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Browser Support Changes; iPad Support

There have been some changes to browser support for Off on a Tangent, mostly reflecting current browser usage trends.

I’ve dropped official support for a number of smaller, rarely used browsers like K-Meleon, Konqueror, and BeZilla Browser (based of Firefox 2). This doesn’t mean the site won’t work in these browsers, it just means I’m not officially supporting them, I don’t test in them, and any issues affecting users of these browsers will get less attention than issues affecting supported browsers.

I’ve added support for two new-ish WebKit-based browsers, Arora and its distant Haiku OS cousin, WebPositive.

Lastly, I’ve initiated official support for Apple’s new iPad tablet computer (now that an emulator is available free from Apple). The iPad, which launched on Saturday, runs a variant of the iPhone operating system. Right now, it’s supported as a mobile browser (mostly because it’s tough to use the full site’s drop-down menus on a touch-based system). I may change that in the future to default to the full site, if I can come up with a better way to handle the drop-downs. It seems silly to send my stripped-down mobile site to a device like the iPad, which has a screen resolution comparable to that on ‘netbooks’ and small notebooks.

If you have an iPad, let me know whether you prefer the full site or the mobile site. Thanks!

As always, a full list of supported browsers (and screenshots of the site in each) is available on the About the Site page.

Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.