Originally posted by rayweil Correct me if I'mwrong, but back when I bought the Axim X5, one of the features that persuaded me was the flash rom upgradeable feature. obviously I now understand that doesn't apply to to the OS. I cannot even buy the upgrade to PPC 2003 OS here downunder.
That's weird, you guys usually get the good stuff first!
I don't think Dell is giving up on the X5's just yet. Aren't there any Rom updates for the X5 at the Australian support site?
Don't Panic!
Bobby
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Don't Panic!
Bobby
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I'm still running an X5 and was looking forward to 2003SE.
I never bothered with WM2003 as there just wasn't enough enhancement to be worth the $$. But 2003SE has many enhancements that a lot of folks have wanted since the X5 was introduced. Of course, Dell now doesn't intend to produce the SE upgrade for us.
For this reason I have no problems with someone working out a way to do it. I don't consider it theft because it isn't something that can be bought anyway. Yeah, that's simply 'justification' but too bad. If the manufacturer's won't support their customers then the customers can support themselves. Now, I wouldn't be so miffed if the manufacturer's, or MS, came out and said that 2003SE CANNOT be used on older ARM devices due to hardware issues. That would be understandable and an acceptable reason not to offer the upgrade, but no such reason has been given that I've seen.
Even with the above statement, though, I do plan to upgrade to a new device this year anyway. Maybe an HP4705? Maybe a Dell equivalent? Either way, I'm not upgrading for the OS, but for the hardware.
Originally posted by as77 I know that the OS is customized for each device, but given the large degree of hardware similarities between the two devices, and actually all currently available PPCs on the market, it wouldn't be too surprising if the ROM images were interchangeable and the image from one unit worked OK on another unit. Minor glitches with specific drivers could be expected, but the OS itself could basically run.
Customizing the OS for a device is actually not such a terribly big job as the manufacturers want us to believe. I downloaded a video presentation from Microsoft's website that shows this. It's little more than a series of drag-and-drop operations to add the necessary components and drivers, then press a button and a ROM image comes out.
Yeah, it's simple if you have the app and the drivers.
The reason desktop OS can be loaded is that it comes with thousands of drivers. It also takes gigabytes of storage.
PPCs are highly customized. Put it another way, have you ever tried to load a retail version of Windows on a notebook? Most of the components don't work until you download the drivers from the manufacturer's site.
WM comes out of MS essentially without drivers. The customization involves adding the device specific drivers. That's why upgrades are model, as opposed to manufacturer specific.
Yes, but all the drivers are already available. The hardware components are practically the same in most PPCs and most likely they come with sample drivers from the component manufacturers. I don't believe Dell has to write the drivers from scratch. Basically what they have to do is just to select the correct mixture of drivers then press a button and the ROM image is there. You see, they didn't have any problems creating a WM2003SE ROM image for the X30.
Looking at the Toshiba upgrade, it looks like a new bootloader has to be installed first. Now that is something that is too risky to try with the Axim... I would happily flash the OS image but I'm not willing to install a new bootloader because that could really brick the device.
Originally posted by as77 Yes, but all the drivers are already available. The hardware components are practically the same in most PPCs and most likely they come with sample drivers from the component manufacturers. I don't believe Dell has to write the drivers from scratch. Basically what they have to do is just to select the correct mixture of drivers then press a button and the ROM image is there. You see, they didn't have any problems creating a WM2003SE ROM image for the X30.
Do you really believe that? :crooked:
The drivers are NOT all available for download anyway.
Sure I do. Do you think that Dell has first-class programmers who do rocket-science developing drivers from scratch for very unique hardware components? I don't think so. They buy a package from Microsoft, they buy a specification and a sample driver for each component they use in the Axim, then click-here-click-there-press-a-button, and voila, here's the ROM image.
If they really had first-class programmers then the WM2003 fiasco (when the first ROM for the X5 was glacially slow) would never had happened.
Originally posted by as77 Sure I do. Do you think that Dell has first-class programmers who do rocket-science developing drivers from scratch for very unique hardware components? I don't think so. They buy a package from Microsoft, they buy a specification and a sample driver for each component they use in the Axim, then click-here-click-there-press-a-button, and voila, here's the ROM image.
Um, sure. The drivers are the hard part. How are you going to get a copy of them? By email Dell?
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If they really had first-class programmers then the WM2003 fiasco (when the first ROM for the X5 was glacially slow) would never had happened.
I'm not sure I follow. Because they are learning they aren't good programmers?
What are you talking about, cagey? Who said I want to get a copy of the drivers? BTW they can be obtained from the component manufacturers. Dell has nothing to do with the drivers. They just assemble a PPC from parts, and compile their drivers into the OS. It's an half-an-afternoon job for an average programmer.
So you are saying that programmers who neglect testing their programs before putting them on the market are good programmers?
Originally posted by as77 It's an half-an-afternoon job for an average programmer.
You don't know what you are talking about. With this statement you prove you don't know anything about WM 2003 and how it is "created".
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So you are saying that programmers who neglect testing their programs before putting them on the market are good programmers?
Again, I'm not sure I'm following you here. Your memory of the situation is clouded because the release of WM 2003 was a marketing decision. It was a classic dilbert moment. Programmers say wait, Dell says we want to put it on the market first.
Originally posted by cageyjames You don't know what you are talking about. With this statement you prove you don't know anything about WM 2003 and how it is "created".
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