Mobility Site - View Single Post - Windows Mobile built-in accessories inadequate?

RobertCF · 03-29-05, 04:18 PM

but this is a rather pointless thread. "Built in accessories"? How much memory do you really want to sacrifice for something petty like Freecell, Minesweeper or Paint? I don't know anyone who uses those on the DESKTOP, let alone on a PocketPC. And there are tons of completely free or extremely inexpensive third party utilities and games out there if you need them.

I mean, look, I've got WinXP Pro on my desktop. However, I use Stardock suite (which has Desktop X, Windows Blinds, etc.) to completely change the look and functionality of my desktop. Often you can't tell what operating system I'm running just by looking at the screen. I do similarly with my PocketPC...I've got Dashboard and Wisbar Advance 2, which so thoroughly change the look and super-enhance the operation that it makes the stock PocketPC look 'inadequate'.

As it has in the past, Microsoft is much less an innovator than it is a renovator. They like to take someone else's good idea and make it great. As each new version of the OS comes out, you find more features that have been added, usually because so many people were using this third party app or that utility. But they don't just throw a bunch of stuff in there for the heck of it. PDAs still aren't quite at the point that they have the horses or headroom to allow as much bloatware as M$ puts in their desktop.

So, yes, their PocketPC 'accessories' are perfectly adequate for what the PocketPC was created to do. If you want it to be like your desktop (which is pretty much how I use mine) then include your voice among the thousands who are encouraging M$ to force more standardization and include those things. In the mean time, go grab any of the many third party apps and utilities that so many fantastic programmers have made available---not everything has to come from Microsoft, you know :approve:

03-29-05, 04:18 PM	#10 (permalink)
RobertCF Aximsite Major League Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 463 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Don't take this the wrong way, but this is a rather pointless thread. "Built in accessories"? How much memory do you really want to sacrifice for something petty like Freecell, Minesweeper or Paint? I don't know anyone who uses those on the DESKTOP, let alone on a PocketPC. And there are tons of completely free or extremely inexpensive third party utilities and games out there if you need them. I mean, look, I've got WinXP Pro on my desktop. However, I use Stardock suite (which has Desktop X, Windows Blinds, etc.) to completely change the look and functionality of my desktop. Often you can't tell what operating system I'm running just by looking at the screen. I do similarly with my PocketPC...I've got Dashboard and Wisbar Advance 2, which so thoroughly change the look and super-enhance the operation that it makes the stock PocketPC look 'inadequate'. As it has in the past, Microsoft is much less an innovator than it is a renovator. They like to take someone else's good idea and make it great. As each new version of the OS comes out, you find more features that have been added, usually because so many people were using this third party app or that utility. But they don't just throw a bunch of stuff in there for the heck of it. PDAs still aren't quite at the point that they have the horses or headroom to allow as much bloatware as M$ puts in their desktop. So, yes, their PocketPC 'accessories' are perfectly adequate for what the PocketPC was created to do. If you want it to be like your desktop (which is pretty much how I use mine) then include your voice among the thousands who are encouraging M$ to force more standardization and include those things. In the mean time, go grab any of the many third party apps and utilities that so many fantastic programmers have made available---not everything has to come from Microsoft, you know :approve: