Windows Mobile and Opera Mobile 9.5

[Pete Paxton]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://mobilitysite.com/2008/05/windows-mobile-and-opera-mobile-95/' target='_blank'>http://mobilitysite.com/2008/05/win...pera-mobile-95/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>&quot;IMHO, Opera Mobile 9.5 is even better than the iPhone&rsquo;s Safari browser because I can perform functions like text selection, copy and paste, manage passwords, and save or send images from a web page. The only pages that found incompatible so far are Google Docs. I was able to view spreadsheets in Google Docs, but not word processing documents. I could not edit either though, but since I don&rsquo;t use Google Docs very much it isn&rsquo;t a concern for me. One major improvement is that I can now access the custom WordPress ZDNet blog management page. With Opera Mobile 9.5 and the HTC Advantage I can perform blogging on the go with a single ultra mobile device.&quot;</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/zt/auto/1211301995.usr11642.jpg" border="1" alt="" /></p><p>Another comparison to the iPhone. This time it's a browser war. So those of you who own an iPhone and a Windows Mobile device, which browser is your favorite? Is Opera indeed better than Safari as the article suggests? If one is better, how much better is it and why? Is one more stable? Better formatting? Less limitations? I look forward to reading your results.</p>

[decodergrizzly]

Opera mobile 9.5 definitely looks very promising, but until opera decides to actually release a public beta, we (regular people) won't be able to compare the two.

[wmm]

I'm really looking forward to giving Opera 9.5 a try. I've been using the Skyfire beta for a couple of weeks now and really like it a lot, so it will be interesting to compare the experience between the two. Has anyone had a chance to use both already? If so, any observations?

[decodergrizzly]

I've been using the Skyfire browser for a few weeks as well, and while it works fairly well, it's a bit slow for my tastes (i use it over wifi), especially in page rendering while zooming in/out. Because of this, Opera Mini 4 is still my default mobile browser (blazing fast!). I'm hoping Opera mobile 9.5 keeps up that track record.

[John Cody]

What is the deal with opera mobile?

Here they are talking about opera mobile 9.5, when it looks like a 9.0 version was never released! When you go to the download page, only version 8.65 is availible :(

Why talk about a version 9.5 when 9.0 was never released?

[adamz]

I've used both Opera 9.5 (http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=news&id=5109) and Skyfire (http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=reviews&id=1037). They both render pages okay, but the GUI's are extremely annoying... probably because I like to use a keyboard to navigate Windows Mobile... which is not possible with either programs. Pocket Internet Explorer on WM 6.1 (http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=reviews&id=1050&p=2) is a much better user interface, but it's still the slow PIE renderer.

[alese]

9.5 is a good browser, but it's not that perfect.
The fact that it doesn't run Google docs is not a problem for me, but unfortunatelly it doesn't do a good job with iGoogle also - it shows, but most of the applets that I use don't display or display poorly...
If you ad that to the fact that it doesn't really support Flash (like usuall) you get a much better internet experience than with PIE (that is easy) or Opera 8.6, but still not great.
Also I still have a feeling that iPhone and it's safary work better, but maybe this is more due to the fact that I have beta version of opera and that my device (HTC P3600) is qVGA only and not that new - I guess with VGA on diamond it should be much better...

[indiekiduk]

I tried the Opera 9.5 beta and found the black theme ugly, and it a bit slow to use. I didn't like how for zooming there is only 2 levels. In my mind the iPhone browser is the king of the mobile browsers, it's clear rendering speed and ease of use were top priority in its design. Its blindly fast and renders pages exactly as they appear on a desktop. Zooming to a column of text with a double tap is great or use the pinch zoom to manually adjust the zoomed view. The tabs are the best designed implementation I have ever seen, you get 8 thumbnails you can flick between. It also does RSS feeds. Also, well this is more to do with the sheer performance of the iphone, but click a URL in any application, like an email, and Safari opens and loads the page instantly, I mean within a second. WM browsers are just too slow, well WM is too slow, that is the problem.

[yslee]

Will Opera just release a damn beta already?

I have an iPod touch and it has its weakness too. Safari doesn't do too well on heavy AJAX/JS sites. Pages it chokes on Opera 8.65 can render it successfully.

