Lunascape: New Kid on the Browser Block

Lunascape is the product of a Tokyo-based software startup, and it’s raising some eyebrows with claims of being the fastest browser available. It may not enjoy the reputation the big players like Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer and Chrome do here in the Western world, but Lunascape has been downloaded over 10 million times, so someone’s paying attention to the new kid on the block.

Did I mention it’s a triple-engine browser? That’s right, Gecko, Trident, and WebKit, all under one hood.

lunascape

Lunascape’s first English alpha release (Windows only) came out just last week, and I’ve spent the intervening time getting to know it a little better. Let me preface this article by noting that it is alpha software, so there are definitely some rough edges that need smoothing. That said, I was surprised by the number of useful features the browser brings to the table.

Obviously, engine-switching is more than a snazzy parlor trick. It means you can check your output and compatibility in all rendering engines from one convenient location. Web designers and web app developers can check engine compliance without opening multiple browsers. You no longer have to dust off poor, neglected IE just to view content that’s only viewable in Microsoft’s broswer.

But what about that claim to the world browser speed record? In my admittedly non-scientific practical tests, it actually was a little slower than Firefox using WebKit, although it seemed on par, but not noticeably faster using Gecko.

Testing Hiveminder and Campfire worked out fine, both web apps displayed and functioned correctly, even when I switched the engine (which you can do by right clicking on a Tab’s title).

I ran into a huge snag, however, when I tried to login to my WordPress blog. Any login attempt just booted me back to the login form, no matter what engine I was using. I tried at a number of different WordPress sites, self and wordpress.com hosted, to see if the error persisted, and it did. As a freelancer who regularly contributes to a number of blogs, this means Lunascape cannot, as it, become my one and only browser. This takes away a lot of the benefit of engine switching.

Lunascape does have some nice features built in that only come by way of add-ons for other browsers. An RSS reader, for instance, with a customizable notification area and headlines displayed in blank space next to your open tabs. Auto reload is built in for Trident and Gecko, along with a host of selective content (images, sounds, etc.) filters. These options are not currently available when viewing pages rendered with the WebKit engine.

My final impression of Lunascape is a mixed one. On the one hand, it has some nice aggregation and developer tools that can increase efficiency and decrease time wasted on distractions and manual program switching, but on the other, it lacks some very basic functionality that I can’t work without.

For now, it can only supplement, and not replace my browser arsenal.

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