Brighthand Reviews Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition

Dell has released the Axim X30, the first Pocket PC running Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition. This gives me the opportunity to test out this new version of Microsoft's operating system for handhelds.

One of the more significant improvements in Windows Mobile SE is its support for 640-by-480-pixel (VGA) displays. The Axim X30 has only a 320-by-240-pixel (QVGA) screen, so I wasn't able to see how well support for the higher resolution performs in the real world. However, plenty of Second Edition handhelds with QVGA screens will be coming out, plus almost all current models that get upgraded to the new version of the operating system have QVGA displays, as well.

A Change of Perspective

However, the X30 did allow me to test Windows Mobile SE other major new feature: the ability to easily switch the screen between portrait and landscape modes.

This makes just about all applications much more usable. For some time, I've found the 240 pixel wide screen on Pocket PCs to be somewhat confining, and it's very nice to be able to switch to landscape mode, where the display is 320 pixels wide.

I'd almost given up on Pocket Internet Explorer, aside from using it to look at AvantGo content. Scrolling around on a web page formatted for a desktop isn't terribly satisfying on a 240 pixel screen. Looking at the same site in landscape mode is a much better experience.

I haven't been as unsatisfied with Pocket Word or Pocket Excel, but landscape mode does improve them significantly. There are some spreadsheets that just cry out for a landscape orientation, and it just seems natural to me to look at a Word document with it wider than it is tall, I'm not sure why.

Windows Mobile SE allows you to assign one of your buttons to switching the screen orientation. I used the one that is supposed to be for the voice recorder on the X30. You can go into Settings and change the orientation, but that's a lot of hassle and I found myself switching back and forth between portrait and landscape modes quite often, so the button got a lot of use.

Good news for you lefties: the settings panel allows you control whether the landscape mode has a left-handed or right-handed orientation.

Some Screen Crowding

When the screen is switched into landscape mode, it becomes pretty obvious that the user interface for Windows Mobile was designed for portrait mode. Things that work very well in that orientation don't always work as well in the other.

The various pop-up text entry areas are the worst examples of this. In portrait mode, when these pop up, they take the bottom 120 pixels of the screen, which is just a third of it. In landscape mode, though, these text entry areas are still 120 pixels high, so they take up half of the screen (remember, it's only 240 pixels tall in landscape mode).

All the other interface elements are still there, of course, and they take up even more screen space when in landscape mode than they did in portrait. This can lead lead to some slightly ridiculous situations. Say you are looking at a web page and you want to enter something in a text box. Between the title bar, the address bar, and the keyboard, there's only about a quarter of the screen left to show the page.

Because of this, Smb Pocket Plus has become my new best friend. It can show a web page in a full-screen view, hiding those interface elements elements that take up so much room.

Of course, you don't have the problem with the text-entry area taking over the screen when you are using Transcriber, but this option isn't always appropriate. I predict there will be a sudden rush of applications that let you enter text in landscape mode and take up a lot less room.

Compatibility

The move to Windows Mobile SE is a significant one, and not all applications make the jump gracefully. Developers will need to modify their applications so they will support landscape orientation. Current application windows and dialog boxes were created with the assumption that the screen would always be in portrait mode. Switching to landscape can cause problems.

Whenever you install an application that hasn't been updated to be compatible with the Second Edition, a dialogue box pops up that says, "The program you have installed may not display properly because it was designed for a previous version of Windows Mobile software."

Naturally, I haven't tried every Pocket PC application out there, so I can't tell you how each one of them performs. But the ones I did try ran the gamut in possible reactions to the new operating system.

I've already mentioned that Spb Pocket Plus performs quite well. There are a few bugs here and there but nothing major. An example of a problem in this application is the box that drops down from the close bottom is half filled with random gibberish when in landscape mode.

I ran one game that absolutely refused to switch out of portrait mode. This was no big deal, as its interface had been designed for that screen orientation. I tried another than worked fine in both portrait and landscape.

I'm a fan of nPOPw, a freeware email application. Despite being a very old piece of software, it runs just fine.

I also like BatMemTime, a freeware Today screen plug-in. This has a major problem and won't display properly at all.

Of course, developers of currently supported applications will update their software now that devices with Windows Mobile SE have started to appear. Some companies have already begun doing so. For example, Pocket Informant 5.03 and RepliGo 2.0 have already been updated. So unless you are a hard-core early adopter and have already ordered an Axim X30, by the time you get your hands on a Second Edition device much of your favorite software will probably already have been updated.

However, many older applications that are no longer supported will not be updated. There's some great old Pocket PC freeware that will almost certainly ride off into the sunset. But this happens whenever a major new version of the operating system is released.

Other Changes

Microsoft has also made a number of smaller improvements in Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition.

There is a new section in the Start Menu which displays the most frequently used applications on the device. This only appears when the Pocket PC is in portrait mode, as there isn't room for it in landscape mode, at least not on a QVGA device. This doesn't replace the small collection of icons at the top of the Start Menu that display the most recent applications.

Second Edition allows you to use some of the dual function cards that are expected to hit the market. The only one of these I know about at this point is an upcoming card from SanDisk that offers both Wi-Fi and some Storage space.

Transcriber now allows you to use shortcuts. You can write a short code phrase that will be replaced with a much longer piece of text. Shortcuts can also be used to launch applications. This is handy for programs you use occasionally, but not enough to assign them to a button.

The new version of Pocket Internet Explorer is able to force web pages into a single column, similar to the way NetFront 3.1 and Opera does. This makes reading web sites not formatted for handhelds easier.

The Second Edition also offers PA (Wi-Fi Protected Access), which was developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance in an attempt to make wireless networks more secure.

More Changes Coming Later

As its name suggests, Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition is basically Windows Mobile 2003 with a few improvements. It isn't a total rewrite of the operating system and it doesn't have a lot of the changes many people have been hoping for, like the ability to easily shut down running applications or an improved version of Pocket Office. Full-featured reoccurring alarms are still AWOL.

Those hoping for these improvements will have to set their sights on the next version of the operating system, which is expected to be called Windows Mobile 2005.

Related Links

• Brighthand Reviews the Dell Axim X30
• Say Goodbye to Sleeves and Hello to a New Generation of iPAQs