Information about the project
General Information
The
Pale Moon project is the work of a single individual (Mr. M.C. Straver), using contributed
Open Source code to create a full-featured, speed optimized browser
based on the popular Firefox browser. Having seen the advantages on
other
systems (e.g. Linux) with regards to programs being compiled
specifically for the capabilities of the machine it is installed on, it
became obviously clear that Windows users were at a disadvantage:
Mozilla only releases Windows executables with maximum compatibility in
mind, meaning that Firefox is made to run on as many different systems
as possible, sacrificing efficiency and speed in the process to be
compatible with, by current standards, absolutely ancient hardware
(backwards compatible to the first Pentium processors from 1993).In addition, later versions of Pale Moon aim to provide more freedom of choice than Mozilla about how people want to browse the web, which tools or extensions they wish to use, and which feedback users want to see; efficiency, after all, should not stop at the engine of a browser, but extend to all parts of it, including the user interface. Specifically, Firefox 4 and later have redesigned the user interface after the visions of the Mozilla Firefox product directors and user experience team to provide a minimalist interface; unfortunately also removing essential functions and making a few less logical design choices, confusing minimalism with cleanliness.
More information about the Pale Moon application layout can be found here.
Users will find a slightly more conservative approach to changes in the user interface in the Pale Moon browser, which, although very close to Firefox, is (now more obviously so than before) a different product. However, these differences in layout do not prevent anyone from configuring their browser interface to exactly the way they want it to look and work (including like Mozilla Firefox's default layout if they so wish).
Pale Moon is a middle road, cutting away support for ancient systems to achieve a significant speed and efficiency increase, but not trying to squeeze the last few percent more out of it by limiting the range of systems it will run on even more. It aims to not waste computer resources and power on inefficient programs, while at the same time serving a wide range of systems that are currently in use around the world. As one person remarked when the first version of Pale Moon was just released: optimizing for only the very latest systems and limiting Pale Moon to run only on those would be rather pointless, as those systems have enough horse power in excess to not make the few percent extra even noticed that would be gained by additionally using their specific hardware capabilities.
Pale Moon will be released independent of Mozilla Firefox, as it will take time to build and test based on release code, and add Pale Moon specific enhancements; the Mozilla rapid release schedule is not followed. Pale Moon is an independently developed product based on Firefox, but will not follow Firefox to the letter.
Because Firefox shares its source code over several different platforms, patches that are implemented for a new version quite regularly do not apply to Windows browser builds and are therefore irrelevant to Pale Moon development. Pale Moon will be updated only for select and relevant updates of the Firefox base source code and otherwise develop independently on the chosen version of the Gecko engine.
This also means that Pale Moon will not be built based on beta, release candidate, milestone, or other development releases of the Firefox source code (there will not be any Pale Moon "nightly", "aurora" or "beta" builds available to the public). Only relevant "Release" source code will be used to ensure stability.
Support
I would like to express my thanks to the following people for their support, in no particular order. Without your help, support and contributions, Pale Moon would not have been possible!Testing and moral support:
Cole Hughes, Colin Moran, Gerardo Rubio, Daryl Sprint, Jason Sullivan, and the beta testers on the forum.
Special thanks to the following people for chipping in for required development tools:
Jason Sullivan, Bruno Langelaan,
Anthony Grobe, Maximilian Magana, Travis Anderson, Michael Wakunda,
Jose Arellano, Roger Taylor, David Wales, Aurimas Grigas, Ezio Aditore,
John McNamara, Rógvi D. Clementsen, Temple Martin, David Khoo, Floyd
Drennon, Ryan Clemens, Stephen May, Robert McLean, Michael Larsen, Will
Rolison, Tracy Romine, Timothy Lamb, Alain McKinnon, Kentaro Uematsu,
Marc Finerty, Damjan Gerl, Chris Chokan, Jeff Lee, Greg Stone, Ton
Sonneveldt, Mark Ewald, Rick Lund, 春名 五月, Don Hay,
Mirko Breßler and some people who prefer to remain anonymous.
