PIM Management
The reason most of us ever started using a Palm was to manage our personal information. Contacts, calendar, and tasks became so much easier to track and control on an electronic device than a day planner. We have taken for granted that our PIM (Personal Information Management) data would be available whenever we needed, either on our desktops or our handhelds. We controlled what we transferred from the handheld to the desktop or vice versa, and we controlled when we made the transfer.
Moving to Windows Mobile brings a new kind of PIM synchronization: Active Sync. Active Sync removes the flexibility and control that Palm gives you, and it is (perhaps) the largest hurdle to overcome when making the switch. With Palm you could keep your device plugged into your pc 10 hours/day every day, but only sync once a month if that was your choice. If you wanted, you could sync only your calendar. The flexibility of Palm is unparalleled. Windows Mobile takes away all the flexibility and all the control over your synchronization. If you plug your device into your pc – you sync. You sync everything, or you sync nothing. Your choices are limited: don't sync at all (do nothing), replace the items on my device (desktop overwrites handheld), combine the items on the device with the items on the computer (sync). There is no option to replace the items on the computer with what's on the device.
That being said, getting your PIM data from Palm to WM is the easy part. If you have a Palm device with the Palm desktop released after late 2003, you will have an option on your pc (Start/Palm) to change the conduit sync from Palm to Outlook. If you have an older device/desktop you only need to reinstall the desktop, and when prompted choose "sync with Outlook" rather than "sync with Palm desktop." The next touch of the sync button will have your PIM data syncing with Outlook.
It is important at this point that become familiar with Outlook. You will not be seeing the friendly Palm desktop again. Outlook becomes important, and the data in it has to be protected. At this point in your conversion, make your first Outlook backup of your PIM data. This could save you grief later down the road.
Your new WM device
You are now ready to prep your WM device. While Palm OS has a unique name, hotsync id, your WM has two identifications. It is important that you assign both, as some software developers will associate your registration with the Owner name, and some with the Device name.
Before plugging your new baby into your pc, make sure you have installed the newest version of Active Sync (unless you have something like the new Treo Pro which will install Active Sync for you the first time you plug it in). Active Sync is what recognizes your WM device, the same as Hotsync does on Palm. The most fundamental difference between Active Sync and Hotsync is that you lose your control over the sync. There is no sync button; simply plugging the device in begins your sync.
The first time you connect, you will be prompted to set up a "partnership" between your pc and your device. It is at this point you get to choose whether you want to sync, do nothing, or have your device information overwritten by your pc. Because these are your only choices, it means that if you ever suffer catastrophic data loss on your pc, you will have to delete the partnership from both your device and pc so that you can sync to get the information back on your pc. The risks of losing your data using Active Sync are far greater than with the carefully controlled Hotsync.
Special note: make sure you have Outlook, and not Outlook Express installed, and make sure it's a nice clean, empty installation. Don't try to merge your good up to date PIM data from your Palm with old stuff left over from "that time you tried to mess with Outlook" and decided you didn't like it.
Palm Desktop vs. Outlook
While both Outlook and Palm desktop were designed to simplify your life, they do so very differently. Right now you're used to the flexibility of Palm. You can arrange your data to suit you. I always loved being able to set the default phone number – something you can't do with Outlook. Keep in mind that the Palm desktop was designed to be used by everyone from high school students to retirees trying to organize daily life, whereas Outlook was developed primarily for corporate use. Outlook may do more, but it has a much steeper learning curve.
The best advice I can offer here is to get Outlook set up for your own personal use and satisfaction. You don't have to be a big business to take advantage of it, but you can take advantage of much of what it has to offer. Set up your categories, and fill them. You can't set them up for later use – I learned that the hard way. You have to use them right away. And again, unlike with Palm, you get the same categories for everything. But this is a good thing: it means you only have to set up a category once in contacts and you'll have it for use with meetings and tasks.
