HANDHELDS: The new version of Microsoft's Pocket PC OS, announced last week, offers many benefits to corporate users and turns up the heat in the battle with Palm. I've been playing with it for a couple of weeks, and here's what I found. (Hint: Only iPAQs can upgrade to it!)
Microsoft has unveiled a new version of its Pocket PC operating system, previously code-named Merlin and now known simply as Pocket PC 2002. The new OS, which will begin appearing on handheld devices in about a month, represents a significant evolution for Microsoft and a tougher competitive threat, especially in corporate markets, to the Palm OS.
I've been playing with a copy of Pocket PC 2002 on a Compaq (er, Hewlett-Packard) iPAQ for about two weeks. Compared to the original Pocket PC OS, introduced in April 2000, the new version has a much more refined look and feel. The changes are subtle, but they significantly improve ease of use.
Here are some of the user interface changes:
- Designer "Today" screens. Screen skins and backgrounds are fully customisable
- Improved navigation. Using something called the "back through the stack" model, Pocket PC 2002 users can navigate between recently used applications, where the bottom of the stack is always the Home page, using the Smart Minimise button. This sounds more complex than it is and solves a tremendous bottleneck in the old UI.
- Notification bubbles. The New Notification System features a "well" that displays incoming information such as new messages and upcoming appointments. Users can choose to act on these animated notification bubbles (pictured, below left) or remain in their current application. This is very similar to how Windows Me and XP operate.
- XP look and feel. The new user interface (pictured, below right) shares similar colours and icons with those used in Windows XP.
The changes are not, however, limited to the user interface. Microsoft has improved the sometimes-clunky pocket versions of the Office applications that are supplied with every Pocket PC. It is now possible to beam contact information back and forth with Palm OS users. And there are new, improved versions of Windows Media Player and Microsoft Reader. While I've yet to be sold on reading books on tiny screens, this updated version of the reader is much improved.
BOTH MICROSOFT AND PALM see corporate applications as the next battleground for handheld computing. Microsoft, to my mind, is the natural winner in this because it also controls the desktop and server components that the PDA connects to, at least at many companies.
When I was at Microsoft two weeks ago, I used Pocket PC 2002 to connect to a Microsoft Mobile Information Server and synchronise an Exchange mailbox, calendar, and contact list over an 802.11b wireless Ethernet connection. The 802.11b card was a new Socket model that uses a Compact Flash slot, making it much more convenient that a PC Card-based solution.
I also used the wireless Ethernet connection and the now-standard Pocket MSN Messenger application to instant-message with friends. The Messenger app has a new feature called My Text that allows users to store commonly-used phrases so they can be easily sent without resorting to the on-screen keyboard or handwriting recognition, which includes the ability to recognise Palm Graffiti characters.
Microsoft says the new ActiveSync Version 3.5 software, used to connect the PDA to a desktop or server, is better than the previous release. Maybe. I've had some of the same connection problems, which Microsoft blames on USB drivers, connecting with the new software and the old. The 3.5 release does, however, give users a new option to synchronise subfolders in their email inboxes.
THE NEW OS ALSO INCLUDES a new Terminal Services application that allows users to access their Windows operating system-based server through their device, supports strong passwords, and introduces the ability to connect to corporate information via a virtual private network.
If you already own a Pocket PC and are wondering about upgrading to the new OS, don't worry--because you can't. That's right, most of the Pocket PCs already shipped don't have a flashable memory, so you're hosed, at least as I understand it. The lone exception is the Compaq iPAQ, which can be upgraded and gives those users yet another reason to feel superior to everyone else.
THE BIG CHANGES in Pocket PC 2002 include improved wireless support at both an application and OS level, which means that corporate users, and IS departments especially, should find Pocket PC 2002 very much more to their liking. People who use a PDA merely as a FiloFax replacement or in other non-networked applications probably shouldn't run out and replace their unit just to get the new OS.
October 4th is the next big announcement day for Pocket PC. That's when a bevy of manufacturers, including Casio,Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, HTC, HTW, Intermec Technologies, Legend, Mitsubishi, Sagem, Symbol Technologies, and Toshiba are expected to gather in San Francisco to show off new hardware designed around the updated OS.
So while the new OS alone may not be enough to convince users to turn their old PDAs into a hand-me-down to a friend or co-worker, the combination of new software and improved hardware could be. Stay tuned.
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