Fennec Alpha 2 now available for Windows Mobile

Software

We’re getting closer, WinMo fans. Mozilla has just released the second Alpha build of its highly, highly anticipated mobile version of Firefox. Still dubbed Fennec for the time being, Windows Mobile users who aren’t infatuated with Skyfire can now head over to Mozilla’s website and download the official Alpha 2 version of the browser. This latest version is still a testing version as the name might suggest, and it’s quite rough around the edges. Nonetheless, progress is steady and this latest version includes the following improvements:

  • Improved panning performance
  • Newly designed theme
  • JavaScript error console is now built in
  • Improved add-on support
  • Numerous bug fixes
  • Improved UI polish

This release is available for anyone running Windows Mobile 6 — not just HTC Touch Pro users like the last release. Woo hoo! If anyone takes the plunge and installs this alpha version, hit us in the comments section with your first impressions.

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23 Comments
  • Joe

    still infatuated with skyfire :)

  • Witty!

    Firefox sucks. Opera in the heezy!

  • http://www.bgr.com StormTrooperRichie

    Damn if only Blackberry Devices supported this nice add-on… sigh

  • chantastic

    this will not work on blackberry!?

  • iDavey

    Is there screenshots of the browsers interface and such?

  • Will

    Sigh.. Doesn’t work on QVGA screens. Sticking to Opera Mini.

  • Scrofula

    Any opinions from people who’ve actually used it? I hate skyfire, but sometimes its necessary

  • nibs

    It’s unusable. ’nuff said

  • http://www.bob2thebone.com Bob

    I just installed fennec, and am not impressed. The cab file is over 9MB, so without 3G, I would not try to download it to the phone.

    If I were a developer working on this project, I would never release this version into the wild. This version is just not good enough for people to use. I have used the new Opera beta, which is buggy, however it works well enough for people to use. This browser is just flat out unusable on my phone (Omnia I.)

    First off, it is EXTREMELY slow to load up. Secondly, touch scrolling works like this: Rub your finger along the screen, then wait 15-20 seconds for it to update.

    It is obvious that they have not fully taken into account different screen resolutions. The address bar on the top of my device is only wide enough to see one letter in portrait mode. You can see more in landscape mode.

    I could go on and on about the problems with this program, however due to the fact that there is nothing GOOD to say about it, I’ll just stop. I will uninstall this program and wait for the actual release which is probably a year away judging by this program.

  • http://www.bob2thebone.com Bob

    Scrofula: Have you tried Opera? It’s the killer app right now on WinMo when it comes to internet browsing. I tried skyfire once, it’s junk compared to Opera.

  • Scrofula

    opera is my normal browser. skyfire gets used only on flash sites that won’t render otherwise. Hopefully we’ll get improving flash support with upcoming opera developments.

  • Ryan

    I was excited to finally get my hands on an overpriced touch Pro…as such, I was also excited to try this beta; I love firefox on my desktop and fennec just seemed like it would follow in it’s footsteps.

    Well, starting out; it downloaded just fine. After re-booting my phone 2 or 3 times I finally got Fennec to load….although it took about 3 minutes to load (this is fresh off a reboot, no background programs running).

    That is where my “beta” test ended and I removed it.

    Let me put it this way:

    When you have workable browsers like opera and skyfire why does there need to be fennec? This beta release was like going retro with my phone and dealing with dialup rather than broadband.

    If someone has more patience than me, maybe you could provide more insight to the benefits…all I have for all of you are delta’s at this point.

    By the way the new Transformer’s movie is awesome, but way too long!

  • jj

    ill try this

  • jj

    test

  • http://ttklf4.tempw8.internet1.de ttklf4

    Hello,

    one important feature of the new Mozilla Fennec release is geolocation. Here you can see how it works: http://ttklf4.tempw8.internet1.de/m/New1/Search.aspx

  • JRW

    I downloaded it onto an ATT Fuze (equiv Touch Pro) and it won’t even start up. Based upon the above comments, I’m not going to bother trying any more.

    For all the Opera lovers out there, give Iris a try – I find it by far the smoothest browsing experience on my phone.

  • ns

    Without 3g?? Must be on ATT or t-mo. Ha

  • pgholder

    Still busted on the Samsung Blackjack II. I don’t know if they’re designing for non-touchscreen devices yet… Skyfire seems much better after the latest release.

  • rumbles

    Hi guys, I just installed fennec on my HTC Touch Diamond. My first impression is mixed.
    The good,
    it renders webpages correctly

    The bad,
    The interface is S**T. It makes no sense to slide your finger accross to access more functions such as back, forward, tabs and so forth.
    When you scroll down a page the address bar disappears and the only way to get it back to scroll all the way up again. Compare this Opera and PIE 6.0 (on WM 6.5) where you just tap a button in the bottom right corner and all your fuctions popup with out the need to scroll.
    It is not very responsive, but hey this is an Alpha version not even in beta yet so it is expected.
    I don’t know about you but I could not find away to switch between a mobile view and desktop view. This is annoying because some sites are able to detect that I am using a mobile browser and force me into a mobile view and their are no settings in fennec for me to specify which view I want.

    Suggestions,
    Drop this outrages interface, it looks great but is not very functional.
    Allow for more fine grained control of the browser experience.

  • Treo 750

    Doesnt work on WM6 Treo 750. error message appears when launching app.

  • GC

    Have you people no idea what ALPHA RELEASE means…

  • http://www.bob2thebone.com Bob

    In this case it means that it should not have been released…

  • GC

    …no it means that YOU shouldn’t have bothered downloading it, if you weren’t prepared to alpha test it and feed your experience back to the developers…. just whinging on here serves no one

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