Could anyone help me beta test this internet browser?

[Frosty3799]

Thanks to your input in the Survey thread I posted a month back, me and my partner have created the first beta version of our Visual Basic internet browser.

It is now my task to get some feedback on what we have so far, so I was wondering if some people would be willing to help us out again by beta testing our browser. It is a quick install, and would only require a few minutes of testing to answer the feedback questions. If you like it enough, you are free to keep using it too

I would like to state up front though, that it is definitely in beta form. Some of the menu items do not work yet, they are merely ideas we want to implement. There could also be other glitches that we have not ran into yet.

The current browser setup:
The first tab of the browser is a full-screen window, allowing for traditional web browsing. The second tab is two panes next to each other (hard to tell when you first click on the tab, since the window will be blank) but each can browse to an independent location, side by side. To make use of them, just click on either the right or left side, and type in the web address you would like to visit at the top. Also, the viewing size of each the left and right side of tab 2 can be adjusted, just drag the middle.

Currently, all of the buttons work (Go, Back, Forward, Refresh, Stop, Home)

Currently, only these drop-down menu items work:
File:
-New
-Print

Edit:
-none

View:
-none

Tools:
-set homepage

Help:
-about..

Features we hope to implement:
-All menu items will be working
-A URL fix that will change accidental ","s to "."s (example, if you were to type www.google,com the browser would automatically fix it and go to www.google.com)
-An option to modify the default bookmark links listed along the top (currently they are default to google.com and yahoo.com, for testing purposes)

Currently, these are the known problems:
-When installed on some computers, the second tab does not show the bottom scroll bars for the side-by-side panes

Feedback I am looking for:
1)What do you think of the overall set up of the browser (appearance, layout, etc.)?

2)Do you think the first tab or second tab should be the basis for the browser (i.e. if we were to make all tabs like one or the other)?

3)What do you think of the button layout? Is the location convenient enough? What would you think of the buttons running down the left/right side?

4)In the zip file is a BMP image titled 'form 5 buttons.' Would you think the browser would look better or worse if we used these buttons instead of the current ones?

5)Other comments/suggestions for future versions?

EDIT: thanks to AcidBath I now have the file hosted Here

Included in the zip file is a text document including the questions, and my e-mail to send the response to me. Just extract and install. It is only a ~360 Kb file

Thank you in advance for your input, it is greatly appreciated. feel free to either answer the questions in a reply to this thread, or in an e-mail to me here: sarazyn_joshua@roberts.edu

 

[SilentZero]

I'll have it for ya tonight

 

[Frosty3799]

Originally posted by: SilentZero
I'll have it for ya tonight

Thanks, e-mailed the file

Others please help me out?

 

[Frosty3799]

Bump. had an offer to host, so will hopefully be able to bypass the e-mailing soon.

Could still use some help if you have a few minutes to give some feedback.

 

[JohnAn2112]

I can help. Email is in my profile.

 

[So]

Are you building your own web rendering engine or just piggybacking on IE6?

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: JohnAn2112
I can help. Email is in my profile.

 

[So]

...just looked at your other thread

 

[Frosty3799]

JohnAn2112: I am e-mailing you now

Goosemaster: I am PM'ing you now, your profile does not list an e-mail address

So: My thread on goodwill impairment recognition? yea its fun stuff and we are just piggy backing, it is not that in-depth of a project. I also am PM'ing you, if you wouldn't mind helping out

Any other ATOT day crew willing to help me?

 

[Lonyo]

nm

 

[AcidBath]

email me @ the address in my profile. I'll PM you a link back and I'll host it for you no problem.

Hosted link emailed and PM'd.

 

[Frosty3799]

File now hosted, thanks to AcidBath

Please help me out if you have a few minutes to spare

 

[AcidBath]

Just a heads up to anyone downloading... I am on a crappy work computer so if you don't have the .NET framework 2.0 installed the installer downloads it prior to installing the browser.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: So
Are you building your own web rendering engine or just piggybacking on IE6?

I'm interested in knowning this as well...

EDIT: Nevermind, see the answer.

 

[Cristatus]

marked for later. I might consider installing it on my laptop, but I just formatted. Does it actually install, or is it just download and play?

 

[Frosty3799]

Originally posted by: logic1485
marked for later. I might consider installing it on my laptop, but I just formatted. Does it actually install, or is it just download and play?

