Despite the holiday period, AROS developers have not slowed down. August brought another batch of bugfixes for the community, as well as two updates to large and eagerly awaited programs. We are, of course, talking about OWB 2.0-alpha and Final Writer 7.1, which was released for AROS systems first.
As part of the Irritating Bug of the Month for August, a bug was fixed:
#144 (Graphical artifacts when dragging an icon)
A link to the fix can be found in ArosWorld forum topic.
For the moment, the IBOTM project is suspended. I would like to remind you that polls in which users could vote for the most annoying bugs appeared every month starting from November 2023. The winners were as follows:
#64 (Wanderer: properly run tools with CLI tooltype)
#107 (Wanderer Rename: Cannot change size of letters in name without changing name)
#91 (Wrong parsing of boot parameters in Prefs/Boot)
#115 (Add an easy way to enable tethering in Network preferences)
#135 (AHCI - only 7.9 GB allocated out of disk)
#105 (DiskInfo showing OFS instead of FAT)
#116 (Wanderer: Allow deleting by pressing Del key)
#125 (You can access a drawer icon even if the directory assigned to it does not exist)
#140 (Wanderer: Changing the disk label does not work)
#25 (Shell won’t open from icon that leave out)
#26 (Multiple copying of the Shell icon when it is deleted)
#144 (Graphical artifacts when dragging an icon)
Thanks to the work of Deadwood, all these bugs have been patched and AROS has become much more stable and comfortable to use. IBOTM might be back next year! For the time being, the efforts of our currently most active developer have been redirected to updating the OWB browser.
In the case of Odyssey Web Browser, we got more than anyone expected. The WebKit engine has been updated from August 2015 to February 2019. To get an idea of the enormity of the effort such an update requires, suffice it to say that it involves over 50,000 changes! OWB 2.0 is still in alpha, and work is ongoing to restore all functionality and stability to the browser. The main goal for OWB 2.0 is to support 90% of the sites that worked before and to get the YouTube site working properly. However, I think we will get much more in the end. There are two topics set up on the ArosWorld forum for OWB 32-bit and for OWB 64-bit. There you can report bugs and download the latest alpha versions of the browser.
If you would like to acknowledge Krzysztof’s work on the OWB browser and beyond, below is a link to his Paypal. Any donations would be appreciated!
Deadwood’s link: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/4deadwood.
The work on the OWB update would not have been so quick if not for Jack Piszczek’s earlier effort on the Wayfarer browser! Also for him, consider donating (noting that it’s from an AROS user :))
Jacek’s link: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/wayfarerbrowser.
Timothy Deters, the current rights holder for Final Writer, has released a long-awaited update. The new version (7.1) includes export to PDF, AmigaOS-compliant localization, FTP/IPP printing capability, updated RTF format support and a brand new real-time spell checker based on MySpell. Versions for AROS 68k/ApolloOS, AROS x86-64 (ABIv1) and AROS x86 (ABIv0) are available on developer website. The full version costs $50. Demo versions are free to download.
Final Writer 7.1 for AROS.
Airsoft Softwair has released an update to the Hollywood software plug-in called RapaGUI. Version 2.2 includes several bug fixes. RapaGUI is one of the most widely used plugins for Hollywood, allowing the creation of graphical interfaces. These interfaces are defined in XML files, allowing them to run on different operating systems using native widgets for a consistent look and style. The AROS x86 version can be downloaded from the official Hollywood website.
Finally, as usual, news from the AROS Archives. There are several new items this month. Below is a detailed list.
The Chaotic Dungeon (v. 1.0)
(author: Space.cpp)
This game is a roguelite dungeon crawler with Zelda-style gameplay. Push your way through dungeons, defeating enemies and collecting items. Advance your character to become stronger and conquer floors with ease. If you die, you have to start over, but you keep your attributes. Can you make it to the 30th floor, kill the guard and return to the surface alive?
The Chaotic Dungeon
WhatIFF? (v. 3.14)
(authors: WhatIFF? Staff)
Amiga-themed magazine published in Amigaguide format. Issue 14 - August 2024.
WhatIFF? - August 2024
SFSobject (v. 1.6)
(authors: Jean-Marie COAT, Farox)
This is a small tool for setting some attributes of SmartFilesystem objects. File system objects are, for example, directories and files. With SFSObject, it is possible to hide some files or make a directory non-removable, even when the protection against deletion is disabled.
SFSobject
Leeko (v. 1.0)
(authors: Fit demogroup, port by Farox)
Leeko is a demoscene production by the Fit group. It was first presented at Party Assembly 2003 in the Combined 64k Intro competition, where it took 3rd place.
It is a port for AROS i386 ABIv0 by Farox based on sources for AmigaOS4. A graphics card is required for optimal performance (it also runs without one, but slower). The demo can be run in different resolutions, see the README file for a description of the runtime parameters.
Leeko
Micery (v. 1.0)
(authors: Bandwagon & Fit demogroups, port by Farox)
Micery is a demoscene production by the groups Bandwagon & Fit. It was first presented at Alternative Party V (2004) in the Dynamic Demo competition, where it won 2nd place.
It is a port for AROS i386 ABIv0 by Farox based on sources for AmigaOS4. A graphics card is required for optimal performance (it also runs without one, but slower). The demo can be run at different resolutions, see the README file for a description of the runtime parameters.
(The demo does not have an end, press ESC to exit).
You can see both demos, Leeko and Micery, on a Youtube video on James Mattson’s channel.
Micery
Baphomet ScreenSaver (v. 1.0)
(author: Juan Carlos Herrán Martín)
Screensaver for AROS. The theme is the eternal battle between angels and demons.
Baphomet ScreenSaver
Cards Making Kit (v. 2.10)
(author: Juan Carlos Herrán Martín)
It is a small tool for creating custom decks for card games:
- HLE Poker Card (High-Low-Equal Poker Card).
- BlackJuan.
- Siete y Media.
- Baccarat.
- BlackIvan Card.
Cards Making Kit