Donations (monetary or otherwise) and other support:
Cory Westropp, James Bass, Natalia Janeiro Pita, Michael Hunter, George
W. Skuse Jr., Mirko von Elstermann, Ky Tat, John F. Allen, Adam
Kirchgassner, Casey Brooks, Vojtech Behuncik, Jerry Hung, Michael Law,
Lee Brown, Manuel la Fosse, Chris Finlayson, Bas Bleijendaal, Ian
Scott, S.K. Brown, Solon Zhu, George Tillmon, David E. Wilson, Doris
DeNudt, Dale Raggatt, Dave Wijnhoven, James Cross, Irving Prais, Denis
James Prosser, Andrew Bozinoplouos, Edward Whiteaker, Grant Holman,
Ianp (braveheart_leo), Christopher Thompson, Luc Bell, Alan Bischof,
Markus Schweizer, LouAnne Stachowski, Steve Cramer, Chris Horace (and
son), James Camper, Bernard Olij, Robert Tipping, Poggi Paolo, Tom
Molnar, Rob van den Sigtenhorst, Tsali Peleg, Wolfgang Stanke, Victor
Saltmeris, Alfredo Heredero Bellot, Isabel Guinder, Jonathan Millet,
Colin Booth, David Vogl, Jacob M. Ross, Bart van Zoest, Robert Harvan,
Rufo Moreno Fernandez, Henry Eisenson, Louise M. Head, Thomas D.
Rouncefield, David Pyke, Faye Reynolds, Paul Carlson, Leon Grekin,
James Soden, Dean Graham, Norman Hunter, David Tice, Dick Girard,
Terence Truscott, HL7 Systems & Services, Mike du Pau, John Kruger,
Donna Logan, Victor Saltmeris, Leopold Akpabio, S.G. Collins, Matthew
Nitti (Zatzai), Howard Verne, John-Paul Coetzee, Thomas Saunders, Al
Hughes, Graham Sewell, Robert Wilson, Markus Philipane, Michael Olson,
Klaus Mahr, David Delmar, Andrew Taub, Don Hay, Rhonda Morales, Garth
Ponsonby, Kris Bernardic, Mark Orleman, Frank Klett, Řystein A. Sćther,
Brian Davies, Mike Bennett, Mats Danielsen, Kurt Edwards, Stefan Rasch,
Stephen D'Orazio, Vyacheslav Sergeev, Richard Schoenfeldt, Jeff Lee,
Michael Noble, Dave Crowder, Robert Whitney, Michael Carroll, Michael
Frazier, Mark Dozbaba, Rebecca Sweet, Lars-Ove Landsverk, Johannes den
Boer, Gail Mahabirsingh, Brian Trudeau, Omar Alomair, Vladimir
Yemelyanov, Sparkling Carpets Inc., Jörg Juchems, Glenn Bennett, Simon
E. Parker, Thomas Nelson, Dallas Eschenauer, Jo Singstad, Andrzej Krol,
Marcos Coelho, Claudia Chuba, C.P. Humphries, De Marco LLC, The Phoenix
Gate, James Williams, Hayes Anderson Ltd., OtakuBooty, Aleksandr
Milykh, Lisa Hatt, Fiber Mosaics
Inc., Michael Veltman, Paul P. Boyd, Pierre Jeunehomme, Bruce Anderson,
Simon Schofield, Caitlin Richardson, Louise Lee, Ferdinand J. van Dop,
Daniel Dirr, Eric Hancock, Darko Ostoja/Ratko Vujicic, Adrian Davis,
James Mingee, EDSI, Richard Hartzell, Robin Gilliver, 石井 正将, Larry
Beattie, Jaime Ossio, Clarence Abbott, Michael Werner, Ragnar L.
Björnsson, Achille Toro, Robert McLean, Jens Minnack, Bonnie Perkins,
Bill Ash, Paul Eaton, George Veigue, Yoshiaki Kinukawa, Doommantia,
Susan Duncan, Amanda Betancourt, Kit L. Lo, Robert Cantalupo, Gregory
Flewelling, Angelo Morgante, Ernies's Machinery Inc., Janice L.
