Menneisyys
05-04-2005, 07:20 PM
Browsers for the Pocket PC from a WM2003SE user's perspective
The built-in broser application, Pocket Internet Explorer (PIE) is, to put it mildly, far from perfect. If only the tenth of the knowledge and capabilities of its desktop (Windows) brother would be present, all would be very happy.
Its clearly the biggest problem is the lack of the ability of browsing multiple pages at the same time. All of the alternatives and/or plug-ins (programs that integrate into PIE) address this problem. And, it has a lot of other problems too - some can be addressed in a plug-in, some (for example, the stretching or the wide-table-problem (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/index.php?topic_id=39544) or the lack of decent JavaScript support) don't. This is why alternative browsers (not just PIE plug-ins) have to be paid special attention to.
NetFront ( http://nfppc.access.co.jp/english/ ) is the most widely known alternative browser. It has recently been upgraded to version 3.2, which lacks a lot of problems present in earlier versions. Version 3.2 still only has a Japanese version, but Access, the manufacturer, has recently promised the English version will follow soon.
Version 3.1 isn't bad either, but it's ruined by some bugs, especially on VGA devices, that can ruin the browsing experience. Some of these bugs are eliminated in 3.2, some not. Check out for example http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=39674 on this subject (and my list of the advantages/disadvantages of 3.2 over 3.1).
There can be another case when you want to use NetFront instead of PIE. No matter what PIE plug-in you use (of the four), some of the problems of PIE remain exactly the same. One of them has been a big problem with all PIE versions for years: the lack of complete JavaScript support. This means a lot of sites won't work properly. For example, in the Pocket PC Magazine forum, you won't be able to use the "Active Topics Since" drop-down menu at all, which is a real pain in the back for anyone that really wants to see the threads that have recently got some answers. This drop-down menu is working just great with NetFront. Furthermore, with VGA devices, PIE stretches images of width between a certain boundaries, which also may result in very unpleasing results (see http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/index.php?topic_id=39544 or http://www.pocketmatrix.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21256 on this). And, it's much slower at loading pages that contain a lot of images than NetFront (see my benchmarks of this at http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36376 )
ThunderHawk ( http://www.bitstream.com/wireless/products/pocketpc/ ) is the other most important PIE alternative. As with NetFront, it uses a completely different renderer engine than PIE. This, again, as with NetFront, is pretty advantageous because loading times are greatly reduced, especially if the given page contains a lot of images (you may want to read my benchmark results published at, say, http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36376 on this subject). This is even topped by the fact that this application really present the best achievable results on a QVGA screen. Also, as has already been mentioned, it has much less downloading times than any PIE-based solution.
However, it's pretty pricey because you need to subscribe to their service. And, VGA WM2003SE device owners, beware: it doesn't support VGA devices. A page optimized for QVGA screens looks awful in VGA. Therefore, I don't recommend this alternative to VGA users at all.
Minimo ( http://www.mozilla.org/projects/minimo/ ) is the Pocket PC port of the hugely successful Mozilla. Its early test release, however, has so many bugs/so bad rendering engine (check out, for example, http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=39496 or http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=116815 on this) that it's not worth checking out - yet. This will, however, surely change in the near future.
There're some software-only solutions too, which display their contents in PIE's window, but don't install anything on the client devices. The most important of them is Skweezer ( http://www.skweezer.net/ ), which, unlike with ThunderHawk, has a perfectly usable free service version too. It is of great help in making a web page readable on a PDA. It has two drawbacks though:
- it also sends a 110 kbyte-long JavaScript script file along with the starting page, and re-sends it if needed (I'm a TCP/IP pro - I'm the [except for the FTP library, co-]author of several IBM AlphaWorks Java TCP/IP libraries and JavaBeans - , including user protocols like HTTP, so, I'm sure it's happening). And, it doesn't compress HTML pages. This means the contents returned by the service can sometimes much bigger in size than with the alternatives (and, especially, with ThunderHawk). People with expensive, non-unlimited GPRS subscriptions, beware!
- again, on a WM2003SE device, where the One column view mode is already present in the built-in PIE, its main functionality isn't needed.
