On January 9, 2017, the WeChat Mini Program was born. Subsequently, Alipay Mini Programs, Today’s Toutiao Mini Programs, Baidu Smart Mini Programs, 360 Mini Programs, etc. have been launched. Since then, the expansion of domestic software functions has entered the era of Mini Programs. Mini Programs have been designed to enrich the functions and usage scenarios of their host software. A lot of contributions have been made, and it is still a popular branch of program development, and this boom has even blown overseas. These small programs rely on their own mobile super App or PC browser and their back-end servers to provide support to run normally.
As the Internet's most core terminal software entry, is there a browser applet? In fact, there are, let me talk about it. Before 2015, there was actually a type of applet similar to the current trendy, but called JAVA Applet. In the early development of the browser, because of its weak functions, it provided a very rich function extension development interface, such as browser plug-in technology represented by ActiveX controls supported by IE and NPAPI plug-ins supported by Chorme/Firefox, etc., for third-party development All kinds of applications running on the browser, these plug-in applications, can also be said to be the originator of small programs. With the rapid development of the Internet, in the TO B market, browser-based B/S (browser/server architecture) information systems have been used because of low development and testing costs, easy deployment and upgrades, and can be used without separate installation. Traditional C/S (client/server) systems have been switched to B/S architecture. For those functions that cannot be directly implemented in the browser, various browser plug-ins have been developed to work with web pages, and even the upper-layer applications of JAVA Applet and Flash based on browser plug-in technology are as numerous as ever. Web games, which have strongly promoted the faster development of the Internet and the rapid construction and use of enterprise information systems, thus winning the trust of customers and cultivating all browser-centric usage habits of users, even with a browser at one time Will replace the operating system.
However, the good times did not last long. Internet Explorer, which was once a monopoly on the market, was constantly abandoned by users because Microsoft was not enterprising and could not respond to the development needs of the Internet in a timely manner. When Chrome became a mainstream browser, browsers including Firefox suffered from insecure and unstable NPAPI plug-ins in 2015. They blocked plug-in technology as a channel to extend browser functions and rely on plug-in technology. The future of the browser applet has since been dimmed. The banning of NPAPI plug-ins this time protects a large number of individual users in name, but it also directly caused the enterprise information system that relied on plug-in technology to not operate normally in the upgraded browser. Therefore, JAVA Applet withdrew from the historical stage. The bank's online banking system, which is known as the gold master, can only tell users to continue using the poorly experienced IE browser or the unupgraded version of the Chrome browser to access. Although Chrome also provides PPAPI plug-in technology as an alternative, its restrictions are extremely strict and cannot meet the needs of corporate users. In addition, browsers such as Firefox do not support it, which has become a tasteless. This is not a PPAPI plug-in for Flash Player. Google announced that it will be completely dead by the end of 2020 in the Chrome browser.
In order to continue to load webpages with ActiveX controls in upgraded browsers such as Chrome, Qihoo has taken the lead in launching a browser that integrates both Chromium and IE kernel to meet the needs of some users. When the upsurge of small programs comes, The release of a small program relying on the 360 browser claims to create a PC-side small program ecosystem. Insiders claim that the market share of the desktop browser in China is about 30%. However, according to the July 2020 desktop browser global market share report released by the survey and statistics agency Netmarketshare, Google Chrome's market share accounted for more than 70% of the market share for the first time, and Microsoft Edge browser with Chromium kernel rose slightly from 7.86% to 8.07 %, Mozilla Firefox also rose from 7.23% to 7.58%. The 360 Mini Program relies on browsers that do not occupy the mainstream market share, and it is difficult to make a big difference. Moreover, Microsoft has begun to make great efforts to promote the Edge browser directly at the operating system level and other channels, and it is bound to be the 360 browser. Market share caused considerable pressure.
