For those who have never had the pleasure, Camino is an open source browser based on the same Gecko rendering engine as Firefox, but built to integrate much better with Mac OS X. Right out of the box Camino has a much more Mac look and feel, and under the hood it has integrated better with Mac OS X by doing things like storing web passwords in the Mac OS X Keychain (a centralized, secured and backup-friendly database where all Mac OS X apps store passwords). With the release of Camino 1.5, new features and even more integration can be had, such as:
- The spell checking feature now uses the built-in, system-wide Mac OS X dictionary for checking spelling and storing custom words
- Storing passwords in the Keychain now fully integrates with Safari, allowing both browsers to recognize, store and share the same password entries
- Session saving ensures your tabs and windows are restored right back to where you left them, even after a crash
- Feed detection allows Camino to pass RSS feeds on to your default reader
- A more powerful and obvious pop-up blocking system, giving you control over whether you show pop-ups from a specific site once, always or never
- The ability to trash downloaded files directly from the Downloads Manager window
While Camino doesn't support Firefox's popular extensions, it does have a healthy plug-in community at PimpMyCamino for those who might still need a little extra oomph from the open source, Mozilla-based browser. Camino 1.5 can be had from CaminoBrowser.org.