As for solutions that use a PIE plug-in, there're several choices:
PIEPlus ( http://www.reensoft.com/PIEPlus/ ). First, see my review of the latest beta at http://www.pocketmatrix.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20782 and PPCThoughts' review of an older version at http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,19807 . In a word: I woulnd't use it on a WM2003SE device. Why?
Because
1, the PIE in SE already has the "One Column" view mode, which makes the same functionality of PIEPlus not needed.
2, the height of the window tabs are not configurable (unlike in MultiIE and ftxPBrowser), and, therefore, they take up a lot of screen estate in non-full-screen modes.
Spb Pocket Plus ( http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/pocketplus/?en ): the PIE plug-in I really recommend, for several reasons. Its memory overhead is the much smaller than that of MultiIE and, as it doesn't display tabs for windows, it takes no precious screen estate at all. Its functions, if somewhat restricted, are well enough for WM2003SE users (remember, I speak of SE users all the time - users of previous operating systems will/would find, for example, the built-in no-reset screen orientation change feature of MultiIE invaluable). If you decide for using this software, you may also want to read my explanation on moving it off the main memory to conserve precious main memory at http://pocketpcmag.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15462 or http://www.firstloox.org//forums/showthread.php?t=3752.
Please note that Spb Pocket Plus has its own share of problems. The biggest is that it doesn't really try to name the windows it creates accordingly to the real title of the watched page.
MultiIE ( http://www.southwaycorp.net/multiie.htm ): its advanced capabilities (read for example http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,24848 on them) are indeed cool, but of little use under SE (no need for Nyditot-based screen rotation etc). These advantages just don't make the fact that MultiIE is the app that consumes by far the most memory (a bit lower than 1 Mbytes, which is pretty considerable on today's 64Mbyte devices) for each opened window, unlike its alternatives. The 1 Mbyte/window problem not only results in increased memory consumption, but also in slow(ish) context switching (that is, switching between the tabs/windows), which is indeed slower than with Spb Pocket Plus, PIEPlus or ftxPBrowser, even on a today's hi-end all-in-one device like the Pocket Loox 720.
Also, it has some problems. For example, it has an option for setting an image for the Today screen wallpaper. Too bad it's doing this in a very bad way - it just copies the image to \Windows and doesn't even try to resize it. Of course, the casual user won't notice this and the problems caused by this - particularly, the increased memory consumption. That is, this feature is better not used at all.
Note that both PIEPlus and MultiIE (and, NetFront too) supports modifying the User-Agent HTTP request header (along with some other headers) to make the HTTP server believe it's a full-fledged desktop browser that is connecting to it. This, however, can be pretty disadvantageous now that some sites (Google, Hotmail and Pocket Matrix by default and Pocket PC Thoughts to a certain extent, just to name a few) (semi-)automatically switch to a handheld-optimized version if they notice, based on some of the request headers the client sends out, that the client is a mobile device with probably severely limited bandwidth (GPRS and other low-speed technologies) and with a much less screen estate. So, this feature can be a double-edged sword if you don't notice than a page you've just visited also supports mobile clients because the server thinks you're using a full-fledged desktop browser. In cases, however, using this feature may be a must, especially if the server you're connecting to requires a full-fledged desktop client.
Of course, with PIE plug-ins that don't support User-Agent-rewriting (Spb Pocket Plus and ftxPBrowser) you can always hack the relevant section in the registry, but if you sometimes need to switch back to identifying yourself using a mobile browser, it'll mean much more effort to switch back to it unless you use a tool like tweaks2k2.
So, if you often switch between identifying yourself as a desktop (because some of the Web sites you use explicitly require this) and the default mobile browser, using NetFront, PIEPlus or MultiIE may be advantageous. They all offer a very easy and quick way of switching between the two modes.
Bottom line: for SE users, I don't recommend MultiIE either. They won't use most of its functionality (unless they have some specific needs; for example, the ease of switching between desktop and mobile client identification) and the memory consumption & slow context switching make it pretty annoying to use compared to the alternatives.
ftxPBrowser ( http://www.pocketpcfreewares.com/en/index.php?soft=686 ): this free (!!) app was the best lightweight (if you "only" needed tabs; that is, nothing like the functionality - and the memory overhead - of MultiIE) PIE add-on in previous Windows Mobile / Pocket PC versions. It's by far the best add-on memory consumption-wise when speaking of both (static) storage and (dynamic) program memory consumption. It also has some One column-like functionality (which is considerably worse than that of PIEPlus, however).
