WHAT’S HOT

Pocket Internet Explorer.  You have
to use the back and forward arrows and reload each site to go back and
forth.

MultiIE.  Each site
has its own tab, allowing easy switching back and
forth.

    Since
we last reviewed MultiIE, Southway Corp has added
several new features.  Most importantly, they’ve
improved the performance and they’ve added full
support for Windows Mobile 2003, Second Edition,
including support for VGA-resolution displays. 
Throughout the review, I’ve mentioned features that I
think are important and useful, even if they’re not
new to version 3.1.  In order for you to be able
to easily tell which features are new, I’ll
highlight those features with a

icon.

SETUP

    MultiIE uses the
standard ActiveSync "Add Program" functionality to
install.  However, even though ActiveSync will
ask you if you wish to "Install in the default
location?", you can’t install MultiIE anywhere but
main memory.  Unfortunately, not only is there no
warning that this is the case, if you try to install
to a File Store or Storage Card, MultiIE will still be
installed in main memory, but some critical links
won’t be made correctly.  If you do a soft-reset
on your Pocket PC, an error message will appear that
says it can’t find MultiIE or a critical library.  The developer needs to at least put a warning in the
installer that you must install MultiIE in main memory
for it to function properly.
    In
our previous review, Tim Adams noted that, when
the installer program "Repairs" an installation, it
doesn’t reinstall the program on your Pocket PC. 
It only fixes shortcuts, etc. on the desktop. 
This is still the case with version 31.  You can
use ActiveSync’s, Add/ Remove Programs functionality
to reinstall the program on your PPC, but it would be
better if the install program did it while
"repairing."
    Once the program is installed, you don’t actually run it to
use it.  Instead, the installation has imbedded
MultiIE’s functionality into Pocket Internet Explorer.  If you call up PIE, you’ll get MultiIE.

Setting Program Options

   
The MultiIE main menu allows you to call up the "MultiIE
Options…" dialog which gives you an impressive
amount of control over the program’s features:

MultiIE Options…
dialog, with the Page tab showing

   
The "Page" tab of MutiIE Options lets you change how
pages are loaded and how they appear.  When you
open a new page in MultiIE, you can elect to use a
particular page every time, a blank page, or whichever
page is currently being displayed. 
When you open
a link in MultiIE, you can elect to open the linked
page in a new tab/window, simply open over the current
page, or open in a new window, but in the background. 
When a page is loaded, you can have MultiIE play a
sound and/or bring the page to the front so you can
see the changes.  For web sites that
automatically refresh their pages (for ads or other
purposes) the second option will have the result of
flipping that page to the foreground whenever that
occurs.  That can be a little annoying, so it’s a
good thing that you can turn off that option. 
The final options on the Page tab are for the display
of the tabs themselves.  You can turn off the
tabs completely to see more of the web pages. 
You can set the height of the tabs, to allow for more
viewing space. 
You can also set the width of the tabs from "Largest,"
where two tabs appear on the screen at one time, to
"Smallest," where six tabs appear.
    The "Misc" tab, as the name implies, holds miscellaneous
MultiIE settings:

MultiIE Miscellaneous
Options

   
The first option under Miscellaneous allows you to set
which program MultiIE will call up to view the HTML
Source coding of the current web page when you select
to do so from the MultiIE menu.  You can also
turn off the "View Source" option completely.
    The second set of options allow you to set "Address bar
macros."  These macros allow you to quickly enter
standard parts of a web address. 
The options in this dialog let you set up macros which are triggered by an icon MultiIE adds to
the address bar.  (We’ll see that later.)  Unfortunately, there is no help for understanding the
syntax of these macros, so you’re pretty much left
with figuring out how they work by yourself.  A
feature this powerful deserves a little explanation.
    The next two options allow you to specify a location where
Menu extensions and Link extensions are stored. 
Essentially this allows additional functionality to be
added to MultiIE without requiring a new program
release and allowing the user to select only that
functionality they want to add.  Again, some
explanation of how this works would be welcome.
    The final Miscellaneous options are two buttons that let you
set Registry entries that affect Pocket IE and
Networking.

MultiIE Pocket IE
Registry Settings

   
Through the Registry Settings dialogs MultiIE allows
you to "tweak" some related Registry settings without
having to resort to a Registry Editor or tweak
program.  In the Pocket IE Registry Settings
dialog, you can set the "User agent identification"
string which will prevent websites that would actually
work with PIE to fail because the version number
appears too low.  You can also enable or disable
ClearType in PIE and elect to Show JavaScript issues
when they occur.  Most changes to the Registry
don’t take effect until you do a soft-reset. 
MultiIE facilitates that with the [Save & Reboot]
button.

