Firefox for Windows Mobile

For whatever screwed up reason, Microsoft never bothered to put a full browser into Windows Mobile, EVER.  Even the latest WinMo version 6.1 does not have a good browser.  The only alternative out there has been Opera Mobile.  It is not bad but it does not support as many of the Web 2.0 features out there when viewing pages in normal desktop browser mode.  Opera Mobile 9.5 beta is a major step up from version 8.65 but it is still a bit problematic.

Given that Firefox 3 is an enormous improvement over version 2 and that the Mozilla team has always done an excellent job, a Windows Mobile version of their browser would be VERY welcome.  With all of the plug-ins for Firefox, if Mozilla supports them in Firefox mobile, then there would be a MASSIVE cause for myself and many others out there to start using Firefox as the ONLY web browser on the desktop and on smart phones.

As a note of happiness, Engadget Mobile is reporting on some early FF Mobile alpha screen shots.  Hopefully, this means that we are not too far from a beta release.

Regardless of what comes out from Mozilla, my real hope is that Microsoft and now Google, step up and provide powerful alternatives to Opera.  If Microsoft is at all serious about winning the smart phone war, they would realize that there is an enormous opportunity for them to strike back at Apple.  The iPhone, for all of its glory, cannot actually show ALL of the Internet / World Wide Web because it totally lacks flash capability.  By Microsoft either releasing their own browser upgrade or biting the bullet and helping Mozilla with a mobile version, they would take some serious wind out of the Apple sails.

Engadget Mobile