Under WM2003SE, it's not its (some of) additional functionality that isn't needed any more, unlike with PIEPlus (One Column mode) or MultiIE (screen rotation etc). The biggest problem with ftxPBrowser there is that it also overrides the default View/Layout submenu in Pocket Internet Explorer, as can be seen in the following screenshot taken on a WM2003SE VGA Pocket Loox 720:
http://menneisyys.freeweb.hu/BrowserRoundup/ftxPBrowserViewMenu.gif
This means you will no longer be able to use the One column view mode at all, which is a must with a lot of Web sites, especially with a QVGA device.
Until the program is made compliant with WM2003SE devices so that the View/Layout submenu is accessible, I don't recommend this app either.
Bottom line: I'd choose either ThunderHawk, NetFront or PIE with Spb Pocket Plus if I had a QVGA WM2003SE device (with VGA, the choice narrows down to either NetFront or the PIE - Spb Pocket Plus combo). I think you, QVGA WM2003SE users, should check all of them out (they all have trial, fully functional versions, except for the more 'crippled' NetFront) and go for the one that you like the best.
Please also note that sometimes it's advisable to have two (or, even three) browsers on your PPC. A lot of people have, for example, NetFront and PIE (enhanced with some plug-in) on their PPC at the same time. They do, for example, banking, or, browse JavaScript-heavy sites with NetFront, while they use PIE with other sites. See, for example, http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=117700 on this.
Also, I'd like to point out again that, much as I have all my previous PDA's too, I'm mainly a WM2003SE user. For a WM2003SE user, some capabilities of alternative browsers and/or PIE plug-ins are meaningless (for example, display orientation change without reset in MultiIE) and/or downright disadvantageous (for example, the way ftxPBrowser hides WM2003SE's One Column mode). For a PPC2k2/WM2003 user, the opposite may be important (to be able to change the orientation of the screen without resetting etc.)
The built-in broser application, Pocket Internet Explorer (PIE) is, to put it mildly, far from perfect. If only the tenth of the knowledge and capabilities of its desktop (Windows) brother would be present, all would be very happy.
Its clearly the biggest problem is the lack of the ability of browsing multiple pages at the same time. All of the alternatives and/or plug-ins (programs that integrate into PIE) address this problem. And, it has a lot of other problems too - some can be addressed in a plug-in, some (for example, the stretching or the wide-table-problem (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/index.php?topic_id=39544) or the lack of decent JavaScript support) don't. This is why alternative browsers (not just PIE plug-ins) have to be paid special attention to.
NetFront ( http://nfppc.access.co.jp/english/ ) is the most widely known alternative browser. It has recently been upgraded to version 3.2, which lacks a lot of problems present in earlier versions. Version 3.2 still only has a Japanese version, but Access, the manufacturer, has recently promised the English version will follow soon.
Version 3.1 isn't bad either, but it's ruined by some bugs, especially on VGA devices, that can ruin the browsing experience. Some of these bugs are eliminated in 3.2, some not. Check out for example http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=39674 on this subject (and my list of the advantages/disadvantages of 3.2 over 3.1).
There can be another case when you want to use NetFront instead of PIE. No matter what PIE plug-in you use (of the four), some of the problems of PIE remain exactly the same. One of them has been a big problem with all PIE versions for years: the lack of complete JavaScript support. This means a lot of sites won't work properly. For example, in the Pocket PC Magazine forum, you won't be able to use the "Active Topics Since" drop-down menu at all, which is a real pain in the back for anyone that really wants to see the threads that have recently got some answers. This drop-down menu is working just great with NetFront. Furthermore, with VGA devices, PIE stretches images of width between a certain boundaries, which also may result in very unpleasing results (see http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/index.php?topic_id=39544 or http://www.pocketmatrix.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21256 on this). And, it's much slower at loading pages that contain a lot of images than NetFront (see my benchmarks of this at http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36376 )
ThunderHawk ( http://www.bitstream.com/wireless/products/pocketpc/ ) is the other most important PIE alternative. As with NetFront, it uses a completely different renderer engine than PIE. This, again, as with NetFront, is pretty advantageous because loading times are greatly reduced, especially if the given page contains a lot of images (you may want to read my benchmark results published at, say, http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36376 on this subject). This is even topped by the fact that this application really present the best achievable results on a QVGA screen. Also, as has already been mentioned, it has much less downloading times than any PIE-based solution.