MultiIE Network Registry
Settings

   
The Network Registry Settings dialog allows you to
change the size of the TCP/IP "cache."  This
value defaults to 32768, which is more than enough for
basic browsing, but can adversely effect performance
with larger sites.  You can set this to a maximum
of 65535 or you can set it downward to 8192 to regain
some of the memory used by the cache.  This
dialog also allows you to set how many times a packet
of information will attempt to re-send before giving
up.

   
Back in the MultiIE Options dialog, the "Screen" tab
holds options which affect the on-screen appearance:

MultiIE Screen Options

   
The first option turns off and on a small "turned
page" icon at the bottom right of the display. 
This icon allows you to quickly switch back and forth
from Full Screen view.  The second set of options
allow you to only partially hide the menu bar (with an
edge of up to 12 pixels which will pop out the menu
bar when tapped).  You can also elect to make the
left edge of the pop-out menu bar an "back" button for
easy navigation to the previously loaded web page. 
The next option allows you to determine whether the
horizontal and/or vertical scroll bars are hidden in
Full Screen view.  The final "Full Screen" option
determines whether the Address bar is shown.
    The next option will allow you to keep the backlight on
regardless of whether you’ve reached the "time out"
value you assigned in the "Settings."  This is
valuable if your backlight keeps going off as you’re
reading from web pages.
    The final two options allow MultiIE to rotate the screen from
portrait to landscape orientation "on-the-fly." 
In order to do screen rotation you’ll need either a
Windows Mobile 2003, Second Edition PPC, which support
this in the operating system, or NYDITOT’s Virtual
Display program which uses some display tricks to
emulate larger screens and different orientations at
the expense of a little readability.  Windows
Mobile 2003, Second Edition support is
with version 3.1.

   
The "Buttons" tab affects how the hardware buttons
work with MultiIE:

MultiIE Button Options

    The first option allows you to set the direction pad
to scroll by page, by line, or by active link. 
The second option decides whether PIE will use the
hardware buttons for internal functions or allow the
system defaults to remain active.  The next
option area allows you to select each button and
assign it a new function.  If you haven’t
assigned a MultiIE function to a button, the
Assignment section will show it’s system default. 
You can assign buttons to the following functions:  Back, Forward, Stop/Refresh, History, Home, Favourites,
Show/Hide Pictures, Show/Hide Address bar, Toggle Fit
to Screen, Window List Menu, Open New Window, Close
Window, Next Window, Previous Window, Toggle Full
Screen, Save Web Page, View Source, Open Preset 1,2,3,
or 4, Open URL, Rotate Screen, Keypress TAB, Scroll
Top, Bottom, Left Edge, Right Edge, Page Up, Page
Down, or Middle.

   
The "Preset" button lets you assign your Presets web
pages:

MultiIE Preset Options

   
MultiIE supports up to four "Presets."  Presets
operate essentially the same as Favorites, but you can
call them up more quickly using the MultiIE menus. 
Each Preset can be assigned a descriptive name and a
URL.  You also have the option to assign the
current web page to a preset.  The final options
select whether the Presets appear in the MultiIE menu
and/or in the tap-and-hold context menu.

   
The final tab, "About" displays program and
registration information.  It also provides
access to the "Help" page and an option to [Stop
MultiIE]:

MultiIE About tab

   
The [Stop MultiIE] function is a good addition to the
program.  If, for any reason, you have problems
with a particular web site using MultiIE, you can turn
it off and use standard PIE.  Simply running the
MultiIE program on the PPC will restore MultiIE’s
functionality again.

PROGRAM FEATURES

    One
of the first things you’ll notice about MultiIE is
that it looks a lot like PIE.  That’s because it
really is PIE.  The MultiIE features are sort of
super-imposed on top of PIE’s functionality. 
That’s good in a number of ways.  First, you’re
already familiar with most of MultiIE’s functionality
because it’s just PIE with multiple windows. 
Second, any program that automatically calls up a PIE
window will now automatically call up MultiIE.  Third, any of the hacks and tweaks that work with PIE
will do exactly the same thing with MultiIE.

MultiIE — PIE with
multiple (tabbed) windows

    As you’ve probably also noticed, the example above is in landscape mode. 
MultiIE,
version 3.1 fully supports Windows Mobile 2003, Second
Edition including landscape orientation and the new
VGA resolution screens.  If you want to see
full-sized VGA-resolution screen captures, just click
on each of the screen images you see in this review.  You’ll get a separate window with the full-sized
screen capture.
    Since it’s common to all Pocket PCs, I’ll switch back to
portrait for the remainder of the article.

