After a few days of using Internet Explorer on my HP iPaq 6828, I decided enough was enough.
First, I installed Opera 8.60, which felt more responsive. However, apart from the ability to open new pages in tabs, Opera’s user interface was less intuitive than IE’s!
*shock*
IE in Windows Mobile 5.0 keeps things simple, with visible back and forward buttons which I can tap with my stylus or press on my phone’s keybad, whereas in Opera I need to tap on a dropdown (actually, ‘dropup’) menu to do that.
Also, when accessing websites that use CSS properly, like Wired.com, I saw a statement that my browser (Opera) was not fully supporting standards! *more surprise*
Never fear, I thought. Minimo is here! That’s Mozilla’s answer to mobile web browsing. I was happy that they let me download and install the .cab file directly inside my iPaq, meaning I didn’t have to borrow my dad’s Windows laptop to install the software via ActiveSync. (Opera has this version too, though for some reason their .cab file couldn’t install on my iPaq.)
However, Minimo took a rather, um, ‘maximo’ time to load. After a while there’s only so long you can stare at a splash screen of the Mozilla monster. It reminded me of Netscape’s early days. For the first time, my iPaq was sluggish, even after quitting other programs.
I tried accessing a URL (‘m.yahoo.com’) which turned out to be nonexistent. While Opera at least told me there was no such page, Minimo gave me the impression that it was still trying to load the page. I waited for minutes and nothing happened.
A quick Google indicated that many other users are also complaining about Minimo’s sluggishness. I was also warned that the version they provided was meant for an older version, Windows CE. My recommendation: Don’t install this until they reduce the 8MB+ file size and speed up the load time. I might try moving this into my storage card and if it’s still slow, Minimo has to go.
*sticks baby finger into side of mouth, a la Doctor Evil*
And sadly, when my 30-day Opera trial expires, I may not find it worthwhile to pay US$24 for the licensed version. I might very well go back to using IE for now, because it’s the most intuitive of the lot.
[One consolation is discovering the Opera Platform which allows AJAX on mobile phones. Now that is something I am really looking forward to trying out!]