It actually installs. But feel free to uninstall immediately

 

[AcidBath]

OK, for those curious, it looks like this and renders using Internet Explorer.

1.) The overall layout seems a bit cumbersome, but I am also not used to this browser. I do like the over sized progress indicator bar. I would perfer larger navigation buttons though. I am really used to having a status bar though so that threw me off. And for the search engine links at the top... OK idea but maybe they should be buttons.

2.) Not sure what you mean. Both tabs seem to look and function the same.

3.) The button location is OK. As I said, I would like larger buttons, but some people like small buttons. So it should be something you can configure. Same for button placement. It would be great if I could just drag that button bar to the left side of the browser if that is what I liked.

4.) I like the alternate buttons provided better.

5.) Here is where I'll try and provide better info:
Bugs -
* Opening a page in TabPage2 renders only half the page, as seen here.
* When you do FILE > NEW I get a second window with two new tabs. Was expecting a new tab, but that could just be me being used to Firefox

Features that seem to be missing -
Well I know this is a work in progress, but what I would say is needed ASAP:
Bookmarks
Context menus for managing tabs
More options

Hope this helps a little. What you have here is a good start. But it renders with IE so all it really has going for it is tabs. But there are already a lot of programs that add tabbed browsing to IE. So I would examine what makes Firefox a great browser, what makes IE a great browser, and try to formulate the best of both worlds.

Good luck!

 

[Frosty3799]

Originally posted by: AcidBath

5.) Here is where I'll try and provide better info:
Bugs -
* Opening a page in TabPage2 renders only half the page, as seen here.

AcidBath: note that tab 2 is a two-pane window, you can browse two pages side by side, and drag the center bar to adjust the size of the pages

Thanks a bunch for the reply

 

[Tobolo]

For some reason I cannot get the broweser to install on my Dell Laptop at work.

 

[Frosty3799]

Originally posted by: Tobolo
For some reason I cannot get the broweser to install on my Dell Laptop at work.

Interesting... did it get stuck on the .NET install part? could be another bug. I know a friend of mine tried to install and it was taking forever to do the .NET the first time, but when he retried and it worked ok

 

[Tobolo]

Yeah it was then. I will try again.

 

[Tobolo]

Component .NET Framework 2.0 has failed to install with the following error message:
"A beta version of the .NET Framework was detected on the computer. Uninstall any previous beta versions of .NET Framework before continuing."

The following components failed to install:
- .NET Framework 2.0

See the setup log file located at 'C:\DOCUME~1\CBennett\LOCALS~1\Temp\VSD95.tmp\install.log' for more information.

Log File is as follows:

