XUL Runner First Impressions

Downloaded XUL Runner (mentioned a while back) today to just check it out, and have a few notes. I’m not bashing anyone or the project. They are just things that I feel are incorrect, could be better, places for improvement. It’s not even at it’s first production release. Takes most products several releases to get really good. So it’s already ahead.

• If I launch xulrunner.exe (or os equivalent) I should be prompted to open something, be brought to a shell prompt, told to open a file directly, or something. Nothing is incorrect.
• 5.8MB download isn’t bad. But if I’m making a “Hello World” program, that’s a big download. I think the documentation needs to say the bare minimum needed for a distribution and which files needed for feature X, and feature Y. So that download size can be kept down. I may not need SSL for my app. I don’t want to bundle it.
• Performance is pretty decent. Can’t complain.
• Should recommend developers create a batch file on windows rather than open command prompt and enter commands. It’s just friendlier and shows how it can be used to create an application.
• App #1 should be a Xcode for XUL like App. Think about it. A simple way to manage files, a decent editor, and a simple “build” which bundles things appropriately… it will be a pretty solid platform. Perhaps a good mozdev project.
• Overall totally cool and I’m looking forward to some time to play with it and have some fun.