Menneisyys
03-18-2006, 11:42 AM
Webby Version 2.0e (2.1.0.1) released!
Webby is a free and, in my opinion, as of the current version (please read my review of version 2.0 here (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=592&more=1)), not very good Pocket Internet Explorer / Internet Explorer Mobile plug-in. The new, 2.0e (2.1.0.1) version has just been released; in this review, I compare it to the previous, 2.0 version.
Pros
* The view modes have been extended: now it suports both Default and Desktop view modes (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Webby21DefaultAndDesktop.bmp.png), unlike in 2.0. Unfortunately, there's still no One Column support in the new version – the Skweezer-based one is a very bad solution. Example screenshots of the default view are here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Webby21DefaultExample.bmp.png) and that of the desktop view here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Webby21DesktopExample.bmp.png). As can be seen, they work as expected.
* Now, it really cleans up the temporary internet cache files upon request/exit.
Cons
* Sometimes it crashes upon trying to save links. This screenshot (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Webby21SaveLinkAsFileCrash.bmp.png), for example, has been taken when trying to save the contents of a link from my PPCMag test page (http://www.winmobiletech.com/072005BrowserRoundup/PPCMagTest/).
* There's still no way of opening a link in a new tab. The current way of multi-tabbing is really cumbersome if you would like to open the links in the current page in a new tab. All the alternate browsers have a much better approach.
* Much as the author states the new version has better performance, that's not the case: page loading is as slow as was in version 2.0. I've measured 0:32/1:01 loading times on my HTC Wizard (compare it to the previous results) - that is, not at all better than with the previous version. It means the slowdown factor is about two.
* If the current, system-level Connection isn't a The Internet one (and the particular URL you would like to see doens't match any system-level Work Exception), no error message will be shown, unlike with the case of PIE/IEM.
* The (let's admit, pretty useless) progress bar has been completely removed (WM5 screenshot (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Webby21NoProgressBarWM5.bmp.png); WM2003SE screenshot (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Webby21NoScrollbarAtAll.bmp.png)) instead of having been fixed.
Verdict
Still not recommended. There're much better free solutions: for example, Opera Mini (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=644&more=1) or, if you have a pre-WM5 device, ftxPBrowser (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&title=do_you_know_ftxpbrowser&more=1).
Recommended links
Pocket PC Browser review link collection (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&title=link_collection_to_the_latest_pocket_pc&more=1)
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Minimo Nightly Builds Available; a Review of the Latest, 03-18 Nightly Build
In order to provide the Pocket PC folks the latest available Minimo version, the author of Minimo has decided (http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/dougt/) to offer nightly builds here (http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/minimo/nightly/MinimoCE-MOZILLA_1_8/).
I've tested the current (03/18 ) version. As it's a nighlty build, the problems in this version don't necessarily mean the next, 0.014 version will be suffering from the same problem. For example, the (new) missing support for WM5 softkeys may be a particular problem of the tested nightly build but not that of other builds/official releases.
Please read my previous Minimo reports, starting with this one (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=553&more=1) (and going back in time/version). The current article builds upon all my previous, Minimo-related articles and only elaborates on the differences, news and bugfixes compared to the previous Minimo versions.
Bugfixes
* The non-UTF-8 bugs have been fixed as can be seen in here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Minimo0318NoCharEncodingProbsAnyMore.bmp.png) (GeekZone's operator branding article (http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=5784)). Another – successful – example (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Minimo0318NoCharEncodingProbsAnyMore-2.bmp.png) with the Finnish Jippii.
* the cache bug seems to have been fixed: that is, now, Minimo doesn't request already-cached pages any more if you re-enter the (cached) page URL.
Problems
* The (in version 0.013 pretty reduced, but still existing) support for the WM5 softkeys is gone. Now, WM5 sotkeys can't be used at all. (Tested this on two WM5 devices.)
* It, unlike with the previous, 0.013 version, has problems with the Google homepage (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Minimo0318GoogleProbs.bmp.png) (alternate screenshot, taken on my HTC Wizard, here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Minimo0318Google-Eng.bmp.png)).
* It seems to have sporadic proxy support (I used proxies to find out whether the current version still has the local cache problem; this is how I found ot this bug): if you tell it to use a proxy, it will only use it until you cancel a transfer. After that, I've never managed to force it to use the proxy any more, not even through browser restarts.
* If you load large pages (for example, the standard 600kbyte test page (http://www.winmobiletech.com/072005BrowserRoundup/PPCMagTest/)) in the current version, Minimo's responsiveness becomes pretty bad. Also, you'll have a much harder time scrolling in large pages than with any alternate Pocket PC Web browser.
Other new stuff
There isn't much news. I could only find two new features:
* The homebar (an addition to version 0.013) can now be toggled in the main menu (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Minimo0318ToggleHomebar.bmp.png)
* The page menu also has a new, Pan option. (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Minimo0318Pan.bmp.png)
Verdict
Well, this browser still has a long way to go. If you really need a quick, responsive, tabbed Web browser now, get for example Opera Mini (please read my latest tutorial on it / tips here (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=644&more=1)) or, if you have a pre-WM5 device, ftxPBrowser (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&title=do_you_know_ftxpbrowser&more=1). Also, the current trial version of Opera 8.5 beta2 (see review here (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=583&more=1)) can be used till 1st June (and is a much faster and more reliable browser).
If, for some reason, you really want to stick with Minimo, read non-UTF-8 pages and/or would like to make use of the local file cache, it may be worth upgrading to the current build.
BTW, it's really worth checking out the Minimo forum (http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewforum.php?f=47).
