| Origyn Web Browser | |
|---|---|
 OWB running onAROS showing Wikipedia | |
| Developers | Sand-labs, Fabien Coeurjoly |
| Stable release | 1.25 (AROS only)[1] 1.23r4 (AmigaOS 4 only)[2] 1.24 (15 April 2014; 11 years ago (2014-04-15)[3]) [±] |
| Written in | C++[4] |
| Operating system | AmigaOS,AROS,MorphOS |
| Available in | 12 |
| Type | Web browser |
| License | BSD-3-Clause |
| Website | http://fabportnawak.free.fr/owb/ |
Origyn Web Browser (OWB) is a discontinuedweb browser that was synchronized withWebKit and sponsored by the technology company Pleyo. OWB provides a meta-port to an abstract platform with the aim of making porting toembedded or lightweight systems faster and easier.[5][6] This port is used for embedded devices such asset-top boxes, and other consumer electronics.[7][8][9]
OWB has also found popularity on theAmigaOS-like operating systems. Current versions includeAmigaOS,[10][11]AROS[12] andMorphOS[13] official ports.
When Sand-labs disappeared, MorphOS developer Fabien Coeurjoly took over and eventually renamed project toOdyssey Web Browser when it did not have any original Sand-labs code left.
Created in 2006 by Pleyo, Origyn Web Browser (OWB) was a "meta-port" of theWebKit engine optimized for embedded systems via an abstraction layer (OWBAL).[citation needed] It gained prominence in theAmiga community when developer Fabien Coeurjoly ported it toMorphOS, eventually evolving it into theOdyssey Web Browser.[14] In June 2025, the project saw a significant revival forAmigaOS 4 andAROS, upgrading to WebKit 2.32.4 to support modern platforms likeDiscord.[15] Late 2025 updates to 64-bit AROS further enabled 64-bitJIT compilation, drastically improving performance on modern x86 hardware.[16]
Milestone versions of Origyn Web Browser:
Announced:
OWB is a web browser optimized forconsumer electronics (CE) devices andembedded system, such asmobile phones,portable media players,set-top boxes (STB) and TV decoders, and various other consumer electronic products such asGPS, home-gateways, Web-radios,digital video recorder (PVR),DVD recorders,wireless devices, etc.
OWB is based on Webkit by Apple, and its ease of porting is based upon abrowser abstraction layer called OWBAL. The existence of this abstraction layer architecture dramatically eases the task of integrating OWB in CE devices, resulting in fast and easy implementation on target platforms. The aim of the abstraction layer is to allow CE software producers to leverage extant libraries, instead of needing to port the browser and its full set of dependencies.
OWBAL abstraction is based on interfaces, which are described through abstract classes, and these classes contain only pure virtual methods. No default implementation is allowed.
OWB supports fullCascading Style Sheet (CSS) 2.1, CSS3 support, styleable form controls, enhanced rich text editing,XML technologies,XPath (GTK port),SVG (partial SVG 1.1 full) (GTK port,Qt port and Amiga port),XSLT processor,JavaScript API forXSLT,MathML, notifications, SquirrelFish Extreme (SFX) on x86,HTML5.
OWB featuresNetscape-style (NPAPI)plug-ins (GTK and MorphOS ports) including support formplayer,Adobe Flash Player and DiamondX.
The browser can passAcid2 test with a 100% evaluation on all ports andAcid3 test with a 99% evaluation on SDL port and a 100% evaluation on ports for GTK, Qt, Amiga, and MorphOS.
It features also accessibility support and support for cross document messaging, databases, datagrid, dom storage, filtera, geolocation, icon database, offline web application,server-sent events, sharedWorker video/audio, WebSockets, Worker and 3D support.
Platform graphics engines include GTK, Qt, SDL,Cairo withMagic User Interface and Win32 (not yet public).
The font engine used isFreetype.
OWB is alsoPOSIX compliant.
Origyn can handle threads (withPthreads) and supports GTK, Qt anduClibc.
Odyssey Web Browser is probably the most mature of the Amiga and Amigalike-OS ports, as it has a download manager and much of the other UI features of a modern browser already separately added by its developer. Version 1.6 (December 2009) sportsAdobe FlashSWF player plug-in based onSwfdec,[17] version 1.6.1 has been integrated with web profiling and debugging tool called Webinspector. Since version 1.7 (March 2010), Odyssey supports alsoHTML5 tags and media content throughFFmpeg.[4][18]
MorphOS release of OWB is also distributed in aLite version for the minimal computer motherboardEfika.
The following are several screenshots showing the various features of OWB.
