Plenty of you chimed in on the great Pocket OS debate when I published a story about the Palm Treo 670 running Windows Mobile. The Treo’s move to WinMo would be significant defection from the namesake Palm OS that is installed on previous Treo 600 and 650s.
On Windows Mobile versus Palm, some of you came down squarely on the side of WinMo while others were loathe to have any Microsoft OS on their person. Click through some of your responses…
Plenty of you chimed in on the great Pocket OS debate when I published a story about the Palm Treo 670 running Windows Mobile. The Treo’s move to WinMo would be significant defection from the namesake Palm OS that is installed on previous Treo 600 and 650s.
On Windows Mobile versus Palm, some of you came down squarely on the side of WinMo while others were loathe to have any Microsoft OS on their person. Here are some of your responses:
I had an HP 6315 running windows Mobile for about 6 months, and it really syncs very well with the Mac using Missing Sync, but I didn’t really like the Windows Mobile environment. I then switched to an unlocked GSM Treo 650, and it too syncs nicely with or without using Missing Sync. After 3 months with my Treo, I can say that I like Palm OS and the look and feel of the Treo a lot better.
My wish list for my next Treo would have been a bigger and better screen (with on screen keyboard), ability to sync contacts with more than four telephone numbers, Wifi, and definitely NOT Win Mobile.
One gripe: If Palm charges us more for an unlocked Treo, it should be able to use the SDIO Wifi card as no obligation with any particular carrier exists. I’m sure the carriers stop Palm from offering Wifi in the Treo line. As a Mac user, I definitely prefer Palm OS over WM. (Reader 1)
I hear also that Missing Sync can make WinCE devices sync wonderfully with a Mac. And I agree that Microsoft sucks, and I hate supporting them, but I use, support and train on all MS Office apps. It happens to be the best available. Cobalt seems dead and Palm seems to be in limbo or death waltz with their OS. So I will likely jump ship after I tire my Motorola E815 and my Palm T3. It will be a sad but inevitable transition. (Reader 2)
I’m a long term Mac user and Windows hater but I would definitely go with a Windows based mobile over the Palm version. I have a Palm right now and I hate the OS. Seriously, what a crappy system Palm is. I haven’t even used Windows mobile but I would bet it’s far superior. How about Pocket X! That would be a dream come true! (Reader 3)
As a physician I’d never get the Win version of a Treo (or any PocketPC). I’ve got too many useful programs on my Palm based handheld (a Treo 600 right now). Switching to PocketPC would cost hundreds of dollars, and I would lose stability and syncing ability for updating my drug databases. As far as medical software goes, there is between 2-3 time more useful medical software for the Palm, and much more freeware. I don’t know much about development, but for some reason Palm developers are more willing to release freeware than MS platform developers are. (Reader 4)
I was a happy user of Sony Ericsson P900, for one year, but some punk stole it while I was in the sports club. I had to find another phone that would sync with my PowerBook, in order not to lose my contacts and calendar data, and was traveling a few days later. I did not want to buy a P910, because I considered it too close to the P900, and wanted to try GPS in my car, so I went for a Windows mobile thing with Wi-Fi.
After a couple of weeks, I was so angry with Windows Mobile, it hangs weekly (requiring a hard reset), its unintuitive UI, and its weakest point – low capacity (the battery runs out in one day). My WinMo device completely lost all data on a flight from Moscow to Montreal, going through Prague. When I went back in Prague, I found a used P900 for US$250 and bought it. Although it had the 910 software, I synced it in a couple of minutes with my Mac, and it also synced easily with the PC desktop at work.
I am waiting patiently for the next offering from Sony Ericsson, hopefully before years end (Please add Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0) MS would need completely overhaul their OS to tempt me back to the Windows Mobile platform again. (Reader 5)
Send me your comments and I’ll update this story with them. (Please put “Windows Mobile” in the subject.)