MultiIE supports
portrait and landscape orientation in QVGA and VGA
resolution

    One
"behind the scenes" aspect of MultiIE is that each "tab" is
actually a separate instance of PIE.  With the
three tabs above, I’m actually running three instances
of PIE.  You can see that when I call up my task
switcher.:

MultiIE’s tabs are
actually instances of Pocket Internet Explorer,
running at the same time

    Unfortunately, the only way to tell which instance is
which is within the MultiIE tabbed interface.

    You
may have noticed the icon that MultiIE has added to the address bar.  Tapping on that icon calls up the macro menu:

MultiIE adds a "macro
expansion" icon to the address bar

    The
macro menu allows you to quickly manipulate text in
the address bar.  The macros that read
"http://www.|.com", etc., allow you to enter all that
text and have the insertion point placed where you’d
enter the site name.  For instance, I could use
the macro highlighted above and just type "pocketnow"
to get to our site.  The macros that begin with >
allow you to "tack" the following text at the end of
the address.  As I said before, I’d like to see a
set of instructions for creating macro expressions
included with the program.

    On
the other side of the address bar, next to the "load
this address" icon ()
is a small drop-down icon which calls up the Quick
Search and Skweezer menu:

MultiIE also adds a new
drop-down menu to the address bar

    The
Quick Search options quickly connect you to search
engines and specialized information.  The final
options are for use with
Skweezer, a subscription service that optimizes
Web content for PDAs and smartphones, reformatting
pages so they’re easier to view and load faster.

    The
rest of the functionality of MultiIE is accessed by the two
additional icons ()
the program adds to the PIE tool bar.  The one on
the right simply closes the current MultiIE tab. 
Since each tab is an instance of PIE, you’re actually
closing the program.  Thus, if you click on the
close icon with one tab showing, you close MultiIE
entirely.  Conversely, if you tap on the (x) at
the top-right of one of MultiIE’s tabs, it simply
moves that tab "behind" the tab to the left of it.  If you’re on the left-most tab, it moves the MultiIE
interface into the background, revealing whatever
other PPC programs you might be running.
    The left-most MultiIE icon pops up the main MultiIE menu:

 
MultiIE’s main menu

   
At the top of the menu is a list of currently open web
pages.  You can switch to the page you’d like
from the menu as well as tapping on the tabs. 
Below the page list are the commands to Open a New
Blank Window (start a new instance of PIE) and Close
[the current] Window (same function as the icon on the
right).  Below those options are your "Presets." 
This is MultiIE’s language for essentially the same
function as Favorites.  MultiIE comes
pre-programmed with Presets for Pocket Google, Hot
Mail, and Pocket PC Writer.NET.  Below the
Presets pop-up is an option that allows you to save
the current web page.  This opens a standard
"Save File" dialog that allows you to choose a name,
folder, type (Text or HTML), and Location (Main Memory
or Storage Card).  Below the Save option are
options to Rotate the Screen (on WM2003SE or using NVD
only) and to shift to Full Screen mode.  In Full
Screen mode, the scroll bars, toolbar, URL bar, and
Title bar are taken away so you can see as much of the
web page as possible:

MultiIE supports Full
Screen Mode (without tool, title, URL, and scroll
bars)

   
You may have noticed that there’s no way to get to the
MultiIE main menu in the Full Screen mode. 
MultiIE also has a "context menu" that pops up when
you tap-and-hold on the screen.  There are
slightly different versions of the menu depending
whether you tap-and-hold on normal web text or space,
hyperlinked text, or a hyperlinked picture:

MultiIE’s tap-and-hold
context menu for normal web text or space

   
The first set of options allow you to Select All the
Text on the current page, Refresh (redraw) the current
Page, or Add the current page to your Favorites. 
Below that are options to move
Back or Forward through the pages that you’ve loaded
on the current tab, and Stop or Restart the current
pages loading.  Below those are a set that allow
you to turn on or off the display of the Address Bar,
allow you to use the stylus to drag on the screen to
scroll, Keep the Backlight On even if the time you’ve
set in Settings expires, and to Scroll up or down a
page, scroll to the next line, or hyperlink, or scroll
to the top, bottom, left or right edge of the current
page.
    The next set of options allows you to View the HTML Source
coding of the current page.  (You can select
which application is used to display the text in the
Options.)  You can also Rotate the Screen if
you’re using a WM2003SE PPC () or you’ve installed NYDITOT’s Virtual Display (NVD).  Finally, you
can Restore the screen from Full Screen mode.
    The last set of options show and allow you to quickly load
your "Presets" web pages.
    I should also note that, when the height of the context menu
exceeds the height of the screen (when you’re in
landscape mode, for instance),
the context menu includes scrolling icons to allow you
to select options that would otherwise be off-screen.

