Arlo Rose and Perry Clarke have announced Konfabulator, a JavaScript runtime engine for Mac OS X. The software enables users to run “Widgets” — files that “can do pretty much whatever you want them to,” according to the developers. Practical examples include alarm clocks, calculators, AirPort signal strength meters, weather reports and more.
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Konfabulator supports Apple’s Quartz rendering technology. “This allows Widgets to blend fluidly into your desktop without the constraints of traditional window borders,” explained the developers.
Konfabulator hasn’t yet been released. In fact, Clarke and Rose hope to attract the interest of interface mavens, JavaScript experts and developers familiar with other scripting languages, to collaborate on the development of Konfabulator Widgets. Those folks will have a chance to take a sneak peek at the software during a two-month private test cycle.
Rose is no neophyte to themeable interfaces. He worked at Apple on the Appearance Manager and on the third-party utility Kaleidoscope. Clarke comes from the Windows world, where he worked on software including the Mplayer online gaming client.
Rose and Clark anticipate releasing Konfabulator to the public in January 2003. If you’re interested in hopping on early and getting started on Widget creation, you’re encouraged to drop them a line.