Related link: http://www.caminobrowser.org

Mac-owning, alternative browser-using webheads, rejoice! Camino has reached 1.0 alpha and we should all celebrate.

Now I might have made one or two raving asides about my ability to switch from one browser to another at a moment’s notice in the past, but that’s all behind me now. Here’s why.

Every time I’ve wanted to switch to a different browser, it’s been because the current one has, for one reason or another, annoyed me. Maybe it’s crashed unexpectedly, maybe it’s taken too long to do something for me, most often it’s because it’s suddenly stopped working with one of my favorite webapps. Either way, it’s usually been something breaking that’s forced me into the welcoming arms of another browser.

But since I went back to Camino with version 0.8.4, nothing of the sort has happened. This wonderful little Cocoa browser has performed like a good app should, always working with whatever sites I want it to work, remaining rock-solid even when I have far too many windows or tabs open, and generally making me a happy web user.

The new alpha comes with the usual warnings about alphas, but I’ve been using it for around 24 hours now with no problems at all. That said, I love the way the coding team have designed 1.0 in such a way that reverting to a previous version is easy. Camino 1.0 keeps prefs files in a different location; when you install it, all your existing prefs are copied to the new place, leaving the old ones untouched if you decide to trash 1.0 and return to 0.8 or 0.9.

Features-wise, Camino 1.0 comes with a lot of good stuff. For me, one of the most welcome additions is the ability to trust a new Certificate Authority. A little thing, I know, but one that will come in useful.

There’s only thing missing from Camino, only one feature that sometimes makes me look with pained eyes at other browsers, and that’s the ability to auto-save the current session. Not that Camino ever crashes on me, losing a bunch of open pages in the process; no, it’s usually because some item on Software Update insists on restarting my machine after installing itself, and I’ve left a bunch of tabs open for later perusal.

But as all Camino fans know, lead developer Mike Pinkerton has taken a job at Google and promised to use his “20% time” working to improve the browser. If there’s ever a chance for features like this to appear, this is it. I can’t wait.

Feel that Camino love, people