I like a larger screen for reading e-books and so a used UMPC may be in my future. But one reason I’m not jumping ship now from the 800-pixel 4.3-inch Nokia to the 800-pixel 7-inch UMPC is that FBReader provides the most satisfying set of formatting controls of any e-reader I’ve seen.
With it, I’m able to control settings in 1 pixel, or one-third of a point, increments and font, margin and leading size are all set to my personal ideal. And, by the by, FBReader** is open-source software, written in C. For now, the only versions of this e-reader run under Linux.
But how about a port to Windows? And then to UMPC’s running Windows XP Tablet? Big screen, wonderful e-reader. And FBReader rotates the display in 90-degree increments, to portrait or landscape mode, for left- or righthanded use. Seems custom-made for the UMPC screen.
FBReader displays e-books in html, plain text and Plucker pdb formats already, as well as its “native” FB2 format and some others. Other formats may be in the offing, giving it a versatility not shared by many e-readers.
Microsoft has even created a display emulator for the UMPC. This provides a “quick and easy way to check screen layout and behavior at screen resolution of a UMPC” on a Windows XP machine. This should simplify making UI adjustments.
* I also like the pocket-size, 8-ounce convenience of the Nokia 770 I own. I say “used” because I figure that’s the likeliest way one of those 25- or 30-ounce devices will come into my price range.
** FBReader is not yet finished. It lacks annotations, highlighting and bookmarks, all features promised by version 1.0. See the FBReader home page for source code and more information at only.mawhrin.net/fbreader/
Does VMware Player
http://www.vmware.com/products/player/
provide a way to do this without developing a Windows version of FBreader? Based on WMware’s documentation it appears that a Linux/FBreader “virtual appliance” could be run under Windows using the (free) VMware Player. The person creating the appliance would need a licenced WMware product, but the resulting appliance would appear to be freely available.
I imagine this would work — especially until this app could be ported. Am I being biased to think this would be undesirable overhead for a permanent solution?
In my own case I won’t be using FBReader to read e-books on my Windows machine till said machine is in that ultra-mobile caregory. But being able to check files in the FictionBook 2 format without going to another computer alone makes it worthwhile. (I check them in the Haali Reader on Windows, too.) So I’ll probably be trying this out. Not that I have a license to make an appliance . . .
uBook could be a good alternative in Windows.
Running VMWare just for a ebook reader is way overkill.
If it is open-source, it should be doable to port to Windows. But there is already more eBook reader for Windows (or any platform) for me to care. Surely one of them will fit your bill right?
oh ya, iSilo has a reader for Windows as well. I seem to recall it having the scroll by pixel option. Hmmm … but no it does not have rotation, from what I heard. But UMPCs will support rotation right? My notebook supports screen rotation natively by Intel graphics chipset. Its WinXP HomeEd.
uBook supports rotation … but I think its scrolling is really crap.