smartphone software

[muffin]

I am thinking of purchasing a smartphone (vs. a Pocket PC phone edition). I like the size of the smartphones such as the Motorola MPx200 and Samsung i600 but I am wondering whether regular Pocket PC software will work normally on the smartphone or only software made specifically for the smartphone. For example, I have medical software which I would like to move over to the smartphone which normally works for a regular pocket PC (iPAQ, Jornada, etc.). Will this work correctly or do I have to use a Pocket PC phone edition only? Thanks for your help.

:?

[Mike Temporale]

Software made for the Pocket PC is compatible with Pocket PC Phone Edition. These two lines share the exact same code base. With the phone edition having a little more functionality.

Software made for the Pocket PC is not directly compatible with a Smartphone. Although the code base is similar between the operating systems, there are enough differences that you can not just install a Pocket PC application onto a Smartphone and expect it to work. The biggest difference is the lack of a touch screen, different input methods and different hardware buttons.

That being said, depending on the application porting it to the Smartphone platform may not be too much work. Have you checked with the developer to see if they already have a Smartphone version, or if one is in the works?