Fennec alpha three falters on Windows Mobile

 

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Posted on 7 Sep 2009 at 14:30

Mozilla has released the third alpha of its Fennec browser for Windows Mobile.

The major improvement is the introduction of a tile cache rendering system, which caches sections of web pages when they're first loaded.

This should improve the speed of panning and scrolling around pages, as the browser won't need to download the content again. Google employs a similar technology in Google Maps.

Mozilla's also claiming to have significantly improved the browser's startup time, though users will need to reboot their phone in order for the improvement to kick in.

Elsewhere, the browser now supports a wider range of screen resolutions, and touchscreen navigation on the HTC Touch Pro. While Mozilla was understandably enthusiastic about the release of the browser, reception from users has been a little cooler.

Difficult to figure out the interface... program response to inputs is so slow it's hard to figure out what does what

"Tried it on a Treo Pro. Difficult to figure out the interface... program response to inputs is so slow it's hard to figure out what does what," says Maxzillian on the Mozilla blog.

"The zoom is so far out that text is near impossible to read. Resource use is also considerably high and where Internet Explorer uses 22%, Fennec uses 32%. Usually with nothing else running."

Another poster identified as Mike claimed: "Tried on Touch Pro 2. Keeps crashing randomly. Pages don't seem to ever load."

There's no stated completion date for Fennec on Windows Mobile, though the team is aiming for Fennec on the Maemo platform to be released before Christmas. It's already been adopted as the browser of choice on the Nokia N900.

Anybody looking to try out Fennec for Windows Mobile will require version six or higher of the mobile OS and a smartphone "with 128MB [of RAM] or more for the best experience."