Mac pundit John Gruber has written an excellent overview of the current snafu concerning Apple’s new Dashboard and Arlo Rose’s Konfabulator. In his article, Gruber explains the behind the scenes differences of the two pieces of software: “Konfabulator is a self-contained JavaScript runtime engine, using its own JavaScript interpretter. Konfabulator UI layouts are specified in a custom XML format… Dashboard, on the other hand, is based on WebCore, the underlying open source layout and scripting engine behind Safari. Dashboard gadgets are indeed scripted using JavaScript, the same language used by Konfabulator, but Dashboard uses the JavaScript engine that’s built into the system. And for UI layout, Dashboard gadgets are specified using HTML and CSS — using the same rendering engine as Safari.” Gruber also explains why it was in Apple’s best interest not to acquire Konfabulator or its development team.
