I have finally taken the plunge and upgraded my Axim X50 from Windows Mobile 2003 to Windows Mobile 5 (WM5). Actually, as I was nervious of the effects of such a drastic change, I carried out the operation on one of the spare Axims at work before I committed it to my own machine.
The main reason I waited to do the upgrade was because the software that I use on a regular basis, such as TomTom Navigator, Pocket Informant and Softmaker’s Planmaker and Textmaker, hadn’t been updated to work with WM5. Now that they have it seemed time to make the switch.
The upgrade itself was pretty straightforward and painless - apart from the fact that the device is completely wiped of course. So what about in use?
The first thing that I noticed was that the machine seemed more sluggish than it did previously - everything seemed to take just a little bit longer than before. There is a noticeable delay, for example, before I am able to do anything with the device after switching it on. Also there is a slight pause before the menu is shown when clicking start. This would seem to suggest that the machine is having to work harder than it did before to do the same things.
The next thing that hits you is the subtle changes to the interface and in particular the two soft buttons at the bottom. Now these I like, particularly on the home screen where I can get direct access to my contacts and my calender - two of the main tasks I use the device for. I have yet to work out how you can change these but I guess that there must be a way.
It seems that Microsoft have begun to apply some of their security thinking from the desktop arena to their handheld devices. This is most evident in the pop-up notification “This program is from an unknown publisher” that appears when you start a program but that does only seem to appear the first time you run it. Of course the real security improvements aren’t due to arrive until Microsoft ships the Messaging & Security Feature Pack.
The feature of the Messaging & Security Feature Pack that has got the most publicity is the push email add-on, the so-called BlackBerry killer. However, I am far more interested in what they can offer around the device secuirty arena which so far has been woefull lacking. Other than a flash demo there seems to be little information on what this will actually offer other than the ability to remotely wipe a device (assuming it is connected) and applying group policies. All this implies that future devices are going to have to be connected, which the majority are not at present.
So my feelings on WM5 are pretty mixed: the inclusion of things like PowerPoint Mobile and the interface changes are a plus but the sluggish response and the lack of availability at launch of the Messaging & Security Feature Pack is a disapointment. I guess that a review in a few months time may be in order.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 3rd, 2005 at 5:01 pm and is filed under Software, Mobile Working. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.