The Lunascape Blog

Today, we have released version 6.5.1 of Lunascape with the Gecko engine updates to revision 1.9.2.18 (corresponding to the Firefox 3.6.18) and one occasional, but critical Gecko-specific bug fix. In some situations, the Gecko dll files failed to load when switching to the Gecko engine. This sometimes resulted in inability to browse the Web with Gecko engine, or caused Lunascape to crash. We hope those who has ecperienc3ed the issue become able to enjoy the Gecko engine by upgrading to this new version.

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Finally, here comes the Lunascape version 6.5.0 official release!

It has been a while since we first released the 6.5.0 beta last winter, but here we are. We have finally made it.

Unfortunately, a quick dial, one of the main features we have planned to add in this version, has been postponed to version 6.6.0., but we have made a major update on the Webkit engine (revision 80840) and fixed quite many engine-related bugs with this 6.5.0 official release. In fact, our performance with the engine has improved by 20% in speed according to the Sunspider JavaScript Benchmark. Also, we have updated the Gecko engine to revision 1.9.2.17, which is equivalent to the Firefox version 3.6.17. I am sure you will have better browsing experience with the Lunascape Webkit engine. Please give it a try to let us hear what you think!

Lunascape 6.5.0 official version download

We’re releasing Lunascape version 6.4.5 in response to the recent update of Firefox 3.5.18, which has an update to HTTPS certificates blacklist. According to the Mozilla Security Blog, impact to users is stated as below. Lunascape strongly suggests its users to update to Lunascape 6.4.5.

Users on a compromised network could be directed to sites using the fraudulent certificates and mistake them for the legitimate sites. This could deceive them into revealing personal information such as usernames and passwords. It may also deceive users into downloading malware if they believe it’s coming from a trusted site.

We’re also making Gecko plug-in 3.6.16 available for Lunascape 6.4.5, which has the same update. You can download it from the Luna Labs if you prefer to use Gecko engine equivalent to Firefox 3.6 series with Lunascape browser.

Since the release of Lunascape ver.6.4.1, we’ve received some similar issue reports from users. They are to have either 1) an error massage “Failed to load data. Data may be corrupted. This is an invalid XML” after an installation/update or 2) the Gecko download or loading hangs or 3) both. Many of you may not have these issues because they only occur to a certain environment, which runs Windows XP SP3. However, this does not mean all Windows XP SP3 users, who use Lunascape 6.4.1 or later, encounter these issues neither… it’s only some of them.

Our development team has been working on the fix for a while and figured those issues occur to the Lunascape with Gecko 3.6 series. We will be fixing them in a Lunascape 6.5 official release, but meanwhile, we have decided to release Lunascpae 6.4.4 with Gecko 3.5 series to compensate for the issues.

Lunascpae 6.4.4 has Gecko engine that is equivalent to Firefox 3.5.17. If you prefer to stay using Gecko 3.6 series, you may choose not to update to this version, or you can download a Gecko 3.6.14 for Lunascape 6.4.4 from the Luna Labs.

Thanks to many positive feedback on the 6.5 beta. We’ve decided to move the schedule forward and to release Lunascape 6.4.1, which includes most of the new features introduced in the beta, today.

As many of you know, one of the new features is Online Bookmarks that allow you to bring your bookmarks with your iPhone or iPad. You can get access to your Online Bookmarks via iLunascape anytime. Also, you can sync your Online Bookmarks with the Firefox and from both ends using the Firefox Sync or the Lunascape’s Online Sync account. You can learn more on what you can do with the Online Bookmarks in the old entry.

The next major change is a much-anticipated upgrade of the Gecko engine to the Firefox 3.6 series. The 6.4.1 has Gecko version 1.9.2.13 that corresponds to the Firefox version 3.6.13. As a result, we’re temporary closing the ‘choose your own Gecko’ project on the Luna Labs and recommend users to use the upgraded Gecko (Firefox 3.6 series) with Lunascape.

Another change is in the Lunascape Settings dialogue. Some of the options are shuffled around and re-categorized in such a way that hopefully makes more sense to users, for now…. We plan to refresh the appearance and layout of the dialogue in a future release, so your feedback are welcome.

Last but not least, the Lunascape 6.4.1 is one of the first official release that includes translations made by volunteers. Yes, that’s right. Your contributions have made this version more complete! Thank you so much to those volunteers who has made it happen. We’ll create a thank you page on our Web site and list names of the contributors to show our appreciation. Translations made through the Lunascape Localizer will be kept reflected in every releases of Lunascape (the official global version and Europe language versions) from now on. If interested, please register yourself at the Lunascape Localizer.

We’ve also released an update of iLunascape Lite for iPhone (ver. 1.1.2) today. It has the Firefox Sync 1.6 support, so incompatibility between different versions is addressed, and you should have no issue accessing to your Online Bookmarks.

Hope you’ll enjoy this new release of Lunascape 6.4.1 and iLunascape Lite for iPhone 1.1.2.