appear to be cluttered up with all of the gunk that the big 2 insist on throwing into the mix.

It doesn't have all of the security features of PWB.  However, it does appear that you can do some editing so it might be possible to create a kiosk-mode browser without too much hassle.  It will be
interesting to see what people are able to work out with this browser.

Andrew Mutch
Library Systems Technician
Waterford Township Public Library
Waterford, MI