STABLE version -- 4.2.10.171

[AnakhaSilver]

Users who like the directwrite feature are fanatical about it. Personally, I couldn't care less. The bookmark stuff is cool, but if it's also hard to maintain, get rid of it.

You say you plan to offer a Cent Lite version, so why not start doing that now? Gut these features which cause delays, so you can offer a more rapid release schedule. Then you can release more full featured builds sporadically, like you have been.

TBH for me it's not that I'm fanatical, it's that I literally get migraines without it (as do others, which is why we pushed back so hard when Chrome removed it). So my choices are basically a dwindling "Use Firefox or be unable to use the net" and Firefox has routinely hated me. :T

[rch]

TBH for me it's not that I'm fanatical, it's that I literally get migraines without it (as do others, which is why we pushed back so hard when Chrome removed it). So my choices are basically a dwindling "Use Firefox or be unable to use the net" and Firefox has routinely hated me. :T

I'm sure many users sympathize with you, including me. The problem is, if trying to keep a deprecated feature is causing so much trouble for everything else, it may have to be moved onto a "slow ring", for want of a better term, or removed completely. Apart from that browser I linked to earlier that makes changes to Direct Write without actually disabling it, I don't know of any other Chromium browser that hasn't had to let it go. Now the devs have admitted it's a major problem, it's no surprise everyone else has dropped and forgotten about Direct Write.

This dual browser approach mentioned could satisfy everyone to a degree. Those that must have Direct Write or the troublesome bookmark features have a browser with full knowledge they will have a very slow update schedule, everyone else has the other version with much faster updates. I hope Cent's idea of a Lite version is more along those lines and not with most of the functions that make it so good ripped out.

Whether the Cent devs have the resources to develop and maintain two separate versions is another matter and only something they can answer...

[Admini]

Thanks for actually opening up a little bit to give us more detail on some of the features causing delays.

If Direct Write is such a major issue, it may be painful to hear but I think some users might have to accept it may have to be dropped at some point in the future. It's probably why every other Chromium dev has dropped support for it, these "legacy" functions can't stay around forever. Advanced Chrome is interesting because it doesn't disable Direct Write but changes font rendering to supposedly make it look better. https://browser.taokaizen.com/chrome-directwrite/

Perhaps the bookmark options causing trouble can be slimmed down to some degree or taken out for the time being and reworked or reintroduced later on? I don't know who uses what bookmark functions but maybe if everyone knew what the problematic options were, and understood the issues, they'd be OK with any changes?

Nobody likes to see features removed from software, but sometimes you have to take a few steps back to start going forward again...

In fact we have already adopted the patches from Advanced Chrome, but it is not enough for MacType users.
They still needs the Disabling DirectWrite flag to make MacType work smoothly.

[AnakhaSilver]

I CAN say that Advanced Chrome is perfectly readable and not headache-inducing to me so. It's likely the blurry text on vanilla Chrome giving me migraines.

[rch]

In fact we have already adopted the patches from Advanced Chrome, but it is not enough for MacType users.
They still needs the Disabling DirectWrite flag to make MacType work smoothly.

How many people are actually using MacType, i would guess it's a tiny amount?? 

The Advanced Chrome patches seem to work for some users that require Direct Write (AnakhaSilver being one), so if it's a small minotiry who require it for MacType, you have to decide whether all this trouble it's causing is worth it.r.

[futureken1]

How many people are actually using MacType, i would guess it's a tiny amount?? 

The Advanced Chrome patches seem to work for some users that require Direct Write (AnakhaSilver being one), so if it's a small minotiry who require it for MacType, you have to decide whether all this trouble it's causing is worth it.r.

Including myself, I believe there are still tons of users, especially in the Chinese environment treat MacType as a must-have, and "Disabling DirectWrite" can be the only reason they are still sticking with Cent. I also tried with Advanced Chrome, there is still a day and night difference with the text rendering of Chinese characters compare with Cent with DirectWrite disabled + Mactype.

And there are 10x more replies in the Chinese forum who are telling the devs how eagerly they are waiting for the update every day. Have a LITE branch can be helpful for some users, but could also delay the main update, it all depends on how much resources our dear developers have.

[rch]

Including myself, I believe there are still tons of users, especially in the Chinese environment treat MacType as a must-have, and "Disabling DirectWrite" can be the only reason they are still sticking with Cent. I also tried with Advanced Chrome, there is still a day and night difference with the text rendering of Chinese characters compare with Cent with DirectWrite disabled + Mactype.

And there are 10x more replies in the Chinese forum who are telling the devs how eagerly they are waiting for the update every day. Have a LITE branch can be helpful for some users, but could also delay the main update, it all depends on how much resources our dear developers have.

And there is the problem, you say many Chinese people will be using MacType and then they are eagerly awaiting updates. It's becoming more evident all the time that having both is simply not possible anymore because each time a Chromium update appears, it gets harder to implement Direct Write into Cent. All the big Chromium based browsers like Vivaldi, Brave, and Opera have all had to drop Direct Write, and they have far more resources available to them.

I don't want to see any features removed in an ideal world, but it looks like Cent is coming to a fork in the road. They can remove Direct Write and the troublesome Bookmark options which will upset some and make others happy. They can keep them and probably make the update schedule even worse, which makes no-one happy. Or they can have the Lite version option which will please the most users but stretches their already limited resources and makes their job more difficult...

[AnakhaSilver]

I feel the problem is that they simply have too much on their plate. It's not that it's all that HARD overall, it's just that there's a lot of work. You know? If they'd take volunteers...

[rch]

I feel the problem is that they simply have too much on their plate. It's not that it's all that HARD overall, it's just that there's a lot of work. You know? If they'd take volunteers...

How do you know it's not hard overall? How many Chromium based browsers are out there and how many of those still have the direct Write option?

It's obviously not a simple thing to implement or many browsers would have it. Vivaldi, Opera, Brave and others have huge amounts more resources compared to Cent, and yet not one of them is able to keep Direct Write, even after it being requested multiple times. Ask yourself why.

It's obviously become a very difficult thing to keep adding and I'm guessing if gets more difficult with every new Chromium version. Sooner or later it could reach a point where it's just not possible anymore, volunteers or not.

[AnakhaSilver]

How do you know it's not hard overall? How many Chromium based browsers are out there and how many of those still have the direct Write option?

It's obviously not a simple thing to implement or many browsers would have it. Vivaldi, Opera, Brave and others have huge amounts more resources compared to Cent, and yet not one of them is able to keep Direct Write, even after it being requested multiple times. Ask yourself why.

My guess would be this has become a difficult thing to keep adding and it gets harder with every new Chromium version. Sooner or later it will probably reach a point where it's just not possible anymore, volunteers or not.

Because other browsers don't CARE. They have bigger teams, but are more committed to other features and just plain don't care about DirectWrite and see no problem with it being removed.

Meanwhile, Cent has a team of LITERALLY THREE PEOPLE. So yeah, methinks all the delays correlate directly to having too few people bearing the load of building and updating a browser.