iBrowse 2.5.3 released today

[Weaselrama]

From Oliver Roberts (oliver@futaura.co.ok)

IBrowse 2.5.3 has been released today and can now be downloaded from
http://www.ibrowse-dev.net/ to update your existing IBrowse 2.5
installation (OS4 users can also upgrade using AmiUpdate). This is a
free update for registered owners of IBrowse 2.5. IBrowse 2.4 and 1.x
users can upgrade to IBrowse 2.5.3 via our store at discounted rates.
We hope you are all well in these strange times - stay safe!

The main target for this new version was to improve performance on
HTTPS connections, given that SSL is relatively slow on 68k
processors. Despite the performance enhancements that came in AmiSSL
4.4 (4.6 is available now, by the way), there is not much more that
can be done in AmiSSL unless someone is able to write 68k assembly
optimised versions of some of the modules (as is the case for
PowerPC). Therefore, some other options have been exploited to enhance
performance, which have been in beta testing over the past 3 months,
due to the major changes required to the HTTP engine...

SSL Session Caching
-------------------
IBrowse 2.5.3 now implements a SSL session cache for all HTTPS
connections, supporting all the differing session/ticket methods use
from TLSv1.0 to TLSv1.3. This allows the slow initial handshaking to
be bypassed on subsequent connections to the same host, thus
increasing performance noticably on OS3, and even on OS4 too. Most
websites support this feature universally.

Persistent Connections
----------------------
This is an older HTTP feature that was never implemented in IBrowse
until now, partly because IBrowse has always relied on opening
multiple connections to websites, which didn't really make this
feature worthwhile. However, it can be useful for HTTPS connections as
it allows them to be left open and reused, without having spend CPU
time renegotiating the SSL connection at all. HTTP(S) persistent
connections support is now available in IBrowse 2.5.3 (can be disabled
in the settings). Not all websites support persistent connections and,
some of those that do, do not keep connections open long enough (e.g.
1 second) to make a difference.

We advise that 68k users pay additional attention to the Max. number
of connections and Max. number of secure connections settings in the
network preferences. These settings may need retuning because of the
two new features described above. Probably, you should not set the
number of secure connections to above 4, otherwise multiple
connections can battle for CPU time and may well end up timing out.
Fewer connections can turn out to be faster, but we suggest that you
experiment with these settings to see what feels the best on your
particular system.

A number of other improvements and fixes have also been made and are
listed in the history log and newly updated changes summary.

[AMike]

Impressive output since christmax - iBrowse, AmiSSL & WarpDatatypes. Thanks will test the update later.

[Weaselrama]

Just a note, some of us reported back to Oliver that the installer comes up in Italian but otherwise asks to confirm English as the language of the upgrade or install.

All is well.

[Weaselrama]

Originally Posted by AMike

Impressive output since christmax - iBrowse, AmiSSL & WarpDatatypes. Thanks will test the update later.

No kidding! I'm as happy as a tornay-dee in a trailer park! (I'm flyin'!)

[npagonis73]

Great news!! Indeed the installer is in Italian. Hope they will change it in their webpage by tomorrow so we caan install it.

[Weaselrama]

Originally Posted by npagonis73

Great news!! Indeed the installer is in Italian. Hope they will change it in their webpage by tomorrow so we caan install it.

If you proceed through the "pretend to install," if you care to try, it will confirm the language you chose in the previous version. A couple of us tried it - there were no issues and my upgrade to 2.5.3 didn't show up in Italian

I was worried about the same thing but another user in the email-list confirmed this so I tried it. All is well.

[npagonis73]

Oh thanks a lot for the tip. Will start right now then!!

[AMike]

Already tested it on my A4000 and the V1200. Siginificant speedup on the 060 - fast enough to surf on the a1k baord with my A4000. The V1200 is much faster than my A4000 with the 060 and PPC WarpDatatypes. Are there any Vampire optimizations in the code?

[Weaselrama]

Originally Posted by AMike

Already tested it on my A4000 and the V1200. Siginificant speedup on the 060 - fast enough to surf on the a1k baord with my A4000. The V1200 is much faster than my A4000 with the 060 and PPC WarpDatatypes. Are there any Vampire optimizations in the code?

