Opera Arrives To The Pocket PC

Weighing in at nearly 5MB, Opera 8.5 for Pocket PC 2003 and Windows Mobile 5.0 is here. But be warned, it is a beta and it does not allow you to install it anywhere but the Program Files directory. So if you’re low on room on your device, this won’t be the way to go. Just to get this screen capture, I had to close everything else down and my Pocket PC still complained that there was not enough memory!

So what can you get from this bloated piece of software? Zoom, downloading, multiple windows, history, bookmarks, landscape and portrait support, full and fit to screen, pop-up handler, pad-lock indicator when on secure sites, and a context menu. One thing not listed on the Opera 8.5 download page is there is a progress indicator on page openings, too. I know PIE has this on Windows Mobile 5.0, but for all of us still in the dark ages, this is a very nice feature.

The 45 day trail for this beta is hope that Opera will pull off a nice browser alternative to the wimpy Pocket Internet Explorer that comes with the Microsoft PDAs. Until the Mozilla client is more robust, this will do for the time being.

BTW, I tried Google Maps and it works to a point. Since Opera likes to re-cut everything up and order it to fit the small narrow screen, you can imagine how messed up the Bay Bridge looks when searching for a San Francisco address. :)

[tags]pocket pc,windows mobile,opera[/tags]