This is the public announcement of a new HTML renderer for replacing the current one ("BearHtml") for those of you feeling comfortable enough for using an Internet Explorer based version. As I know it will be very controversial here are my reasons for developing such a tool:
- The current renderer has lots of limitations with regard to handling up-to-date HTML sources including crashes.
- The complexity of HTML makes is almost impossible to keep up with current developments for non-corporate developers.
- Internet Explorer comes with Windows and I'm far more familiar with its development interface than with any other browser engine's.
- Nevertheless it might be possible that there'll be WebKit (Safari, Chrome) or Gecko (Mozilla, Firefox) based renderers in the future as well.
- I've taken care to enable the most secure options available with IE's browser engine by default and add most of the features provided by BearHtml.
Please note that this replacement comes with an installer which creates a backup of the current renderer that can even be used alternatively if you'd want to switch back and forth between the current and the new renderer. Uninstalling the new renderer will restore the previous state, but you need to take care if updating Pegasus Mail or BearHtml as this will overwrite the IE Control installation so you would need to reinstall it afterwards.
It also implements a user interface including a toolbar button and a menu (see screenshot below) which enable you to access optional settings and help resources without having to memorize certain keyboard shortcuts. As can be seen by its version history on the download page it already underwent lots of testing, fixing and enhancements, but as only a small number of testers was involved there might still be issues to solve which should be reported to this forum.
PS: This renderer cannot be installed on any Windows 9x (up to ME) system or NT based sytems prior to Windows 2000 / XP with at least Internet Explorer 6!
Michael
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