Beaming Apps?

[hvlien]

I've been using my iPAQ for a few weeks now and I love it. The one thing that I haven't been able to find (because I don't think there is one...feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) is the ability to beam apps from one ppc to another. This was one of my favorite features on the Palm because friends/coworkers can beam me apps that they thought I'd enjoy. Is there a program that allows beaming or am I correct in assuming this isn't in the ppc (we are talking about Microsoft after all...who wants you to activate Outlook XP so you can only sync to one machine)?

[Sven Johannsen]

Yes and no. On the Palm, it seems most apps are single files that are executed. On the PPC, the vaste majority are programs that must be installed with executable code, dlls and registry entries. Those things that are just single executables (just one Win CE .exe), such as PocketNav, could certainly be 'beamed' given a program like Peacemaker Pro that gives you more flexibility on what you can select to beam.

For the most part, PPC apps are packaged in a .cab file that the installer loads onto the PPC and then executes to do the install. Those cabs are typically available on the desktop, could be copied to the PPC (not executed) and beamed to another PPC. They could be executed on the second PPC, given you got the right cab for the processor :) This of course requires you to keep the cabs on your PPC just to share. They are also useful on your CF card in case you need to relaod an app, or the whole device.

You can certainly also beam things like ListPro Lists, HanDBase DBs, and things like that which require the receiver to have the associated base application, but are sort of application extensions in that they provide utility beyond the basic app.

Of course be sure that you are not sharing copyrighted (liscensed) materials when doing any of this.

[hvlien]

Thanks for replying to my post Sven. I did notice that you could beam individual files, but I guess because it's a Microsoft OS, all that extra files and registry entries are needed. Ugh. Oh well. The only reason I ask is that sometimes I see a friend or coworker with a cool app on their ppc and want to try it out. Like most people, when I see a new toy, I want to play with it now and not have to wait to go home and see if I can remember the name of the app and download it. This could be done very easily on a Palm (although some apps that are still unbeamable with appropriate software).