Palm versus Pocket PC: Which is better?

Palm is the reigning champ of PDA OSs, but Windows Mobile 2003 is gaining ground fast. Which PDA operating system packs the biggest punch?

Microsoft may rule the desktop world, but in the battle for handheld supremacy, it's still anybody's game. Found in handhelds from PalmOne, Sony, and other manufacturers, the Palm operating system has held a market-share advantage since the beginning, but Windows Mobile 2003 (née Pocket PC) is no longer just nipping at its heels; it's nipping away at its sales, as well. But if you put the Palm OS in the ring with Windows Mobile, which PDA operating system would survive the bout? Is one notably stronger than the other?

To find out, we booked eight rounds of PDA pugilism, pitting Palm OS 5.2.1 against fast-rising challenger Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 in categories such as ease of use, Office compatibility, and multimedia features. For the most part, we left the hardware outside the ring, as features such as battery life and processor speed vary widely from model to model across both platforms. The operating systems threw some seriously powerful jabs, and the winner may surprise you.

Go to the rounds:
		Round 1: Ease of use			Round 5: Email
		Round 2: Entering data			Round 6: Office compatibility
		Round 3: Core applications			Round 7: Multimedia
		Round 4: Desktop compatibility			Round 8: Available software

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Try managing many files in a P ...Anonymous -- 27/02/04

Try managing many files in a Palm - the concept of directory structure or file management doesn't even exist on Palms (it may on the latest OS, but by then I'd moved to Windows)
How about having your review cover eBooks and readers - almost a raison d'etre for a PDA?
Put 800 eBooks into a SD memory unit, and see whether Palm or PocketPC copes best. It isn't even a contest.
That's 2 areas Pocket PC wins in - still sure Palms are better?

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I've been with Palm for the la ...Anonymous -- 02/04/04

I've been with Palm for the last 5 years and have loved it. However, it was unstable, a bit kludgy when trying to integrate to my PC and a friend introduced me to the Pocket PC. Well, I've just bought an iPAQ 5550 and can't believe I ever loved Palm. PPC is awesome, stable, better synchronisation with outlook and the desktop (no need for middle ware). I can't understand why you rated Palm better. Get with the times guys. PPC is the future and Palm should be worried.

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obviously the two respondents ...Anonymous -- 03/04/04

obviously the two respondents before me have not used the new palms with OS5+.

i used to own a handspring, then a toshiba e310, now i own the hp2210 and palm tungsten t2. palms by far are better. this review is accurate. actually i even disagree with the email part, palm should have won that too rather than draw.

another main palm advantage: battery life!
Palm last 3x longger than PPCs and thats with heavy use of bluetooth (i use it for sms and hotsync). PPCs cant last the day with me but Palms make it to 3 days without a recharge. That is KEY to owning a PDA why by a PDA if it is not truly portable?!?! i have to lug around a power supply everywhere i take my 2210.

My only gripes about Palms: Multimedia and GPRS websurfing. MP3 playback volume is way too low for palm and Kinoma is difficult to handle for video playback.

as with GPRS, Palm has to have the settings for your mobile operator. if they dont list your mobile operator it cant be used. PPC has customizable settings for IR/bluetooth GPRS connection through a cellphone.

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The report does not mention th ...Anonymous -- 13/04/04

The report does not mention the availability of Decuma, Calligrapher and other third party hand writing applications which can make both PDA's far more usable. Further there are add-ons (freeware)that do allow the use of the whole screen for text entry on Palm PDAs.

No mention is made that Palm only supports one application at a time (unlike Pocket PC which is multi-threaded) but Palm is much faster in loading apps, and unlike Pocket PC does not have the problem of the memory getting flooded.

Also not much comments are given about the fact that though Pocket PC offers a large screen estate, its mainly 240x320 as opposed to most palm based PDA's which are 320x320 and are much more crisp and clear when it comes to text.

But on the whole as mentioned Pocket PC is more suitable for multimedia oriented activities while Palm is more a business organizer (with multimedia in the newer models). Though one wonders if so much multimedia is needed when the main idea of a PDA is for "personal productivity" but that i guess is a "religious" argument.

I am sure if Microsoft can review their approach on Windows Pocket PC edition and change it from a scaled down Windows UI to something more useable (like Palm has or better!) it would make it a bigger hit as it seems the Pocket PC PDA's offer more features and software straight out of the box compared with Palm based PDA's.

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With a file manager system lik ...Anonymous -- 26/05/04

With a file manager system like "super utility" from Handmark for your Palm, you can create directories ets & have everything organised easily - just like windows!

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What a corrupt account of whic ...Anonymous -- 17/10/04

What a corrupt account of which is better, I can't believe the bias you can print and get away with it. I wonder how much ZDNet was paid for this shambles of a comparison. For a start you forgot to mention any of the Exchange Server 2003 features of Windows Mobile, while your account for better Office support relies on a 3rd party program, while you pan WM for not supporting Mac except via a 3rd party program. Hmmm, sounds a bit inconsistent. I personally would put Office documents ahead of Mac synchronization anyway. Then again if you have Exchange Server (which a lot of people do have) then you can sync over the air, very nice, I use it everyday. Yet you say that PC syncing is better on the Palm, even though WM comes bundled with Outlook, or did you forget that. When I have used a Palm with Outlook it came up with a very annoying security message every time, correct me if I'm wrong on that, but I would say that is not flawless.

As for the user interface in my "informal survey" I found all my respondents liked Windows Mobile much better. As for the PIM software you call it a draw then go onto mention that all WM devices support voice notes, and these sync with Outlook for later replay or you can email them.

As for saying Palm software is better than Windows mobile is one of the biggest mistakes you could have done. As a software engineer I can say that its definitely about quality not quantity. The tools provided to people such as myself are many times better on the windows front, Mobile or not. Perhaps the biggest thing you didn't mention was the .Net Compact Framework, which enables developers to produce high quality applications very quickly. Palm does not have the Compact Framework, and if your comeback includes the words Java then you are missing the point. My primary language used to be Java but it really doesn't stack up these days against the .Net Framework, not from a language POV but from the support given to developers.

It is a shame that so many people will read this article and go and purchase a Palm when they are inferior in so many ways. Shame on you ZDNet, I used to think you were for the most part impartial; this is a complete sham of a report.

I am not a MS supporter, I have no financial ties with any MS product, I just think they have a much better product in my many years experience. Perhaps you should have included a segment on cost, Palm knows they are not as good and charge less (or MS thinks they are better), however I didn't see that mentioned anywhere.

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i dont know pocket pc and pda ...Anonymous -- 20/10/04

i dont know pocket pc and pda hv difference

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Palm tx Anonymous -- 24/11/08

All i have to say is that the palm tx far surpasses any pocket pc

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