Minimo

Minimo (from "Mini Mozilla") was a project to create a version of the Mozilla web browser for small devices like PDAs and mobile phones.

The project aimed to make it easier for developers to embed parts of Mozilla into systems with limited system resources (for example, machines with low amounts of RAM). This project is still in use although is being outmoded by Mozilla Fennec, another mobile device web-browser.

Background

To minimize the use of system resources, Minimo did not include a lot of Mozilla's functionality, such as support for SVG. In addition, the browser used small screen rendering technology to reformat Web pages for pocket-sized displays. The user interface was also designed to take up minimal screen space, with a single 8px high toolbar and a hidden-by-default address bar. Other user interface functionality, such as bookmarks, history, and search, was migrated into a special homepage called the Homebase. Because Minimo is based on the Gecko infrastructure, developers can decide to build specific versions and evaluate other features such as the canvas, SVG support, and more.

Most Minimo development has centered around ARM devices (such as Hewlett-Packard's iPAQ) with around 64MB of RAM, running Familiar Linux and the GPE Palmtop Environment (where it is now the default browser). Minimo 0.1 was released for this platform in 2004. Version 0.2 came out in March 2007 and represents a product targeted for developers.

A Windows CE version of Minimo was also under development, built against the Pocket PC 2003 software development kit. The first public build of Minimo for Windows CE was made available in February 2005.

Chris Hofmann created the Minimo project shortly after leaving Netscape Communications, under funding from Nokia's Maemo team. He single-handedly saved this project from being canceled many times. The loyal dog, Sparky, is the project's Chief Mascot. Currently Chris works for the Mozilla Corporation. Chris is also responsible for some of the Minimo key features such as the Homebase bar, a format for displaying bookmarks more amenable to mobile devices.

The lead Minimo developer is Doug Turner, who has headed this and additional Mozilla mobile projects such as the Mozilla labs project named Joey. The Mozilla Foundation hired Turner in December 2004 to work full time on Mobile projects. Minimo has been funded by Nokia and others. Nokia's involvement became public in mid-2004.

On December 17, 2006, Turner, in his blog, acknowledged the slow pace of development, and revealed that Mozilla developers are exploring alternatives for Gecko-based web browsing on mobile handsets. Turner issued an invitation for others to "step up" as his own development priorities shift.

On March 31, 2007, Minimo 0.2 for Windows Mobile was finally released. The new version adds tabbed browsing, an upgraded interface, and support for Windows Mobile 5.

On November 27, 2007, project head Doug Turner announced that the project was no longer supported.

By 2008 Doug Turner had begun on yet another mobile web browser, this time known as Firefox Mobile or Fennec.

Criticism

Probably because it was in the early stages of development, the Windows Mobile version of Minimo performs significantly slower than expected.

The quality of rendered pages is congruent with the well-respected layout engine it implements (Gecko), but the program has very high memory and hardware requirements compared to what is typically available on most handheld platforms (e.g. 64 megabytes of RAM, 206–624 MHz ARM-compatible CPU).

Version 0.016 (~8 MB CAB installation; Windows Mobile 4.2 + 5.0) and Version 0.2 (~4 MB CAB installation; Windows Mobile 5.0 only) are not recommendable for end-users not used to running bleeding edge software. In this version the browser may make the Windows Mobile OS unstable and a soft-reset may be required to make the system work again.

Version 0.2 was recommended for developers targeting mobile devices or interested in AJAX- and Web Services-driven Web application for the mobile space. Minimo is compatible with many Web 2.0 applications, such as Gmail.

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