Webby is a free and, in my opinion, as of the current version (please read my review of version 2.0 here (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=592&more=1)), not very good Pocket Internet Explorer / Internet Explorer Mobile plug-in. The new, 2.0e (2.1.0.1) version has just been released; in this review, I compare it to the previous, 2.0 version.
Pros
* The view modes have been extended: now it suports both Default and Desktop view modes (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Webby21DefaultAndDesktop.bmp.png), unlike in 2.0. Unfortunately, there's still no One Column support in the new version – the Skweezer-based one is a very bad solution. Example screenshots of the default view are here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Webby21DefaultExample.bmp.png) and that of the desktop view here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Webby21DesktopExample.bmp.png). As can be seen, they work as expected.
* Now, it really cleans up the temporary internet cache files upon request/exit.
Cons
* Sometimes it crashes upon trying to save links. This screenshot (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Webby21SaveLinkAsFileCrash.bmp.png), for example, has been taken when trying to save the contents of a link from my PPCMag test page (http://www.winmobiletech.com/072005BrowserRoundup/PPCMagTest/).
* There's still no way of opening a link in a new tab. The current way of multi-tabbing is really cumbersome if you would like to open the links in the current page in a new tab. All the alternate browsers have a much better approach.
* Much as the author states the new version has better performance, that's not the case: page loading is as slow as was in version 2.0. I've measured 0:32/1:01 loading times on my HTC Wizard (compare it to the previous results) - that is, not at all better than with the previous version. It means the slowdown factor is about two.
* If the current, system-level Connection isn't a The Internet one (and the particular URL you would like to see doens't match any system-level Work Exception), no error message will be shown, unlike with the case of PIE/IEM.
* The (let's admit, pretty useless) progress bar has been completely removed (WM5 screenshot (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Webby21NoProgressBarWM5.bmp.png); WM2003SE screenshot (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Webby21NoScrollbarAtAll.bmp.png)) instead of having been fixed.
Verdict
Still not recommended. There're much better free solutions: for example, Opera Mini (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=644&more=1) or, if you have a pre-WM5 device, ftxPBrowser (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&title=do_you_know_ftxpbrowser&more=1).
Recommended links
Pocket PC Browser review link collection (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&title=link_collection_to_the_latest_pocket_pc&more=1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minimo Nightly Builds Available; a Review of the Latest, 03-18 Nightly Build
In order to provide the Pocket PC folks the latest available Minimo version, the author of Minimo has decided (http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/dougt/) to offer nightly builds here (http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/minimo/nightly/MinimoCE-MOZILLA_1_8/).
I've tested the current (03/18 ) version. As it's a nighlty build, the problems in this version don't necessarily mean the next, 0.014 version will be suffering from the same problem. For example, the (new) missing support for WM5 softkeys may be a particular problem of the tested nightly build but not that of other builds/official releases.
Please read my previous Minimo reports, starting with this one (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=553&more=1) (and going back in time/version). The current article builds upon all my previous, Minimo-related articles and only elaborates on the differences, news and bugfixes compared to the previous Minimo versions.
Bugfixes
* The non-UTF-8 bugs have been fixed as can be seen in here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Minimo0318NoCharEncodingProbsAnyMore.bmp.png) (GeekZone's operator branding article (http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=5784)). Another – successful – example (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Minimo0318NoCharEncodingProbsAnyMore-2.bmp.png) with the Finnish Jippii.
* the cache bug seems to have been fixed: that is, now, Minimo doesn't request already-cached pages any more if you re-enter the (cached) page URL.
Problems
* The (in version 0.013 pretty reduced, but still existing) support for the WM5 softkeys is gone. Now, WM5 sotkeys can't be used at all. (Tested this on two WM5 devices.)
* It, unlike with the previous, 0.013 version, has problems with the Google homepage (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Minimo0318GoogleProbs.bmp.png) (alternate screenshot, taken on my HTC Wizard, here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Minimo0318Google-Eng.bmp.png)).
* It seems to have sporadic proxy support (I used proxies to find out whether the current version still has the local cache problem; this is how I found ot this bug): if you tell it to use a proxy, it will only use it until you cancel a transfer. After that, I've never managed to force it to use the proxy any more, not even through browser restarts.
* If you load large pages (for example, the standard 600kbyte test page (http://www.winmobiletech.com/072005BrowserRoundup/PPCMagTest/)) in the current version, Minimo's responsiveness becomes pretty bad. Also, you'll have a much harder time scrolling in large pages than with any alternate Pocket PC Web browser.
Other new stuff
There isn't much news. I could only find two new features:
* The homebar (an addition to version 0.013) can now be toggled in the main menu (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Minimo0318ToggleHomebar.bmp.png)
* The page menu also has a new, Pan option. (http://www.winmobiletech.com/03182006WebBrowsers/Minimo0318Pan.bmp.png)
Verdict
Well, this browser still has a long way to go. If you really need a quick, responsive, tabbed Web browser now, get for example Opera Mini (please read my latest tutorial on it / tips here (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=644&more=1)) or, if you have a pre-WM5 device, ftxPBrowser (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&title=do_you_know_ftxpbrowser&more=1). Also, the current trial version of Opera 8.5 beta2 (see review here (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=583&more=1)) can be used till 1st June (and is a much faster and more reliable browser).
If, for some reason, you really want to stick with Minimo, read non-UTF-8 pages and/or would like to make use of the local file cache, it may be worth upgrading to the current build.
BTW, it's really worth checking out the Minimo forum (http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewforum.php?f=47).