Ferdinand, Framton Goodman, Roberto J. Silos III, Michael Abbott, John
Windisch, Adalberto Hernandez, William Driver, Gregory Atkins, Richard
Scheurle, Dan H. Todd, Andre Engels, David P. Hughes, Mark Mizhen,
Kenneth Hultman, Kenneth Roberts, Howard Verne, Paul Deeds, Janet
Rosecan, Aric Dallas, Marco Guglieri, Marc Jackson, Marian Rakusan,
Michael Ingram, Robert Fricks, Carl Jarrett, Gérald J. Croteau, 森 哲,
Don Hay, Perry Phillips, Lyke Dekens, Nelson L. Renninger, Pranay
Bansod, 川中 良太, John Mambo, Russell Whaley, Amanda V.M. Christie,
Darshil Shah, David Wignall, Rick Lund, Matt Phelps, Peter Holmes, Al
Borowski, Janice L. Ferdinand, Artwolf, Brent Fergusson, Gina Parosa,
Lewis Dawson, D.M. Cope, Dilip Sinha, Jais Larsen, Western Backup
Solutions, Reed Treible, Tobin Michael, Matthew Friede, Gregor
Schlabitz, José Luis Pérez Peinado, Paolo Petriccione, Filippo Bottega,
Stephen Spangle, Richard Sams, Francisco J.S. Azofeifa, Dallas
Eschenauer, Gérald Croteau, Casper M. Jensen, Andrew Fraser, Fernando
Sampaio, Abe Clark, Maurice Foulon, Michael Augustson, John Huisman,
Sebastian Sawa, Jennifer Patullo, Michael Shultz, David Richards, Jeff
Powell, Christopher Edmondson,Yuko Mattingley, S. Bruce Danyluk,
Dimitri Casu, Perry Phillips, John Stanish, Elizabeth McDowell, Tom
Weaver, Konstantin Chertkov, Peter Martin, Hue-Tsi Wu, Willem Missault,
George Mentzikof, Minasian Garik, Peter DiVergilio,
Steven Bussinger, Zachary T. Heise, Roger Alwang, Adriaan de Jager,
Jean Fourquet, Emre Schveighoffer, William Hahn, Ekaterina Simerzin,
Carlos Carreira, Greg Lefsrud, Herbert Hansen, Joel Barnett, Charles
Lasitter, Bo Jensen, Gliktch, Robert Taylor, Andres Aule, John
Littleton, Max Pinner, Dan Norman, Histosoft Corporation, Michael
Morrison, Jerome Yurow, Craig DeHaan, Arie Hartland, Robert Corfield,
Gastón Salgueiro, Perry Phillips, Gordon Griswold, Joseph Neri, Glenn
Gardner, Frank Cornett, Adriaan van Breugel, John A. Ballou, Robert
Quintrell, Tim Bazuin, Donald Flanders, Walter Chatelain, Petr Dusek,
John Burrows, Findlay Niederle, Anthony Rice, Cable & Wireless
Technologies Inc., Gioia Guerrieri, Abdulrahman Aljefri, Dennis Wysocki, Discover The South, Kamil Kaźmierczak, Robert Bradford, Rodney Fiddaman, Maha
Samuel, Norman Goodis, Carol Ruppe, Frederick Barnett, Dima Ruinskiy,
Sanford Whiteman DBA (HBD), Licinio Branco, Robert Lewis
Note: this list only includes the names of people who have made a notable contribution - for monetary donations, this means a donation of at least $5, other listings are at the developer's discretion. All donations and support are greatly appreciated, of course, but there are a few tiers to keep in mind. $5 or more will get your name listed here. $25 or more will get you a little something in the mail. $100 or more and I'll send you an exclusive art print (contact me to arrange this!)
Note: this list only includes the names of people who have made a notable contribution - for monetary donations, this means a donation of at least $5, other listings are at the developer's discretion. All donations and support are greatly appreciated, of course, but there are a few tiers to keep in mind. $5 or more will get your name listed here. $25 or more will get you a little something in the mail. $100 or more and I'll send you an exclusive art print (contact me to arrange this!)
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Site and contents © 2009-2013 Moonchild Productions - All rights reserved
Pale Moon's distribution is subject to the following redistribution policy
Site and contents © 2009-2013 Moonchild Productions - All rights reserved
Pale Moon's distribution is subject to the following redistribution policy