Editing Minimo (section)

==Background==

The Minimo Project was created to test the feasibility of porting a full-function desktop browser engine to advanced mobile devices.

To minimize the use of system resources Minimo initially did not include some of Mozilla's functionality, such as support for [[Scalable Vector Graphics|SVG]], although continuing experiments sought to include all the features of the Mozilla codebase. In addition, the browser used [[small screen rendering]] technology to reformat Web pages for pocket-sized displays and allowed a platform for UI experiments on mobile devices. The [[user interface]] was 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 (layout engine)|Gecko]] infrastructure, developers can decide to build specific versions and evaluate other features such as the canvas, SVG support, and more.

Chris Hofmann created the Minimo project shortly after leaving Netscape Communications in 2003, under funding from Nokia's Maemo team.  He single-handedly saved the project from being canceled many times.  Currently Chris works for the [[Mozilla Corporation]]. Chris was also responsible for some of the Minimo key features such as the Homebase bar, a format for displaying bookmarks more amenable to mobile devices.

Early Minimo development centered on [[ARM architecture|ARM]] devices (such as [[Hewlett-Packard]]'s [[iPAQ]]) with around 64[[megabyte|MB]] of RAM, running [[Familiar Linux]] and the [[GPE Palmtop Environment]] (where it was the default browser). Minimo 0.1 was released for this platform in 2004.

The lead Minimo developer, [[Doug Turner (Mozilla)|Doug Turner]], 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.<ref name="cnet-20041110">{{cite web| title=Firefox maps its next moves |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/firefox-maps-its-next-moves |author=Paul Festa |date=November 10, 2004 |website=[[CNET]]}}</ref> Minimo was funded by [[Nokia]] and others. Nokia's involvement became public in mid-2004.<ref name="cnet-nokia">{{cite web| title=Nokia cash boosts Mozilla| url=https://www.cnet.com/news/nokia-cash-boosts-mozilla |author=Paul Festa |date=June 28, 2004 |website=[[CNET]]}}</ref> Chris and Doug teamed up with web developer [[Marcio Galli]] as he focused in user interface aspects and mostly creating built in applications for Minimo using HTML instead of [[XUL]] — these were refereed in the source code<ref name="minimo-extensions">{{cite web | url = https://dxr.mozilla.org/mozilla1.8/source/minimo/extensions | title = extensions - DXR | publisher = mozilla.org | author = Marcio Galli | date = 28 Feb 2006 | access-date = 2012-02-28 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> as extensions but served as concept for web-based mobile apps featuring Flickr, Google Maps, and more.
 
A [[Windows CE]] version of Minimo was created for [[Pocket PC]] 2003 [[software development kit]]. The first public build of Minimo for Windows CE was made available in February 2005.

In June 2006, the 0.16 release of minimo included tabs, a "homebase bar" for fast navigation to frequently used web sites, and featured support for many advanced web development capabilities that made the mobile browser easier to use.

On December 17, 2006, Turner, in his [[blog]], acknowledged the slow pace of development, and revealed that Mozilla developers were 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.<ref name="mozillazine">[http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/dougt/archives/017337.html MozillaZine]{{dead link|date=December 2010}}</ref>

Version 0.2 came out in March 2007 and represented a product targeted for mobile developers. Minimo 0.2 included and upgraded interface, and support for Windows Mobile 5.

On November 27, 2007, project head Doug Turner announced that the project was no longer supported.<ref>{{cite web| title=Minimo and Mobile. « DougT's Blog |url=http://dougt.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/minimo-and-mobile |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214201001/http://dougt.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/minimo-and-mobile/ |archive-date=2007-12-14 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

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