Menneisyys
06-08-2006, 06:46 AM
Today, I’ve worked hard, in addition to the nominations/recategorization of the Pocket PC Mag Best Software Awards 2006, on the new Bible of Pocket PC Browsers (the (still) current version can be found linked from this blog post (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&title=link_collection_to_the_latest_pocket_pc&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1)).
After noticing NetFront uses the full CPU capacity with a lot of Web pages, I’ve done some extensive tests. During this, NetFront turned out to be pretty buggy in the Macromedia (Adobe) Flash department. This, unfortunately, also applies to the latest, 3.3 version (the full, commercial version available still only in Japanese – therefore, I’ve tested this on the Japanese version; the English version will be the same in this respect), not only on the previous one, 3.2.
What does this all mean?
If there is a Flash animation on a Web page, NetFront will consume almost all CPU cycles to render the animation. This will result in a tremendous slowdown of the entire Pocket PC and very high battery usage. The CPU usage is very high even with the simplest, most innocent-looking Flash animations!
Unfortunately, this will also happen when the animation(s) isn’t (aren’t) visible or NetFront is hidden (because you’ve switched to another program). Also, the same problem applies if any Flash animation runs in another tab (if you are browsing another window.)
How can you test this all yourself?
It’s really easy. Go to any Flash-enabled Web site (for example, to the Pocket PC Thoughts frontpage in non-mobile mode so that Flash animations are enabled) or click this link (http://www.winmobiletech.com/052006Flash/cpuusage/flash.html) (from NetFront 3.3) or this link (http://www.winmobiletech.com/052006Flash/cpuusage/tuuna.swf) (from 3.2) and see what happens to the CPU usage. You'll easily notice how sluggish becomes the entire Pocket PC after loading any Flash-enabled page.
Are you sure it's a generic NetFront bug and not just a particular incompatibility issue?
Dead sure. I've tested this on my numerous Pocket PC's (WM2003 iPAQ 2210, WM5 hx4700, WM5 Dell Axim x51v, WM2003SE Pocket Loox 720, WM5 HTC Wizard); all freshly hard reset.
Does the same also happen to Pocket Internet Explorer with the Adobe/Macromedia Flash plug-in?
Nope. It consumes far less CPU cycles - for example, only ~14% with this test animation (Tested with the latest, 7.0 plug-in). That is, you can safely install the plug-in - it won't slow down your Pocket PC so much as the NetFront Flash plug-in.
Solution?
Unfortunately, as Access, developer of NetFront, is very slow to respond to user bug reports (for example, I’ve reported about their DST bug about a year ago (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=326&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) still hasn’t been fixed), I don’t think this bug will be fixed in the near future, if ever. Therefore, as a rule of thumb, you should only enable the Flash plug-in (in (Menu/)Tools/Browser Setting/Helper/Shockwave Flash) if you absolutely need Flash support on a given Web page. Otherwise, it’s the best to keep it deactivated to speed up NetFront and greatly reduce the battery drain. Unfortunately, (de)activating the Flash support will always result in the need to restart NetFront. This is a real pain in the back.
Alternatively, you can do what I have done: for sites where Flash is a must (because, otherwise, the contents of the site is unreachable) I use the Pocket Internet Explorer (a.k.a. Internet Explorer Mobile starting with WM5) + PIEPlus 2.0 (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=837&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) combo under WM5 (it's an unbeatable, and, under WM5, unlike previous operating systems, very stable combination). For all the other sites (that is, the vast majority of the Web sites) I use Opera Mobile 8.60, the fastest, most standards-compliant Web browser for the Pocket PC.
Related, recommended resources
Flash player roundup (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/menneisyys/052006FlashPlayers.asp)
Another serious bug in NetFront version 3.3 - driver memory shortage problems under WM2003SE (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=882&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1)
After noticing NetFront uses the full CPU capacity with a lot of Web pages, I’ve done some extensive tests. During this, NetFront turned out to be pretty buggy in the Macromedia (Adobe) Flash department. This, unfortunately, also applies to the latest, 3.3 version (the full, commercial version available still only in Japanese – therefore, I’ve tested this on the Japanese version; the English version will be the same in this respect), not only on the previous one, 3.2.
What does this all mean?
If there is a Flash animation on a Web page, NetFront will consume almost all CPU cycles to render the animation. This will result in a tremendous slowdown of the entire Pocket PC and very high battery usage. The CPU usage is very high even with the simplest, most innocent-looking Flash animations!
Unfortunately, this will also happen when the animation(s) isn’t (aren’t) visible or NetFront is hidden (because you’ve switched to another program). Also, the same problem applies if any Flash animation runs in another tab (if you are browsing another window.)
How can you test this all yourself?
It’s really easy. Go to any Flash-enabled Web site (for example, to the Pocket PC Thoughts frontpage in non-mobile mode so that Flash animations are enabled) or click this link (http://www.winmobiletech.com/052006Flash/cpuusage/flash.html) (from NetFront 3.3) or this link (http://www.winmobiletech.com/052006Flash/cpuusage/tuuna.swf) (from 3.2) and see what happens to the CPU usage. You'll easily notice how sluggish becomes the entire Pocket PC after loading any Flash-enabled page.
Are you sure it's a generic NetFront bug and not just a particular incompatibility issue?
Dead sure. I've tested this on my numerous Pocket PC's (WM2003 iPAQ 2210, WM5 hx4700, WM5 Dell Axim x51v, WM2003SE Pocket Loox 720, WM5 HTC Wizard); all freshly hard reset.
Does the same also happen to Pocket Internet Explorer with the Adobe/Macromedia Flash plug-in?
Nope. It consumes far less CPU cycles - for example, only ~14% with this test animation (Tested with the latest, 7.0 plug-in). That is, you can safely install the plug-in - it won't slow down your Pocket PC so much as the NetFront Flash plug-in.
Solution?
Unfortunately, as Access, developer of NetFront, is very slow to respond to user bug reports (for example, I’ve reported about their DST bug about a year ago (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=326&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) still hasn’t been fixed), I don’t think this bug will be fixed in the near future, if ever. Therefore, as a rule of thumb, you should only enable the Flash plug-in (in (Menu/)Tools/Browser Setting/Helper/Shockwave Flash) if you absolutely need Flash support on a given Web page. Otherwise, it’s the best to keep it deactivated to speed up NetFront and greatly reduce the battery drain. Unfortunately, (de)activating the Flash support will always result in the need to restart NetFront. This is a real pain in the back.
Alternatively, you can do what I have done: for sites where Flash is a must (because, otherwise, the contents of the site is unreachable) I use the Pocket Internet Explorer (a.k.a. Internet Explorer Mobile starting with WM5) + PIEPlus 2.0 (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=837&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) combo under WM5 (it's an unbeatable, and, under WM5, unlike previous operating systems, very stable combination). For all the other sites (that is, the vast majority of the Web sites) I use Opera Mobile 8.60, the fastest, most standards-compliant Web browser for the Pocket PC.
Related, recommended resources
Flash player roundup (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/menneisyys/052006FlashPlayers.asp)
Another serious bug in NetFront version 3.3 - driver memory shortage problems under WM2003SE (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=882&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1)