MultiIE’s tap-and-hold
context menu for hyperlinked text

   
The first set of options for hyperlinked text is the
same as the previous menu.  The second set will
Open the link with the default Open Action, Open the
link in a New Window, Open the link in a New Window in
the Background, or
allow you to set the Default action for subsequent
Opens.
    The final set of options in this menu allow you to Copy the
Link Address (potentially to insert it into the
address bar and make modifications) or to simply View
the Link Address.

MultiIE’s tap-and-hold
context menu for a hyperlinked picture

   
The first three sets of options for a hyperlinked
picture are the same as the previous menu.  The
final set of options allows you to save the picture,
set the picture as your Today Screen Wallpaper, or
view the text that’s associated with the image.  (Many images have text associated with them for
display on non-graphic web browsers.)

   
The last thing about MultiIE’s interface which you
might miss if you don’t know to look for it.  In
the bottom right corner of the display, when MultiIE
is running you’ll see a small "turned page" icon (). 
Tapping on this icon will switch to the  Full
Screen view and back.

HELP SUPPORT

    There is no standard Help
file installed with MultiIE.  There is a "help" web
page, but it essentially just lists the features,
without explanation. 
The MultiIE web page shows screen captures which
highlight some features in such a way that you can
figure out most of what the program does.  Still,
I would like to see some basic help functionality.
    For support, you can ask for help or request new features via e-mail.  To their credit, Southway Corp also keeps a pretty
close eye on mobile-related forums and responds
quickly to questions there as well.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

   
Southway Corp. has a policy of support all Pocket PCs.  That means MultiIE runs well on the original Pocket PC
(2000), Pocket PC 2002, Windows Mobile 2003 (including
Phone Edition), and Windows Mobile 2003, Second
Edition (including landscape orientation and VGA
resolution).
    MultiIE takes 285KB of main memory to install and 360KB of
program memory to run with 1.7B for each instance of PIE that you run.

BUGS AND WISHES

   
Aside from the issue with the installer that I
mentioned in the Setup section, there are no bugs to
report.  MultiIE performed well, without fail,
throughout my tests.  I was disappointed that
there wasn’t more help available.  I usually just
play around with a program to find out what various
options do anyway, but that’s not the way a lot of
folks like to work.  There should be a text file
containing a list of the various options and what they
actually do at the very least.  I should also
note that Tim made the same observation in
his review of version 3.0.  It hasn’t
changed.
    Tim also thought a search function that would find text
within a page would be helpful.  That feature has
not been added yet.
   
I have another feature I’d like to see in a future
version:  One of the nicer features of an Internet Explorer
enhancer I’m using on the desktop is that it not only
provides tabbed access to multiple web pages (as MultiIE does), but it also makes it easy to load a set
of pages as a group.  I’d like to see something
like those "Grouped Favorites" in a future MultiIE.

PURCHASING

    MultiIE is available for purchase
from the pocketnow Store for $17.95.  There
is also
a free 14-day trial version.

PROS

• Allows
  multiple web pages simultaneously with Pocket
  Internet Explorer
• Allows
  easy selection of pages with a tabbed interface
• Supports
  all Pocket PC versions

CONS

• Installs only in main memory
• Doesn’t provide much help
• Doesn’t
  support downloading a group of pages with one
  operation

OVERALL
IMPRESSION

    MultiIE’s name suggests
that it’s primary purpose is simply to add
multiple-window capability to Pocket Internet
Explorer.  It does that, and it does that well. 
The ease of use of the tabbed, multi-page interface
alone makes MultiIE worth the cost for anyone who’s
serious about browsing on their PPC.  However, it
also adds a number of other useful functions to PIE
that make the product even more valuable.  I
especially like the ability to remove the various bars
and show only the web page.  This maximizes my
small-screen real estate.  I’d definitely
recommend this program to all but the most casual PIE
users, but I’d also recommend that Southway Corp
quickly write a good, detailed help file for us poor
users that can’t dope out all the functionality on our
own.

All screenshots in this
review are taken using
SOTI’s Pocket Controller Pro