Comments on: The State of Windows Mobile http://lostechies.com/colinramsay/2009/01/14/the-state-of-windows-mobile/ Just another LosTechies site Wed, 27 May 2009 23:01:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Christopher Fairbairn http://lostechies.com/colinramsay/2009/01/14/the-state-of-windows-mobile/#comment-76 Christopher Fairbairn Thu, 15 Jan 2009 04:22:35 +0000 /blogs/colin_ramsay/archive/2009/01/14/the-state-of-windows-mobile.aspx#comment-76 The distinction between smartphone and pocket pc is muddled at best. With the new naming conventions it essentially boils down to the following from a consumer perspective: Standard = non touch screen device (with cellphone) Professional = touch screen device (with cellphone) Classic = touch screen device (without cellphone). The two SDKs essentially deal with issues caused by the presence (or lack of) a touchscreen. As an example the .NET CF does not support use of the standard Button control while building an application for a Windows Mobile standard device (how would the user click it?). Even a simple multiline textbox operates differently on the two types of devices. Over time the platforms do appear to be getting closer to each other and features have migrated between them with each major release. For example the current XML based CAB file format used by Pocket PC devices was originally a Smartphone only feature. I do agree with your comments about some of the "value added" .NET CF components (CameraCaptureDialog etc) however. Quite often they have poor consistancy across devices and leave a lot of functionality present in the native versions of the APIs inaccessable. The distinction between smartphone and pocket pc is muddled at best. With the new naming conventions it essentially boils down to the following from a consumer perspective:

Standard = non touch screen device (with cellphone)
Professional = touch screen device (with cellphone)
Classic = touch screen device (without cellphone).

The two SDKs essentially deal with issues caused by the presence (or lack of) a touchscreen. As an example the .NET CF does not support use of the standard Button control while building an application for a Windows Mobile standard device (how would the user click it?). Even a simple multiline textbox operates differently on the two types of devices.

Over time the platforms do appear to be getting closer to each other and features have migrated between them with each major release. For example the current XML based CAB file format used by Pocket PC devices was originally a Smartphone only feature.

I do agree with your comments about some of the “value added” .NET CF components (CameraCaptureDialog etc) however. Quite often they have poor consistancy across devices and leave a lot of functionality present in the native versions of the APIs inaccessable.

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