Freeware Browser for Pocket PC 2002

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.af.wakwak.com/~ftoshi/pocket/index_e.html">http://www.af.wakwak.com/~ftoshi/pocket/index_e.html</a><br /><br />There is a new freeware browser for Pocket PC 2002 devices called ftxPBrowser. It supports multiple windows and the ability to save an image to a file. I've not had a chance to play with it yet but those that send in the link say it is a good alternative to Pocket IE.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2003/20030301-ftxpbrowser.jpg" /><br /><br />There are free <a href="http://www.af.wakwak.com/~ftoshi/cgi-bin/aska_ii.cgi">support forums</a> available to discuss the product as well.

[Daimaou]

Happy to see this soft here ! :wink:

and indeed it really ROCK ! 55k and so fast ! once the page is loaded the scrolling is AMAZING !

[Paragon]

I just downloaded it and gave it a go.....It's really just an addon from what I can tell. If you want a free way of opening multiple pages this will do it for you. The save to file is a nice little touch. Other than that it's PIE. It doesn't seem to be compatible with my task swither.....no X shows up to close it, so it took me a bit of maneuvering. Keep in mind it is a beta so who knows where this may end up.
Dave

[rudolph]

I agree with Paragon... this is just an add-on for pie... kind of like those "browers" for the desktop that are really just ie with their own interface.

Pages render exactly the same as pie with this browser. From what I can tell, the only diference is that it supports multiple windows. It really isn't faster than pie, in renderng.. in fact, it's slower (accordimy stopwatch). NetFront renders pages faster than both pie and this freeware browser

The best brower IMO is Netfront (I've never used TunderHawck tho)... I just wish NetFront supported clertype

Anyway, this is only version 0.1, so it can only get better

[sponge]

I never had much success with NetFront. It's a nice browser, but it brought my device to it's knees many many times. Thunderhawk is awesome (there's a 30 day trial) but I can't really afford it's price, and it too essentially takes over your system while in use.

[iPaqDude]

I had the same story with NetFront as Sponge did. ThunderHawk is good but pricy. I'm going to give this a whirl and see what it does - add-on or not, it has got to help the functionality of pie (which should be an embarrassment to Microsoft....).

[Kaber]

....no X shows up to close it, so it took me a bit of ...
Dave

From the menu, View/Exit

[egoz]

From my vic20/c64 foundations, the whole fractured browser market, or increasing that discord of compliancy to standards, is merely revisiting that era. Returning to that type of mentality in our modern os (the browser) is to repeat the tech development mistakes of the past.

An open source IE would solve this fractured browser trend once and for all, undercutting the others' steam. Hey, if Gore won, Justice would have probably nationalized IE. ;-)

I, for one, embrace the MS Hegemony, its just easier.

.rob adams

[Kaber]

we are borg :twisted:

[Paragon]

....no X shows up to close it, so it took me a bit of ...
Dave

From the menu, View/Exit

Hmmm, I must be going blind! I looked there. I must've missed it. Thanks.

Dave

[johnm]

NetFront all the way!

After getting it properly configured it rocks. I browse with tables turned off, word wrap on, and a modified browser ID tag so sites think I'm a full size computer. Seriously after 1 1/2 years with WiFi for my PPC I never did any serious surfing until I got NetFront.

[PJE]

Hi,

I just tried out ftxPBrowser for viewing Mazingo off-line content (with graphics off) and it is MUCH faster at loading the pages [EDIT: than PIE]. It's as though it displays the first screen full of image as soon as it's generated instead of waiting for the whole page.

I can't comment on load times - I'll try it with my Wi-Fi card when I get a chance, but it makes a great (and small) off-line reader.

It needs a little tidying up, but I have already remapped my PIE button to it!

My 2c

PJE

[ExtremeSIMS]

I enjoyed using Opera on my Zaurus (I also enjoyed just writing scripts to download offline content, but that's another story). I ought to bug the dev team at work and see if there could be a Moz/Netscape Lite for Pocket PC. Perhaps someone out there would port Safari to Pocket PC 2000 - it's fast, light, and slick.

