Meebo got a facelift back in October, but I didn’t have the time to update my Chromeless Meebo Browser at the time. I found some time this weekend to sit down and figure out what needed doing, and went ahead and did it!

The new version doesn’t really have any new features compared to the previous one: It supports the new meebo interface better, it has a new tray icon menu, with some new options. The biggest change is that most of the code is now written in JavaScript loaded off my server. This means that it’s much easier to change, and to deploy directly to all you guys. It also means it’s easier for someone else to pick up a pre-compiled copy, change a few config settings, and start tweaking the source for themself (i.e. no need to recompile the .Net code)

As time allows, I will be adding new features, but for now enjoy!

(oh, the Mozilla control doesn’t support nearly enough methods to make this version work correctly, so it’s back to IE for now . If you’ve been using the ClickOnce installer with the Mozilla control and want to keep using Mozilla, then you’ll need to download the offline version of v6)

I’ve previously commented that I was working on Mozilla rendering support for my Chromeless Meebo Browser, well now it’s here.

To enable it you will need my upgraded version of the Mozilla ActiveX Control (As usual all the required files are in the distribution folder). Source diff is attached to bugzilla bug 340277.

You will need to hand edit the configuration file to change the Engine setting from Microsoft to Mozilla. If you’re using ClickOnce to launch the Meebo Browser, then you can find the configuration file under ‘C:\Documents and Settings\YourName\Local Settings\Apps\2.0\RandomId\RandomId\Somewhere’, just look for the lastest configuration file you can find and edit that one. I am planning to add a sort of configuration window to be able to change these settings from the frontend, once I’m happy that everything is working well.

Known Issues:

• There seems to be a problem with getting the cursor to appear in the text boxes so that you can log into you IM account. The work around is to swap to another application (even Notepad), and then back to MeeboBrowser – sometimes I’ve had to do this two or three times to get the cursor to appear.
• The tab key gets swallowed often, making it almost impossible to use.
• Tooltips don’t show.
• Clicked links don’t launch in a new browser window. (You can right click and select ‘Open’, but then you’re logged out of Meebo )

These are all caused by bugs and missing code in the Mozilla ActiveX Control. If you’d like to help out, please don’t hesitate.

Update (Aug 28): I’ve created a Chromeless Meebo changelog page.

My chromeless meebo proof-of-concept got an upgrade this weekend (now at version 0.5). It’s been fully upgraded to .Net 2.0, which means that there are no more external dependancies. Also included are:

• Saving of preferences.
• Single clicking on the tray icon only toggles the buddy list – To toggle all Meebo windows, use double click.
• Tooltips no longer rotate when you recieve a message from a contact – They appear once only.
• ClickOnce magic – This means you can ‘install’ Meebo Browser via a web interface, and updates happen automagically.
• Splash Screen – With an AJAX loading widget provided by Ajaxload.

So you can take it for a test drive right now if you have the .Net 2.0 Framework installed (the ClickOnce page should detect if you don’t – and prompt you to install it). If you’re a Firefox user, then you might want to install FFClickOnce to ‘enable’ ClickOnce functionality correctly in Firefox.

Update (Aug 28): I’ve created a Chromeless Meebo changelog page. It will always have a link to the latest version.

Launching Meebo in a “chromeless” window has been a feature request for many Meebo users since almost day one. Unfortunately because of the way web pages work, Meebo can’t really do this. There is a work around though. Using window transparency it’s possible to get 99% of the way there.

A week or so ago I threw together a quick proof-of-concept, it’s now at build 3, and ready enough that I’m happy that ‘real users’ can test it. It requires the .Net 1.1 framework, and Internet Explorer to be installed. Depending on what hardware you have it could run fast or slow. There’s not much to tweak because all the heavy lifting is done by the OS.

Grab a copy of Meebo Browser today! (Source included, patches welcome!)

Notes: It can sometimes take a while before the Meebo log in page is visible, just give it time. Use the system tray icon to change auto-on-top, and display of the ‘you are currently connected’ text, and exit Meebo (after you’ve logged off). If you click the icon it will bring the Meebo window to the front, clicking it repeatedly will hide and show the Meebo window. You can edit the Meebo.exe.config file to change the defaults too.

Update (Mar 26): If you get an error about “Microsoft.mshtml” missing, you need to install the Office 2003 Primary Interop Assemblies.

Update (May 28): An updated .Net 2.0 build is now available.