You could drop Oliver an email and ask, but otherwise, iBrowse is specifically optimized for the WarpDT datatypes.

[aeberbach]

Hey I wonder - is this the same as the iBrowse that was distributed by HiSoft systems? I have a boxed package that I installed once, found it couldn't connect to anything much because no secure connection and never used it again. No doubt it was written before https was common.

[Futaura]

Originally Posted by AMike

Already tested it on my A4000 and the V1200. Siginificant speedup on the 060 - fast enough to surf on the a1k baord with my A4000. The V1200 is much faster than my A4000 with the 060 and PPC WarpDatatypes. Are there any Vampire optimizations in the code?

No AMMX stuff, if that's what you mean. The 68080 is just faster than a 68060 and probably the missing 64-bit math instructions on the 68060 bring an extra speed boost for SSL on a 68080 (as long as you install the 68020-040 version of AmiSSL on the 68080).

Installer is already fixed - archives have been silently updated on the website

[npagonis73]

Installed and tried on my system A1200 3.1.4.1 with BestWB and ACA1233n, and roadshow. Great update and the performance difference on a 030 cpu is really big. Very glad to see constant development since 2.5 release and finally classic 030 Amigas can browse the internet in an acceptable manner!! Keep it up!!

[Futaura]

Originally Posted by aeberbach

Hey I wonder - is this the same as the iBrowse that was distributed by HiSoft systems? I have a boxed package that I installed once, found it couldn't connect to anything much because no secure connection and never used it again. No doubt it was written before https was common.

There's only one IBrowse . IIRC, HTTPS has always been a working feature at the time of releases, even going back to V1.x. So, I guess it depends which version you installed and when.

With SSL constantly evolving, naturally, older versions will only work with HTTPS if newer SSL versions haven't made them obsolete.

IBrowse 2.5 on the other hand supports the latest SSL/TLS standards using the latest OpenSSL 1.1.1g via AmiSSL.

[Futaura]

Originally Posted by npagonis73

Installed and tried on my system A1200 3.1.4.1 with BestWB and ACA1233n, and roadshow. Great update and the performance difference on a 030 cpu is really big. Very glad to see constant development since 2.5 release and finally classic 030 Amigas can browse the internet in an acceptable manner!! Keep it up!!

Thanks. Glad to hear of the performance impact on slower CPUs as this was particularly what I was targetting. I think only I and the testers had a 68060 to test with (which has its own unique performance penalty when it comes to AmiSSL).

[Exodous]

Originally Posted by aeberbach

Hey I wonder - is this the same as the iBrowse that was distributed by HiSoft systems?

From: https://www.ibrowse-dev.net/store/


"IBrowse was originally distributed by HiSOFT Systems from 1996-2001"


So, yes it was

[Storm]

Awesome, I'll download it now!

[nikosidis]

Now IBrowse is usable on my Amiga 030. You got a new customer. I'm posting this from Ibrowse 2.5.3 demo. Will buy later today. Thx.

[Weaselrama]

Originally Posted by nikosidis

Now IBrowse is usable on my Amiga 030. You got a new customer. I'm posting this from Ibrowse 2.5.3 demo. Will buy later today. Thx.

Outstanding! I'm very happy for you. iBrowse is wonderfully configurable via MUI, including font selection which is only limited by how many fonts you have installed.

[apex]

I can recommend this page getting there the right fonts for iBrowse.
http://www.amiga.org.ru/websurf/

And thank you for iBrowse!!! I hope people are supporting it by buying it. Great work, love it. I am using iBrowse since the first release.

[npagonis73]

Originally Posted by Futaura

Thanks. Glad to hear of the performance impact on slower CPUs as this was particularly what I was targetting. I think only I and the testers had a 68060 to test with (which has its own unique performance penalty when it comes to AmiSSL).

True I think the majority of the users has a 020 or 030 cpu and it is a great step forward that these machines can now browse the net as well. I am already an ibrowse customer since the beginning of the 2.5 release and seeing all the progress being made so far I couldn’t be happier and feel that the money were well spent!!! Congratulations