In my release statement of ScreenGrab earlier today I noted how most of my time for the past several months has been devoted to a secret project. Well this secret project has gained so much support from those testing it and it contains such a good toolbox of features that I am making a public announcement for those interested in testing it. The application is known as “Textual” and is an attempt at simplifying IRC on Mac OS X. The purpose of it was not to outdo the competition, but instead to improve on the other clients currently available. Major focuses were placed on performance and stability.

The client itself is a highly modified version of the open source project known as LimeChat. The user interface is tailored towards users that have used darker themes of the Windows IRC client mIRC. The design of the client is mostly based around the open standard of WebKit which means it can be themed using CSS and JavaScript. Further customization options are still in the works, but it will be some time until they are fully integrated. It comes with one default theme which is a port of work done by Ben Alman.

I would like to note that Textual is still considered beta as some features have yet to be implemented to make it a full release, but I feel that it has come far enough that it is ready for mainstream testing. Since this is a beta those familiar with reporting hazards and crashes should be the the primary group using it. There also daily updates which means those who use it should be fine with the idea of constant updating.

Documentation and more information will be made available when the client is ready for use by everybody, but that is not the case right now. Therefore, if you are not comfortable with testing it and using it, do not. Textual can be downloaded over at the website for Codeux Software. Codeux Software is the name under which Textual will be released as it is intended to be more than a hobby application.

Ever since the first public beta release of Google Chrome (Chromium) was published I have been interested in the project. It took a little time to get used to but I have made Chromium my primary browser. After switching to Mac OS X nearly two years ago I used Safari as my primary browser. I personally have nothing against Safari, but in comparisons that I have conducted Chromium feels less sluggish on page rendering. The better performance was large factor when it came to my decision to make the move.

When making the decision to switch I also considered the use of Firefox and Opera. During the time that I used Ubuntu Debain as my operating system prior to moving to Mac OS X I used Opera for everything, but like Firefox it feels heavy on Mac OS X. I know that several of my friends use Firefox as their primary browser, but when I tried to use it, it took several seconds to open even when it was not a cold boot. It could just be how I have it configured or that my Mac is slow, but it is not something that I desire.

Not much more to say. I will announce if any changes happen that may result in me switching back, but for now I am happy.