Pocket PC for Palm Users24 September 2001 Okay, now that I'm back in the Pocket PC fold (for now, anyway--I've read back through the archives of this column enough to not even believe myself when I say I have no intention of switching back; let's just say the Pocket PC is my platform of choice right now), I've been trying to "fill in the gaps" on my Pocket PC, getting it to do everything that my Clié did. First, let's start off with some easy ones: programs that exist for both the Palm and the Pocket PC, allowing you to step across the chasm between platforms without missing a step. Palm Reader Oddly enough, the topper on this list is made by Palm, Inc. Not only does Palm Reader (formerly Peanut Reader) exist for both the Palm and Pocket PC, but the Pocket PC version is actually better. Although I'm sure the Palm version will support things like high resolution and sub-pixel font rendering eventually, the Pocket PC version does this now, by supporting Microsoft's ClearType. While older versions of Palm Reader for CE were kind of the "red-headed step child" to Microsoft Reader, the new version is good enough that there are actually things I prefer to it over Microsoft Reader (for one thing, you can read in a font other than Frutiger Linotype if you so choose). AportisDoc I'm not sure why anyone would buy this since Palm Reader also reads standard PalmDoc files and is free, but it's available for the Pocket PC if you want it. HanDBase This is huge. HanDBase, probably the most popular database program for the Palm, is also available for the Pocket PC. All the features you know and love from the Palm version are here, plus some new benefits. In all versions of HanDBase, you can use the database to create your own simple "applications". This was of limited utility for me on the Palm since I still had to remember to open HanDBase to access them (yes, I'm that absent-minded). On the Pocket PC, you can create shortcuts of your favorite databases directly in your Programs folder, and tapping on them will load HanDBase with that database, so you can treat them as separate applications. I have an item in my Start menu called "Checkbook" whose icon bears a striking resemblence to HanDBase's icon. eWallet eWallet is so popular on both platforms that I don't remember which was the "native" platform and which was the "port". This program allows you to store--and optionally encrypt--all kinds of personal information. Credit card numbers, medical account information, software license codes, you can put it all here, safe and sound, and easy to find when you need it. Fitaly This is another program that started on the Palm but that I actually prefer on the Pocket PC. Fitaly is an alternate keyboard layout designed for maximum efficiency with one pen rather than ten fingers. On the Palm, it's available either as an on-screen pop-up keyboard or as an adhesive "stamp" that you adhere to your Graffiti area. I never cared for the stamp, as I like writing with Graffiti most of the time--it's helpful to have an input method you don't have to look directly at--but the stamp is the obvious favorite of the development team, and the pop-up version is in development limbo, several revisisons behind the stamp driver. In contrast, on the Pocket PC no revisions have been necessary. The Pocket PC version of Fitaly installs as just another Input Method, selectable along with Transcriber, Letter Recognizer, etc. It shows up when you need it, disappears when you don't--something the newest Palm versions don't do. BugMe Another popular Palm program that works better on the Pocket PC, BugMe is a way of writing freehand "Post-It" notes on the PDA. While I realize that much is doable on the Pocket PC right out of the box with Pocket Oulook's Notes, BugMe's strength is that it allows you to assign sophisticated alarms to each note. When I write notes to myself in Pocket Outlook, I forget them just as soon as I switch to another application. In BugMe, it, well, bugs me until I do whatever I wrote the note about. The reason I like the Pocket PC version better is that it's designed for the Pocket PC's QVGA screen. BugMe worked on my hi-res Clié, but it was quirky. CityTime This is another program that started on the Palm, got ported to the Pocket PC, and ended up with better graphic and more detail. This list is getting longer and longer, as more PalmOS developers branch out into Pocket PC programming as well. Even the legendary CE Steuart Dewar, the developer of DateBk 4, the granddaddy of all PalmOS apps, is rumored to be working on a Pocket PC PIM that will do for Pocket Outlook what DateBk3 did for the Palm PIM apps. Okay, so that's the easy stuff. What about other popular Palm apps that don't necessarily have Pocket PC versions? WordSmith > Pocket Word I've covered this in nauseating depth elsewhere, so I'll just touch on it here. Both platforms have capable word processors that sync with Word on the desktop. WordSmith still outdoes Pocket Word in features and round-tripping, but the addition in the Pocket PC 2002 version of Pocket Word of spell checking and word count makes it usable for writers. DateBk4/Action Names > Pocket Informant As I mentioned above, Pimlico's CE Steuart Dewar is rumored to be working on a PIM of his own for CE (said to be easier to write from the ground up than porting DateBk4), but there's already a powerful "everything and the kitchen sink" PIM for Pocket PC in the form of Pocket Informant. Developer