However, it's pretty pricey because you need to subscribe to their service. And, VGA WM2003SE device owners, beware: it doesn't support VGA devices. A page optimized for QVGA screens looks awful in VGA. Therefore, I don't recommend this alternative to VGA users at all.
Minimo ( http://www.mozilla.org/projects/minimo/ ) is the Pocket PC port of the hugely successful Mozilla. Its early test release, however, has so many bugs/so bad rendering engine (check out, for example, http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=39496 or http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=116815 on this) that it's not worth checking out - yet. This will, however, surely change in the near future.
There're some software-only solutions too, which display their contents in PIE's window, but don't install anything on the client devices. The most important of them is Skweezer ( http://www.skweezer.net/ ), which, unlike with ThunderHawk, has a perfectly usable free service version too. It is of great help in making a web page readable on a PDA. It has two drawbacks though:
- it also sends a 110 kbyte-long JavaScript script file along with the starting page, and re-sends it if needed (I'm a TCP/IP pro - I'm the [except for the FTP library, co-]author of several IBM AlphaWorks Java TCP/IP libraries and JavaBeans - , including user protocols like HTTP, so, I'm sure it's happening). And, it doesn't compress HTML pages. This means the contents returned by the service can sometimes much bigger in size than with the alternatives (and, especially, with ThunderHawk). People with expensive, non-unlimited GPRS subscriptions, beware!
- again, on a WM2003SE device, where the One column view mode is already present in the built-in PIE, its main functionality isn't needed.
As for solutions that use a PIE plug-in, there're several choices:
PIEPlus ( http://www.reensoft.com/PIEPlus/ ). First, see my review of the latest beta at http://www.pocketmatrix.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20782 and PPCThoughts' review of an older version at http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,19807 . In a word: I woulnd't use it on a WM2003SE device. Why?
Because
1, the PIE in SE already has the "One Column" view mode, which makes the same functionality of PIEPlus not needed.
2, the height of the window tabs are not configurable (unlike in MultiIE and ftxPBrowser), and, therefore, they take up a lot of screen estate in non-full-screen modes.
Spb Pocket Plus ( http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/pocketplus/?en ): the PIE plug-in I really recommend, for several reasons. Its memory overhead is the much smaller than that of MultiIE and, as it doesn't display tabs for windows, it takes no precious screen estate at all. Its functions, if somewhat restricted, are well enough for WM2003SE users (remember, I speak of SE users all the time - users of previous operating systems will/would find, for example, the built-in no-reset screen orientation change feature of MultiIE invaluable). If you decide for using this software, you may also want to read my explanation on moving it off the main memory to conserve precious main memory at http://pocketpcmag.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15462 or http://www.firstloox.org//forums/showthread.php?t=3752.
Please note that Spb Pocket Plus has its own share of problems. The biggest is that it doesn't really try to name the windows it creates accordingly to the real title of the watched page.
MultiIE ( http://www.southwaycorp.net/multiie.htm ): its advanced capabilities (read for example http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,24848 on them) are indeed cool, but of little use under SE (no need for Nyditot-based screen rotation etc). These advantages just don't make the fact that MultiIE is the app that consumes by far the most memory (a bit lower than 1 Mbytes, which is pretty considerable on today's 64Mbyte devices) for each opened window, unlike its alternatives. The 1 Mbyte/window problem not only results in increased memory consumption, but also in slow(ish) context switching (that is, switching between the tabs/windows), which is indeed slower than with Spb Pocket Plus, PIEPlus or ftxPBrowser, even on a today's hi-end all-in-one device like the Pocket Loox 720.