[Jason Lee]

From what i've seen looks like we are going to loose a lot of features and options that were available in 8.65. :(

Where is the option to identify the browser as mobile or desktop browser? I usually leave it set to mobile because it is faster in most cases. I only change to desktop browser string if something doesn't work.

All kinds of other things seem missing too. I don't think i really care for the new UI. Version 8.x felt like a web browser.. this thing is just weird.
Hopefully it will become a much more powerful browser before it is released. Now it doesn't seem much different than opera mini. I actually thing mini has more options. :(

Not good.

[Sheena]

Can't really comment on the comparison since I've never used Safari, but does anyone know if it's possible to upgrade a built-in version of Opera? My Advantage came with 8.65 & it would be nice to get the latest. As it is, it's better than PIE (what isn't?), althought I wish it had the features of my desktop Maxthon, especially the filter for ads!

[Menneisyys]

I'm really looking forward to giving Opera 9.5 a try. I've been using the Skyfire beta for a couple of weeks now and really like it a lot, so it will be interesting to compare the experience between the two. Has anyone had a chance to use both already? If so, any observations?



Sure I have, and I've even published a (technical) comparison (I really recommend following the Software forum here, where I post these articles), emphasizing the advantages / disadvantages of each approach. See http://forums.thoughtsmedia.com/showthread.php?t=89208

Note that it isn't a ful review of 9.5, just a comparison - and also builds on what I've elaborated on in my W3C presentation.

[buzzard]

From what i've seen looks like we are going to loose a lot of features and options that were available in 8.65. :(

Where is the option to identify the browser as mobile or desktop browser? I usually leave it set to mobile because it is faster in most cases. I only change to desktop browser string if something doesn't work.

All kinds of other things seem missing too. I don't think i really care for the new UI. Version 8.x felt like a web browser.. this thing is just weird.
Hopefully it will become a much more powerful browser before it is released. Now it doesn't seem much different than opera mini. I actually thing mini has more options. :(

Not good.

I couldn't agree more.

I tried this on my hx2795 until it froze the unit (thank you Sprite) but I knew that could happen when I started. What I saw I did not like and I hope this isn't representative of the final version. The font had three settings, micro dot's that were so small they weren't legible (who is going to use this setting?), not too bad and too big. All in all, I wasn't impressed with an upgrade that seems like it's been in development for a long, long time.

[Jason Lee]

man.. I've had a bit more time to play with it and I like it even less.
There is no longer an option ti import your IE favorites. That is where I maintain all my links then just import them to opera... Horrible.. I hope that maybe they just aren't finished and haven't added this function yet.

Also.. NO scrolling with the d-pad or scrol wheel. the ONLY way to scroll this thing is with a finger or your stylus. What am i supposed to do when using my nice Boxwave aluminum hard case with the plexiglass covering the screen??

Not looking good for 7 years in development...

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Why talk about a version 9.5 when 9.0 was never released?

As it was explained to me, the reason for the jump in version numbering was to keep track with the desktop version, which has gone from 9.0 to 9.27, and for which the 9.5 beta is already out.

As for availability, what's out right now are evaluation versions for reviewers and versions ripped from pending device ROMs. I'm a bit dubious about the legality of using the latter.

[John Cody]

As it was explained to me, the reason for the jump in version numbering was to keep track with the desktop version, which has gone from 9.0 to 9.27, and for which the 9.5 beta is already out.

As for availability, what's out right now are evaluation versions for reviewers and versions ripped from pending device ROMs. I'm a bit dubious about the legality of using the latter.

Ah - thats for that info ;)

[schmenge]

man.. I've had a bit more time to play with it and I like it even less.
There is no longer an option ti import your IE favorites. That is where I maintain all my links then just import them to opera... Horrible.. I hope that maybe they just aren't finished and haven't added this function yet.

Also.. NO scrolling with the d-pad or scrol wheel. the ONLY way to scroll this thing is with a finger or your stylus. What am i supposed to do when using my nice Boxwave aluminum hard case with the plexiglass covering the screen??

Not looking good for 7 years in development...


Dpad works for me, however I am still underwhelmed. But I try and remember that this is a Diamond specific build and not even general beta. So I'm hopeful. :)