Apparently, the new interface of Internet Explorer for Windows Mobile Smart phones will address the old IE's lack of features and slowness.
Note, however, the IE 6 is available for Windows Mobile 6.5
Press Release: [Read More]
Internet Explorer Mobile 6 clearly improves on previous versions of the browser, but apart from speed, how does it compare to the stable version of Opera Mobile, version 9.5, the other mobile browser that's commonly preloaded on Windows phones? (Opera Mobile 9.7 beta is also available for testers, as is competing browser Skyfire. We chose Opera 9.5 as a basis of comparison because of its ubiquity.) Both IE Mobile 6 and Opera Mobile can download image files and apps, copy and paste, and cursorily manage bookmarks. Opera Mobile 9.5 trumps Microsoft's mobile browser with a password manager, tabbed browsing (albeit with a two-tab limit on our test phone), a download manager, find-in-page feature, and richer context menus--for example to share links via MMS, SMS, or e-mail.
Don't get lost. A helper window shows your location on the page while you browse.
(Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)Internet Explorer Mobile 6 has some advantages over Opera Mobile, however. It combines the URL and search bar where Opera Mobile separates them. It nicely surfaces the search history in a drop-down arrow on the right edge of the URL/search bar. The "you are here" map (see screenshot) and ability to easily cut, copy, and clear URL text with a long press on the URL bar are nice perks. We find the navigation buttons slightly more intuitive in IE Mobile 6, too. In addition to Opera's beneficial features, we'd like to see Internet Explorer Mobile outfitted with a refresh button on-screen, not just in the More menu, and we'd like a way to navigation forward too, not just back. We'd also strongly like to reorder favorites by dragging and dropping, which would make the process of adding bookmarks to new folders much less ponderous.
The browser isn't as full-featured as we think it should be. (Microsoft says it's aiming for a browser simple enough for the average phone user.) Regardless, IE Mobile 6 is a drastic improvement over previous builds on the interface front, and it's suitable for basic users who want to browse, but who won't seek fancy customization. If Microsoft can manage to rev up the browser's speed and can deliver a robust extensions gallery, it may have a shot at developing its mobile browser more or less in step with Opera Mobile, Skyfire, and Mozilla Fennec--instead of chasing behind them.
Internet Explorer Mobile 6 is currently only available on Windows Mobile 6.5 phones.
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