Pocket Internet Explorer and Pop-Up Windows

[Jon Westfall]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonlan/archive/2006/09/20/761986.aspx' target='_blank'>http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonlan/arch.../20/761986.aspx</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Pop ups are usually implemented using window.open. IE Mobile will support window.open only if the user directly initiates an action that causes script to call window.open. For example, if the page has a link and script to open a new window when that link is clicked, window.open will work when the user clicks the link. But if the page’s script calls window.open on an onload event, window.open will not work. So pop ups are prevented. When window.open is allowed to work, it will load content in the same window because IE Mobile does not support multiple windows."</i><br /><br />Jason Langridge has posted a brief "For Your Information" (FYI) blurb about how Pocket IE handles javascript window.open requests. Interesting way to handle them to still allow sites to work, yet block annoying popups. Just one question in my mind: why doesn't Windows Mobile support multiple open pages? :?

[SteveHoward999]

Oh the joy of never having to endure a popup window.

I hope this doesn't start a campaign to change how PocketIE handles this.

Multiple windows are easily implemented with PocketIE Plus and others. Would be nice if PocketIE handled then by default, but I can live with it as it is quite happily.

[Jason Lee]

why doesn't pocket ie handle multiple windows?
consistency... if they allow you to open more than one web page at a time the next thing you know you'll want to open more than one word document at a time... then who knows, maybe even sreadsheets next! You crazy kids with your ideas... ;)

:lol:

[desertrat_blog]

Interesting way to handle them to still allow sites to work, yet block annoying popups.

It is neither special nor interesting because that is how all other browsers implement pop-up blocking.


Just one question in my mind: why doesn't Windows Mobile support multiple open pages?
To paraphrase an infamous quote "Why would anyone want more than one browser window?"

Oh the joy of never having to endure a popup window.

I hope this doesn't start a campaign to change how PocketIE handles this.

This is great, a deficiency is somehow portrayed as a feature? Nevermind that Opera and Mozilla/Firefox have had pop-up blocking AND multiple windows/tabs for years.

[haesslich]

"]Oh the joy of never having to endure a popup window.

I hope this doesn't start a campaign to change how PocketIE handles this.

This is great, a deficiency is somehow portrayed as a feature? Nevermind that Opera and Mozilla/Firefox have had pop-up blocking AND multiple windows/tabs for years.

Except that the desktop browsers don't have to deal with the same memory constraints that Windows Mobile devices have had to for years... or else they didn't run, period. With desktops, I have both extra screen space and a surplus of RAM - two things I'm missing with a Windows Mobile device. NetFront and Opera both do multiple tabs, as do extra applications like PIEPlus... but that's at the cost of memory. With Windows Mobile 2003 and 2003SE, you could dynamically adjust how much storage versus execution space you had, but even then the programmers probably leaned towards the 'having little RAM' extreme rather than assuming everyone had 96MB of program RAM versus 32MB of storage RAM, which would mean they could bloat the program up to handle 50 different windows.

With both Opera and NetFront, I find that anything above two tabs causes enough system slowdown with 27-30MB of RAM before loading the browser is enough to crash or freeze the program, if not cause the system to become excessively slow. Even pages with a lot of graphics and ONE tab can do this to a system with 64MB of RAM. I'd have to say that with Windows Mobile, the RAM reason is why PIE doesn't support tabs or multiple windows to begin with, and RAM will continue to be a factor in this, as the system already struggles with multitasking with memory-hogging programs... and a webpage is a HUGE memory hog, depending on whether it was optimized for mobile (meaning fewer RAM-eating graphics or CPU-consuming scripts) or a desktop experience.

[Menneisyys]

With both Opera and NetFront, I find that anything above two tabs causes enough system slowdown with 27-30MB of RAM before loading the browser is enough to crash or freeze the program, if not cause the system to become excessively slow. Even pages with a lot of graphics and ONE tab can do this to a system with 64MB of RAM. I'd have to say that with Windows Mobile, the RAM reason is why PIE doesn't support tabs or multiple windows to begin with, and RAM will continue to be a factor in this, as the system already struggles with multitasking with memory-hogging programs... and a webpage is a HUGE memory hog, depending on whether it was optimized for mobile (meaning fewer RAM-eating graphics or CPU-consuming scripts) or a desktop experience.

What platform did you try Opera Mobile on? WM2003(SE) or WM5? While NetFront doesn't let for opening more than 5 tabs, I've been using Opera Mobile on several of my WM5 VGA devices with, occasionally, more than 20-25 tabs (!) at a time. I don't have slowdown problems (except for the tab switch time - but it isn't horrible either).

That is, I'm pretty sure it's a problem with some other application (Today plug-in?) on your PDA. Opera Mobile is really multitab-friendly (on WM5).