Five years have passed since 2015. As a browser plug-in technology that replaces ActiveX and NPAPI, under the general trend of browser developers continuously tightening their extended interfaces and the reality of no unified technical standards, it has almost become Impossible, this has also led to the development of small browser programs that rely on plug-in technology, which has become a castle in the air. However, some people do not believe in evil. No, the founder of Chengdu Zorro Software Co., Ltd., who was once the technical leader of the Sina Weibo mobile client, was obsessed with researching technology. As an older programmer, I continue to lead the team to study and keep devoted to research and development. For several years, even after the difficult period of selling a house to barely maintain the team’s survival, I finally released the cross-browser on July 13, 2020. The small program system of the browser—PlguinOK (niu plug) middleware product, has become a browser function extension tool that replaces ActiveX controls and NPAPI plug-ins. To say a digression, this also proves the market value of older programmers, and hopes to change the discrimination of domestic companies against programmers over 35 years old. Relying on the PlguinOK middleware, the following three types of browser applets can be developed for different business use scenarios:
1). A windowless applet (dll) without interface interaction is implemented as an in-process COM component, which can be used to encapsulate the driver library and Windows API of various hardware devices. This type of applet and PluginOK run in the same service process and have High system access rights, generally cannot access the registry and related configuration of the current desktop login user;
2) Pop-up applet (exe) with interface interaction. This type of applet is a common Win32 executable program, mainly encapsulating the driver controls of printers, scanners, high-speed cameras, etc. to be called by the front-end to pop up similar web pages. Run in the form of a window, with the same permissions as ordinary desktop applications;
3). Embedded webpage window applet (exe) with interface interaction. This type of applet is also a common Win32 executable program, mainly encapsulating ActiveX controls such as video playback and office software for the front end to run in the form of embedded webpages, experience The effect is consistent with the original ActiveX control and NPAPI plug-in.
The release of this middleware has brought good news to the majority of enterprise users. In particular, various hardware manufacturers, office and document management information integrators, industrial software developers, etc., can finally make the original business perfectly support the high version of Chrome , Firefox, Edge and other browsers. When the middleware is released, in order to demonstrate the development of browser applets, sample codes of windowless and pop-up applets in C++ and C# languages are provided. The small program example with embedded webpage window provides Flash Player, IE control and new tab small program case, in which Flash Player can be used to replace the officially released Flash Player PPAPI plug-in to avoid embarrassing things that cannot be used from 2021. The IE applet can implement a program-driven dual-core browser in Chrome, allowing information system developers to determine which web pages need to be loaded with which version of IE kernel, and everything is automatic. This is obviously different from other dual-core browsers currently on the market in that the user manually decides which web pages to load with IE.
Now let's take a look at the features of this browser applet system.
First of all, this middleware uses the world's leading innovative ideas to break through the limitations of existing browsers, allowing the Chinese to achieve major technological innovations in the browser field, instead of just using the open source Chromium kernel as a browser shell . This original technology has also applied for software invention patent protection to avoid imitation and abuse to ensure long-term vitality. As a cross-browser function extension applet system, it does not rely on any browser extension interface at all, so it can achieve a unified compatible operation for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, IE, 360, Oprea, QQ, Sogou and other browsers, completely avoiding Potential risks caused by various browser upgrades;
Secondly, the function is powerful. Through this middleware, the front-end script of the webpage can operate the various hardware of the local computer, call the local system API and various DLL functions, and a large number of mature ActiveX controls and automation programs (such as Microsoft and Kingsoft Office Software, AutoCAD industrial software, etc.) can continue to be embedded into the web page to continue running, making the browser almost omnipotent;
In addition, good compatibility is not only reflected in the compatible operation of many browsers, whether it is a 32-bit or 64-bit system or browser can work normally, the operating system can run in Windows XP at least, The latest version of Windows 10 is naturally stress-free, and the server system can support Windows Server 2008 at least. As the screen becomes larger and the resolution becomes higher and higher, the system desktop often uses 125%, 150%, etc., to display and zoom in and run, and PluginOK middleware is also compatible.
Finally, everyone must have this question. Since the browser has cancelled the original plug-in technical support for security and instability reasons, will Google, Microsoft and other companies block small program systems such as PluginOK? The answer is unlikely. First of all, the application scenario of this middleware is mainly in the enterprise field. The small programs developed need to undergo rigorous testing before being deployed to the enterprise IT network. Enterprise customers are not allowed to have viruses or Trojan horses in the small programs. Features; Secondly, PluginOK strictly restricts the running authority of the applet. PluginOK only allows authorized applets to run; again, the operation of the applet is independent of the browser process and will not cause the browser The occurrence of insecure or unstable situations is not harmful to the browser itself, but greatly expands the application scenarios of the browser, making the browser one step further away from the dream of replacing the operating system; finally, PluginOK's applet does not need to rely on browsing It is issued by the server of the developer of the device, so naturally there is no need to be responsible for the running results of these small programs. So how to distribute the applet? In the architecture of PluginOK, the enterprise has the right to be completely independent and controllable. It only needs to register with the publisher of PluginOK to obtain authorization during the development phase, and then publish and use it on the corporate network by itself, without connecting to an external network. .