There's a mad Fennec on the loose

Normally we're all about leaks. We love getting our hands on the latest and greatest phones, operating systems and software before anyone else, being a guinea pig, and then sharing the results with you.

This is not one of those times.

We first noticed a leaked version of Mozilla's Fennec browser floating around the Internets on Thursday. And the early consensus was that it's nowhere near ready for prime time and is definitely not the beta we're expecting on the Touch Pro in the coming days. Our guess? The code's been compiled but certainly wasn't intended for mass consumption. So we let it go, but kept our eyes on it. But that hasn't stopped other brave souls from trying it. So, after the break, we bring you a video from Pocketnow of a browser that doesn't yet work.

Why are we getting our registry entries in a twist over this? For one, our excitement for Fennec has grown as we've waited. With all the power we're used to in Firefox with bookmarks, add-ons and Mozilla Weave, this could be the first mobile browser to really give Safari on the iPhone a run for its money (with apologies to Skyfire and the Opera 9.5 beta — ya know we've got love for ya). Ask us what our top gripes about Windows Mobile are, and a proper browser will always be in the Top 5. And that's why we'd prefer to put Fennec through its paces once the real beta build is released. Even then, it will be a beta, so there undoubtedly will be some niggles. So, Mozilla, take your time. Let's get this right.

In the meantime, instead of loading some half-baked version on your phone, we suggest trying the desktop emlator instead.