Multitasking: Multiple Windows In The S60 Browser

The user manual for the N95 says that it can open multiple windows in the browser but even after three firmwares I am yet to see that option materialise. However what the latest v20 firmware has done, is give the N95 a decent ammount of free RAM. Under the old circumstances I never really dreamed of managing multiple windows on the browser, however things have changed and we are in a position to do so. I sucessfully opened four websites including AAS, Symbian-Guru, WOM World, The Symbian Blog. When I tried opening the heaviest of them all Intomobile, it did load but after a while the other four crashed! However the max anyone will open is about theree, which is just fine.

For the other devices too, such as the N82, N81 and the others with decent ammount of RAM already, multiple windows on high speed wifi/3G connections is something practical. There are two methods I have been using to open multiple windows, here’s a rundown of both of them.

Using the Web Feeds Option

– Launch the browser and open a website as you normally would.

– Goto the web feeds option in the bookmarks and open any feed you may have subscribed to. (If not then simply goto a website of your choosing which has a feed, press the Left Softkey and select Subsribe and the name of the feed. It will then show up in your list of feeds and just refresh it once.)

– Now open any post from that feed and select the “Full Article” option. This will open the post in a new window.

– Simply stop the page from loading and proceed to open any site you wish to.

– To switch between open windows, just press ‘5’ and use the navi pad to select.

A maximum of 5 windows can be opened this way. This is probably the most convenient way of opening multiple windows.

Using the Template

A friend of mine sent me this .htm file which can be used to open new windows. Just set it as you homepage from the settings in the browser and click on the “Open a new window” link to open upto a maximun of 5 windows. It also features direct Google search field and a goto box.

– To set this up, copy the file to E:/Others with a file manager or any way you choose.

– Lauch the browser and select Options>Bookmarks>Add a Bookmark.

– In the address type “file://localhost/e:/others/NewWindow.htm” and save the bookmark.

– Load the bookmark, goto Settings>General>Homepage and select use current.

 Thats it, next time you load the browser this will be displayed. You can also press ‘9’ for the default goto option which remembers history.

I do not know how I end up making the posts seem complicated! But it is actually very easy to do! You can download the .htm file here.

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