Also, it has some problems. For example, it has an option for setting an image for the Today screen wallpaper. Too bad it's doing this in a very bad way - it just copies the image to \Windows and doesn't even try to resize it. Of course, the casual user won't notice this and the problems caused by this - particularly, the increased memory consumption. That is, this feature is better not used at all.
Note that both PIEPlus and MultiIE (and, NetFront too) supports modifying the User-Agent HTTP request header (along with some other headers) to make the HTTP server believe it's a full-fledged desktop browser that is connecting to it. This, however, can be pretty disadvantageous now that some sites (Google, Hotmail and Pocket Matrix by default and Pocket PC Thoughts to a certain extent, just to name a few) (semi-)automatically switch to a handheld-optimized version if they notice, based on some of the request headers the client sends out, that the client is a mobile device with probably severely limited bandwidth (GPRS and other low-speed technologies) and with a much less screen estate. So, this feature can be a double-edged sword if you don't notice than a page you've just visited also supports mobile clients because the server thinks you're using a full-fledged desktop browser. In cases, however, using this feature may be a must, especially if the server you're connecting to requires a full-fledged desktop client.
Of course, with PIE plug-ins that don't support User-Agent-rewriting (Spb Pocket Plus and ftxPBrowser) you can always hack the relevant section in the registry, but if you sometimes need to switch back to identifying yourself using a mobile browser, it'll mean much more effort to switch back to it unless you use a tool like tweaks2k2.
So, if you often switch between identifying yourself as a desktop (because some of the Web sites you use explicitly require this) and the default mobile browser, using NetFront, PIEPlus or MultiIE may be advantageous. They all offer a very easy and quick way of switching between the two modes.
Bottom line: for SE users, I don't recommend MultiIE either. They won't use most of its functionality (unless they have some specific needs; for example, the ease of switching between desktop and mobile client identification) and the memory consumption & slow context switching make it pretty annoying to use compared to the alternatives.
ftxPBrowser ( http://www.pocketpcfreewares.com/en/index.php?soft=686 ): this free (!!) app was the best lightweight (if you "only" needed tabs; that is, nothing like the functionality - and the memory overhead - of MultiIE) PIE add-on in previous Windows Mobile / Pocket PC versions. It's by far the best add-on memory consumption-wise when speaking of both (static) storage and (dynamic) program memory consumption. It also has some One column-like functionality (which is considerably worse than that of PIEPlus, however).
Under WM2003SE, it's not its (some of) additional functionality that isn't needed any more, unlike with PIEPlus (One Column mode) or MultiIE (screen rotation etc). The biggest problem with ftxPBrowser there is that it also overrides the default View/Layout submenu in Pocket Internet Explorer, as can be seen in the following screenshot taken on a WM2003SE VGA Pocket Loox 720:
http://menneisyys.freeweb.hu/BrowserRoundup/ftxPBrowserViewMenu.gif
This means you will no longer be able to use the One column view mode at all, which is a must with a lot of Web sites, especially with a QVGA device.
Until the program is made compliant with WM2003SE devices so that the View/Layout submenu is accessible, I don't recommend this app either.
Bottom line: I'd choose either ThunderHawk, NetFront or PIE with Spb Pocket Plus if I had a QVGA WM2003SE device (with VGA, the choice narrows down to either NetFront or the PIE - Spb Pocket Plus combo). I think you, QVGA WM2003SE users, should check all of them out (they all have trial, fully functional versions, except for the more 'crippled' NetFront) and go for the one that you like the best.
Please also note that sometimes it's advisable to have two (or, even three) browsers on your PPC. A lot of people have, for example, NetFront and PIE (enhanced with some plug-in) on their PPC at the same time. They do, for example, banking, or, browse JavaScript-heavy sites with NetFront, while they use PIE with other sites. See, for example, http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=117700 on this.
Also, I'd like to point out again that, much as I have all my previous PDA's too, I'm mainly a WM2003SE user. For a WM2003SE user, some capabilities of alternative browsers and/or PIE plug-ins are meaningless (for example, display orientation change without reset in MultiIE) and/or downright disadvantageous (for example, the way ftxPBrowser hides WM2003SE's One Column mode). For a PPC2k2/WM2003 user, the opposite may be important (to be able to change the orientation of the screen without resetting etc.)