Minimo 0.009 released – this time with real VGA support!

Menneisyys · 09-22-05, 04:20 AM

You must see it (as long as you don't have a Dell Axim x50v – according to the first reports, it still doesn't work with that device) if you have a VGA device – it just rocks (you'll need to explicitly force minimo.exe into VGA in the standard SE mode! It works, as opposed to previous versions). At startup, just exit the Console window in the menu (File/Close).

This time it comes with a real installer. Download from here; look for 'MinimoCE_0.009.exe'.

Compared to version 0.007 version in my roundup of browsers (iPAQ HQ alternative here), it has

- cut and paste support
- full screen (unfortunately, still with scrollbar when necessary; fortunately, it doesn't display tabs while in fullscreen, unlike NetFront)
- landscape support
- VGA support
- very fast loading
- brand new settings window
- HTTP proxy support

I've tested on a Pocket Loox 720, installed into main RAM. Booted and rendered pages really fast.

Some screenshots:

Google Maps; with the text zoom pane displayed:

Portrait; the context menu (note that it doesn't have dedicated image/link/other context menus – this is the only in-page context menu. Choosing Copy on an image doesn't result in copying the image to the clipboard/saving it; the same stands for links. It only copies selected text):

Portrait; the tab menu – it even has the 'close all other tabs' functionality:

Portrait; the Settings menu; as can be seen, you can also change the character size:

Landcape, not in fullscreen:

The settings dialog screens:

Random settings:

Home page and SSR settings:

HTTP proxy settings:

The error handling seems to be better too. There was a case, however, in full screen landscape, when I wasn't able to exit the program / bring up the context menu to have access to the system OK button to exit the app after the connection terminated during the session

All I can say is WOW!

Caddychunk · 09-22-05, 11:20 PM

Great first look! Man I wish this program worked on the X50v. I'm a die-hard Firefox person.

09-22-05, 11:41 PM

T_T It looks so much nicer than before. Think there is a secondary software hack we can do so the x50v can address all the memory Minimo needs? It doesn't sound like an issue of the program anymore it just sounds like its the OS... of course there is probably some way around it but lets just think of the problem to be on the x50 side.

Edit:
you said faster page loading, is that faster than other browsers or faster than previous revisions.

jnev · 09-23-05, 01:23 AM

ahhh, when is it finally gonna work on the x50v?? i reallyy don't want to pay $30 for netfront...

Menneisyys · 09-23-05, 02:31 AM

Originally Posted by awdark

you said faster page loading, is that faster than other browsers or faster than previous revisions.

I haven't done any real benchmarks like those in my previous browser roundup. The app, generally, is pretty fast.

Menneisyys · 09-23-05, 02:32 AM

Continued playing with Minimo. It has already become a decent alternative to PIE, with the following exceptions:

- still no client-side file caching
- the missing link-specific context menu is particularly painful - at least to be able to open new links in new tabs (and, preferaly, copy link addresses to the clipboard)
- still no access to system-wide favorites (\Windows\Favorites), not even for reading only.

However, apart from these problems, it's already a pleasure to use Minimo.

09-23-05, 07:56 AM

Took a look on my X5 ... Looks promising, but still has a way to go to compete with the commercial alternatives.

- Appears slower than Netfront to load pages (I installed it on SD)

- Doesn't recognize PPC formated sites

- Crashed when I tried to use it for this reply (using Netfront to post this instead)

- Nowhere near as many options (bells & whistles) as Netfront (Too many to note)

- No Flash

Still the improvements over the previous release are impressive. The developer definitately seems to have his/her act together.

Looking forward to continued enhancements to this app to hopefully provide features and performance not currently available.

(And yes, I'd have no problem paying for such an app. I always am amused that PPC owner's are always looking for freebies and complain about the lack of good apps)

Ridge · 09-23-05, 11:24 AM

It's getting there. Install on x50 in BIS, it's very slow. But I see huge potential in this. Wish it had smarter ppc website rendering, like the one column, default, desktop options in PIE etc.

Directive0 · 09-25-05, 03:27 PM

anyone know if theres a .cab or just a directory available?

pmcizhere · 09-27-05, 12:31 AM

Ugh, it looks great, but my memory card is having issues...Hopefully I can fix it up and see just how well this browser works...:D

alasdairgf · 10-03-05, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by Directive0

anyone know if theres a .cab or just a directory available?

I believe the lastest version (0.009) comes as a .exe installer - download to and run from your desktop.

Directive0 · 10-16-05, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by alasdairgf

I believe the lastest version (0.009) comes as a .exe installer - download to and run from your desktop.

yeah, I know. Looking for a .cab. Doesn't seem to be happenin. Oh well, PIE will have to do for now (mac)

**Rishad** · 10-16-05, 10:11 PM

I already like Minimo.. but I might be just a biased firefox fan! btw why is minimo not so mini? it is approx. 12MB on my SD.

d0pefish · 10-16-05, 10:49 PM

Yeah, should be called Fat Mo.

Still waiting for that X50v fix too... it's still dead and Doug's little schedule plan to fix that particular error is now pretty long overdue! I've seen no news on Minimo in a good few weeks... I wonder what's going on?

I really want to see this browser be developed well. The GUI needs some serious work - look at scrollbars and options dialogs! Owwwwch. Make it look like Netfront and it'd be great.

I remember on the earlier versions, it even made the entire top taskbar move to the bottom! Is Minimo some kind of GUI Frankenstein experiment?