IE Mobile overhaul: Sleek yet weak?

Internet Explorer Mobile's sexier look.

(Credit: Microsoft)

I sat down with Microsoft on Wednesday at CTIA 2009 to take a closer look at the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system first previewed at GSMA Mobile World Congress. As part of a much riskier design that users will probably either appreciate or hate, the smartphone operating system includes a complete overhaul to Internet Explorer Mobile.

IE Mobile will sport a cleaner design, with icons large enough for you to put down the classic touch-screen stylus and start using your fingers. Round navigation buttons line the bottom of the screen and then fade from view until you tap them. The hideaway menu is similar to that of Opera Mobile 9.5 and the forthcoming Firefox for Mobile.

While IE Mobile will be sleek indeed, it's also weak on features, at least if your goal is to replicate the trappings of desktop browsing on smartphones. In the initial release, there will be support for Flash Lite for videophiles to enjoy, as well as copy and paste features, but there won't be text searching within a document, image downloading, tabbed browsing, or support for browser add-ons.

What Microsoft is offering, however, is a promise of performance that encompasses swifter rendering speeds and better follow-through on complex Internet tasks, like checking into a flight online without the browser crashing. With the next Internet Explorer build, Microsoft says it will focus on increasing its success rate of completing complicated tasks.

Whether this back-to-basics model will be able to grab some of the excitement mounting around feature-rich mobile browsers like Opera Mobile and Firefox Mobile (code-named Fennec) will remain to be seen until Internet Explorer Mobile ships on the first Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphones in the latter half of 2009.

[another_cissp]

Jessica, are you really calling mobile IE weak because it does not have the feature of a desktop browser. Why don?t you compare it to something that makes a little more sense.

[kstafferton]

How about Opera Mobile. Oh, wait, that actually does have all the desktop features she mentioned except add-ons.

[stuxstu]

blah, blah, blah.... Hate Microsoft... blah, blah, blah....

CNET = Blogger = No difference

[Super2online]

You have to understand. If your a blogger on any of these site, you have to be against "everything" Microsoft does, or you risk being laughed into obscurity. Nothing they say has to make any sense, it only has to come across as being against Microsoft and the crowd roars with applause.

Dont' come to these sites looking for objective and unbiased reporting, because you might spend all day looking.

[Careakith]

I agree 100%. It is weak. The entire Windows Mobile OS needs a shot of SOMETHING in its arm. I Just hope MS figures it out in time cause I sure can't.

[mobilerc]

I love Windows Mobile on my HTCs. But IEMoblie is still not the killer that it should be. SkyFire changed everything for me... showing all the uselessness of Opera Mobile and IE. Now that Skyfire .9 even works on my Celio Redfly (With full Flash 10, not the silly FlashLite) it's my default all the way. Sorry, Microsoft, I love you but buying Skyfire would have been smarter and faster for leapforgging over FireFox.

[ai4281]

I do agree with some of Jessica's points. But I think IE mobile is a bit misunderstood right now...

It's got FULL FLASH SUPPORT!!! I'm on a leaked 6.5 build (21198), with IE mobile on it, and I can watch CNET and Hulu videos on it with no problem. Video is a little choppy, but that's to be expected when streaming 480p video over 3G in a major city...

Also, 6.5 is beta right now, so the whole OS is not up to it's full potential right now. However, the build I'm using right now is fully stable and usable. Whatever Jessica saw must've been a really early alpha version. I'm having no problem using IE mobile on this rom in my daily routines.

Anyway, I think WinMo is getting really good now. I don't know if it has the wow factor that will convert iPhone/Blackberry users to WinMo platform, but I'm pretty sure it will keep the existing users happy. And with a plethora of new WinMo devices coming out later this year, WinMo will only become more popular.