Alex Kac has incorporated seemingly every feature anyone could ask for to enhance and unify Pocket Outlook, and Pocket Informant is the current king of Pocket PC PIMs. It's a little slower than the built-in Pocket Outlook apps, but it does a lot more. QuickSheet > Pocket Excel This is an obvious connection, but worth mentioning nonetheless. The Palm "Office suite" market is booming, with ThinkingBytes, DataViz and Cutting Edge all releasing new or updated suites recently, and we've got more surprises in store from Blue Nomad before it's all over. But on the Pocket PC, you get an office suite built into the OS. Shadow > TreNotes This isn't exactly a one-to-one comparison, since I still can't find a Pocket PC outliner that will allow you create Pocket Outlook tasks directly from within the outline. That said, TreNotes is the most powerful of a growing group of Pocket PC outliners. This was an anemic product category a year ago, with Ilium's database-like ListPro being the only real member. Now, TreNotes is joined by PocketList and Outaliner as full featured outliners for the Pocket PC. Of the new bunch, I like TreNotes because it allows you to create different outline files, view your outlines by hierarchy, by date or by priority, and export outlines to text or Pocket Word. Aside from task export to the system PIM, this one does just about everything Shadow does on the Palm, and that's a tall order. QMate > Lotsa stuff, but I'm using HanDBase There are lots of checkbook register programs for CE, not the least of which (okay, the least of which) is Microsoft's pocket version of Money. I used MoneyMinder for a while, and it's a fine program for ten bucks, but the Checkbook applet that comes with HanDBase works just as well for me, and since I have HanDBase on my Pocket PC anyway, why install programs I don't need? Diet & Exercise Assistant > Pocket Diet Tracker I actually used Diet & Exercise Assistant last April as an example of specialized Palm applications that didn't have an answer on the Pocket PC. I don't know if anyone was listening, but there are now at least two Pocket PC apps that do the same thing, and of the two, I prefer Pocket Diet Tracker. Like Diet & Exercise Assistant on the Palm, it allows you to set a weight goal, figures out how many calories "in the hole" you have to be per day to hit your goal by your target date, then calculates how many calories you eat versus how many you burn per day. Yanoff > Ink Spot Usenet newsgroups (like comp.sys.palmtops.pilot and microsoft.public.pocketpc) are a great source of information about just about every subject imaginable. If you want to read them on the go, you need an offline newsreader. About the only one still available on the Palm is Yanoff, which works well, when you can get it to work. The configuration of Yanoff's Java-based conduit is tricky to get working. On the Pocket PC, you have Ink Spot, an online/offline newsreader that although it doesn't have a conduit, can use Pocket PC 2002's desktop passthrough feature to download new messages via your PC's internet connection while the Pocket PC is sitting in the cradle. iambicMail > Inbox This was a big factor in my switch back to the Pocket PC. Inbox is really a full-featured mail client, capable of handling my Outlook and POP3 mail with equal aplomb, at home, at the office or with a CF modem. Vexed > Puzznix/Irked Perhaps the most popular game ever on the Palm, Vexed is what I think of as a "thinking person's Tetris". There are two Vexed clones for the Pocket PC. Puzznix is a native Pocket PC game inspired by Vexed, and Irked is a direct port of the Palm game to a Pocket PC binary. HMaki > Pocket Pop Reversi > PPCReversi Billiard > Pocket Hustler Bejeweled > Marble Mania More games. DicePro > PocketDice This is another example of a Pocket PC program that does the job, though not quite as elegantly as the Palm version. Both programs help role-playing gamers by simulating dice rolls, but DicePro is more configurable and sophisticated. BigClock > StopTime Both of these are excellent programs that combine the functions of a desk clock, stopwatch and countdown timer. Oh, and both are free. FilePoint > File Explorer This seems weird to point out, but it's worth noting. While the Pocket PC comes with a real file system built into the operating system, the Palm requires a third party program to simulate storing related files of different types in folders. WordBox > Random Names Again, this isn't a one to one comparison, but it's close. I use WordBox to generate character names, since it's designed to randomly generate pronounceable words. Random Names is a CE program designed to randomly generate names, though it's limited to American-sounding names. BDicty > English Thesaurus Hyperlinked and both made by Beiks, LLC. PrintBoy > PrintPocketCE Although neither platform directly supports IR printing, these programs provide it. What's still missing? I've scoured Pocket PC software sites, but there are still, sadly, some gaps, although far fewer than you might think. As a matter of fact, about the only Palm app I still miss is Quik Budget. Other than that, just about every app I used on the Palm either have a Pocket PC alternative or, like X-Master and TrapWeaver, just aren't necessary on the Pocket PC. There's still room for improvement, certainly (Pocket Office team? Are you listening?), but unlike a year ago, the Pocket PC developer community seems to have most of the bases covered. |