&lt;/rambling>

[Kaber]

I was gonna post from inside the browser... no dice.

Posting this from pocket IE.

But I still like it. Nice to have alongside pIE.

[denivan]

Imo Netfront is really great, it's the only way for comfortably browsing this site's forums without forking over 50 USD a year. Using this on a gprs connection gives a pretty pleasing mobile browsing experience .

Ivan

[Brad Adrian]

For me, just the ability to save an image to a file might be worth using this add-in. Unless anybody knows of any other PIE add-ins that will allow that...?

[ux4484]

NetFront all the way!
and a modified browser ID tag so sites think I'm a full size computer.

yea......my trial just ran out, I think I'm gonna fork for Netfront, but I don't like that it doesn't wrap forum text entry boxes and goes off screen as you type.

Might I ask what was involved in modifying the ID tag?

I tried ftxpBrowser today, it needs evolving, but for free, what do you want.

I did not like Thunderhawk at all, it locked me up more than a few times requiring a soft reset to clear.

Future licenced Netfront user here :D

[dean_shan]

I was gonna post from inside the browser... no dice.

I couldn't get it to work either. Oh well. This is a nice program. I have wanted a free multiple window browser for a long time. It's not perfect but it is pretty nice.

[PJE]

The speed difference I thought I saw was probably an illusion, I seem to have just donwloaded simpler pages than previously and they open as quickly (without graphics) in PIE...

I still think this program has a place, and may in a few intterations become something everyone should have.

[cgavula]

I'm probably one of the few people who don't like Thunderhawk.

To start - it isn't completely stable on my Ipaq.

I hate the way you enter a URL or data. You can't simply hit the return at the end of the entry - you MUST press the OK button.

The exit is hidden inside the key entry menu.

You have to go through the inital startup menu just to start using the program - I haven't seen a way to set a home page.

On-screen dropdown menus (on a page) often hang up.

I can't tell you how many times I've had to tell the page to reload because it sort of hung up before completely rendering, especially if you try to scroll before a page is done loading.

Scrolling is perhaps the most painful part of it. PIE and NetFront may be slower, but at least they load the whole page. I'll bet if you add up all the time waiting for Thunderhawk scrolls you'll find the whole page takes longer to load in Thunderhawk.

So, in general, it's lots of little counter-intuitive things in it's design that stand in the way of a smooth, pleasant browsing experience.

I guess it's also the idea that you have to pay for using something that's free on other platforms. I don't mean that you shouldn't pay for browsers - but the idea of paying for Internet service (through your ISP) and then paying for a browsing service on top really annoys me.

Again - I'm probably one on the few that isn't impressed with this product - but I've seen plenty of proxy solutions on plenty of platforms, and Thunderhawk just isn't one of the more impressive or useable ones to me.

It is interesting to me though that Bitstream finally found something practical to do with their legacy in fonts, but unfortunately that doesn't necessarily lead to good interface design or stability.

--Chris

[johnm]

Might I ask what was involved in modifying the ID tag?

Future licenced Netfront user here :D

Only the registered version lets you change the tag. It remembers the stock one however so that you can switch back and forth if you need to. The ID tag I'm using:

Mozilla/4.0 (PDA; Windows NT 5.0/5.0) MSIE 6.0/6.0

[Buddha]

I agree, the thunderhawk idea of paying another 'ISP' on top of your regular one just to browse 'sucks'. It is kind of logical that you have to pay to use the service since they have costs aswel but still i don't like the overhead. What I'd much rather see is that thunderhawk bundled the proxy software (maybe optional) they use so that you can install it on your own server and surf via your own chosen server without the whole added subscription thing.

[Kaber]

Oh I think if you de-select the open in new tab icon before you hit submit it will let you post

I read that on the bbs for the browser

right here (33) (http://www.af.wakwak.com/~ftoshi/cgi-bin/aska_ii.cgi)