As is the case with Vista, Windows Mobile has become a bit of a whipping boy for the tech blogosphere. The difference between the two? Most people outside of an Apple commercial know that Vista has come leaps and bounds since its problematic birth. Sure there are still issues but as a whole, the OS has become more than usable for many. Windows Mobile on the other hand, still has a lot of growing up to do. Many of the issues that users have been complaining about for what seems like an eternity still remain unresolved. Internet Explorer Mobile, of course, is one of those issues. Fans who have managed to stick by Windows Mobile and are in it for the long haul will be excited to learn that Microsoft isn’t going to sit idly by and let third-party mobile browser developers attack the issue alone. There is now a free preview of the next-generation Internet Explorer Mobile browser available for all to play with by way of an emulator download. Initial reports are fairly positive and it looks like development is certainly moving in the right direction. A quick overview of some of the new features in IEM 6:
- Improved fidelity (support for full fidelity desktop rendering)
- Layout fixes to accommodate a mobile screen (text wrap)
- Enhanced Script and AJAX support (Jscript v5.7 from Internet Explorer 8)
- Improved multimedia experience (Adobe Flash Lite 3.1 for Adobe Flash content)
- Deeper integration with search
- Enhanced cursor navigation model
- Touch and gesture support – pan support
- Multiple zoom levels
- Easy switching between mobile / desktop versions of sites by specifying UA strings
As you can see, there are definitely some key areas that we can now confirm are being addressed in the upcoming version. There are also a few nice additions such as desktop mode. Kudos to Microsoft for giving users a preview and we can only hope that the release version will not only catch Microsoft’s mobile browser up to the competition, but even break some new ground.
[Via Giz]