Applications and Settings
The key to being a happy handheld owner of any platform is backup, backup, backup. If you never did regular backups on your Palm, it's not too late to start now. I've already shown you how tenuous your PIM data is, so don't take any chances. Get the largest sd card your device supports and you can afford. Many new WM devices come with backup software on the ROM: take advantage of it. There are at least seven backup applications available for WM, ranging in price and options. What matters is that it works for you. Read all the reviews, but don't base your decision on those alone – try before you buy. I've also found that just because a developer made a spectacular Palm app, doesn't necessarily mean it ported well to WM. Take advantage of trials and base your decision on how something works for you.
Windows Mobile is not Palm. The sooner we accept that fact, the easier it will be to move on and make the best of the WM experience. WM operates from the Today screen whereas Palm operates from the launcher. In this respect, at least, WM is at least a little bit like the familiar Windows you have on your pc. Whatever you want to do, you start from the Start button. Many functions can be added easily to your Today screen including speed dialing with either contact photos or more traditional buttons. You can set up your Today screen to show all your important business like pending messages (email and sms), upcoming appointments and tasks, and even the weather.
Customizing WM can actually be an enjoyable experience, once you let go of the Palm image with which you're so familiar. All it takes is a little imagination, and you can have something both beautiful and functional. Of course, if you're bound and determined, you can buy a 3rd party launcher and put pages of launch icons on your Today screen for a Palm feel. I tried that the first two weeks I had my new WM device, and once I had it looking a lot like a Palm I was finally comfortable enough to let it go.
It probably won't hurt to set your hard keys to a configuration similar to what you had on Palm. You can reconfigure your buttons on WM in a manner very similar to the Palm method: Start, System, Personal (1st) tab, and Buttons. And here is where you hit another of those big differences between Palm and WM. While you can assign two functions to each of the four hard keys, it takes two hands to get to the optional function on WM. You cannot hit the option and button sequentially on WM, you must press them simultaneously. On my Treo 800w, where you got used to being able to hit the red power button to quickly turn off your screen in Palm, and then press it again to turn it on and return to where you left off…that red power button will minimize any active app and return you to the Today screen before finally powering off. However, it will return you to where you left off when you power on, if your device powered off on its own.
Better news still, is that with WM you can adjust the settings in the Registry to change some core functions/features. The first one you might want to try, as a former Palm user, is the power off registry hack. (*Note, while these are referred to as "hacks" you are not doing anything illegal, adding any software, or making any kind of permanent change to your system.) First you will need something to view and edit your device's registry. For your first attempt, you might want to go with free and easy RegEdit. Changing the function of the red power button is as simple as under HKey_Local_Machine - Software – Palm, changing HKLM\Software\Palm\Keyboard\EndKeyAsHomeKey value from 1 to 0.
Registry edits are easy, and plentiful. Just make sure before you start tinkering randomly that you do a good backup. There are many useful registry hacks that have already been tested, and you can find them on websites like xdadevelopers.com, ppcgeeks.com, and wmexperts.com.
Of course, an easier way to accomplish what you want is to simply use 3rd party apps, just like you did on your Palm. There are many apps that are available in both Palm and WM versions. If you have registered versions for your Palm, you might find that the WM version will take the same registration code if you use the same Owner name as your hotsync id. For others, the developers will transfer your registration from Palm to WM, and still others will offer you a discount on the platform change.
The interesting thing is that there are some things that you needed a 3rd party app for on Palm that WM does natively, and other things that Palm did that you will need a 3rd party app to accomplish on WM. There are also a surprising number of free apps available for WM. One of the first that I discovered is one called mymobiler. Mymobiler allows you to both view and control your device from the comfort of your pc screen and keyboard. This takes the place of apps like PdaReach and TapsmartKeylink on Palm. It's also great for screen shots and video. Mostly it's nice when you're trying to get used to a new device to be able to see the screen at twice the size without straining your eyes or cramping your fingers holding onto it.
There are many types of apps that are available for WM (for free!) that you couldn't touch on Palm. I'll leave you with my short list and wish you luck.
Instant messaging
Media
Browsers
- Skyfire – proxy browser
- Opera Mobile
- Iris browser
Miscellaneous
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