The following properties have been set:
Property: [AdminUser] = true {boolean}
Property: [ProcessorArchitecture] = Intel {string}
Property: [VersionNT] = 5.1.2 {version}
Running checks for package '.NET Framework 2.0', phase BuildList
Running external check with command line "C:\DOCUME~1\CBennett\LOCALS~1\Temp\VSD95.tmp\dotnetfx\dotnetchk.exe"
Process exited with code 0
Setting value '0 {int}' for property 'DotNetInstalled'
Reading value 'Version' of registry key 'HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer'
Read string value '6.0.2900.2180'
Setting value '6.0.2900.2180 {string}' for property 'IEVersion'
The following properties have been set for package '.NET Framework 2.0':
Property: [DotNetInstalled] = 0 {int}
Property: [IEVersion] = 6.0.2900.2180 {string}
Running checks for command 'dotnetfx\instmsia.exe'
Result of running operator 'ValueExists' on property 'VersionNT': true
Result of checks for command 'dotnetfx\instmsia.exe' is 'Bypass'
Running checks for command 'dotnetfx\WindowsInstaller-KB893803-v2-x86.exe'
Result of running operator 'ValueExists' on property 'Version9x': false
Result of running operator 'VersionLessThan' on property 'VersionNT' and value '5.0.3': false
Result of running operator 'VersionGreaterThanOrEqualTo' on property 'VersionMsi' and value '3.0': true
Result of checks for command 'dotnetfx\WindowsInstaller-KB893803-v2-x86.exe' is 'Bypass'
Running checks for command 'dotnetfx\dotnetfx.exe'
Result of running operator 'ValueNotEqualTo' on property 'DotNetInstalled' and value '0': false
Result of running operator 'ValueEqualTo' on property 'AdminUser' and value 'false': false
Skipping FailIf because Property 'Version9X' was not defined
Result of running operator 'VersionLessThan' on property 'VersionNT' and value '5.0.3': false
Result of running operator 'ValueNotExists' on property 'IEVersion': false
Result of running operator 'VersionLessThan' on property 'IEVersion' and value '5.01': false
Result of running operator 'ValueNotEqualTo' on property 'ProcessorArchitecture' and value 'Intel': false
Result of checks for command 'dotnetfx\dotnetfx.exe' is 'Install'
'.NET Framework 2.0' RunCheck result: Install Needed
EULA for components '.NET Framework 2.0' was accepted.
Copying files to temporary directory "C:\DOCUME~1\CBennett\LOCALS~1\Temp\VSD95.tmp\"
Downloading files to "C:\DOCUME~1\CBennett\LOCALS~1\Temp\VSD95.tmp\"
(4/18/2006 3:39:23 PM) Downloading 'dotnetfx\dotnetfx.exe' from 'http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=37283' to 'C:\DOCUME~1\CBennett\LOCALS~1\Temp\VSD95.tmp\'
Download completed at 4/18/2006 3:39:29 PM
Verifying file integrity of C:\DOCUME~1\CBennett\LOCALS~1\Temp\VSD95.tmp\dotnetfx\dotnetfx.exe
WinVerifyTrust returned 0
File trusted
Running checks for package '.NET Framework 2.0', phase BeforePackage
Running external check with command line "C:\DOCUME~1\CBennett\LOCALS~1\Temp\VSD95.tmp\dotnetfx\dotnetchk.exe"
Process exited with code 0
Setting value '0 {int}' for property 'DotNetInstalled'
Reading value 'Version' of registry key 'HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer'
Read string value '6.0.2900.2180'
Setting value '6.0.2900.2180 {string}' for property 'IEVersion'
The following properties have been set for package '.NET Framework 2.0':
Property: [DotNetInstalled] = 0 {int}
Property: [IEVersion] = 6.0.2900.2180 {string}
Running checks for command 'dotnetfx\dotnetfx.exe'
Result of running operator 'ValueNotEqualTo' on property 'DotNetInstalled' and value '0': false
Result of running operator 'ValueEqualTo' on property 'AdminUser' and value 'false': false
Skipping FailIf because Property 'Version9X' was not defined
Result of running operator 'VersionLessThan' on property 'VersionNT' and value '5.0.3': false
Result of running operator 'ValueNotExists' on property 'IEVersion': false
Result of running operator 'VersionLessThan' on property 'IEVersion' and value '5.01': false
Result of running operator 'ValueNotEqualTo' on property 'ProcessorArchitecture' and value 'Intel': false
Result of checks for command 'dotnetfx\dotnetfx.exe' is 'Install'
'.NET Framework 2.0' RunCheck result: Install Needed
Verifying file integrity of C:\DOCUME~1\CBennett\LOCALS~1\Temp\VSD95.tmp\dotnetfx\dotnetfx.exe
WinVerifyTrust returned 0
File trusted
Installing using command line '"C:\DOCUME~1\CBennett\LOCALS~1\Temp\VSD95.tmp\dotnetfx\dotnetfx.exe" /q:a /c:"install /q /l"'
Process exited with code 4113
Status of package '.NET Framework 2.0' after install is 'InstallFailed'

 

[Tobolo]

You know Im a dumb @$$. I didnt read it well. Im leaving it up for you to review incase someone else comes across that problem. Its installing correctly now!

 

[Frosty3799]

Originally posted by: Tobolo
You know Im a dumb @$$. I didnt read it well. Im leaving it up for you to review incase someone else comes across that problem. Its installing correctly now!

Glad to hear it

I could still use more feedback

 

[imported_Stewy]

I'm a little too lazy to fill out the bug-report form, but here's my inital impressions:

I like it. It could use improvement, but I like the split-window thing a lot.

So, here's my comments:

When I'm using the split screen mode, it would be nice for the address of whatever window I'm currently using (read:scrolling, clicking about, ect) to be updated in the address bar.

I do like the split window feature. I think it would be nice to have tabbed-browsing, and then be able to add an unlimited amount of windows into the main browser window, and be able to resize them just like I can resize windows on my desktop. As a default the way you have the windows displayed works great, but if there were 4 windows, a nice feature would be to allow the user to customize the height and width of the window like you allow the width to be customized now.

Good job though... For a beta, it's looking good.