But I don't see how this can be considered an alternative to Nokia PC Suite. I'm currently using PC Suite for my Nokia N95 and I have to say that the Sync feature is very fast, reliable, and just works. I had boatloads of issues with ActiveSync/WMDC and my iPAQ hx2790 prior, and this is supposedly a business device?
The truth is, Microsoft doesn't care about ActiveSync or WMDC, although they'll never say it. For them, they see the future as Exchange sync (which is far more reliable than ActiveSync), and the largest business customers presumably use that.
Microsoft? This is what you are spending your time on? Would it be too much to ask to fix ActiveSync 4.x and Windows Mobile Device Center first?
Agreed! Look at my ActiveSync New Year's Resolutions that I wrote back in early 2004. How many of those have been addressed in ActiveSync or WMDC almost five years later?
Now look at what's been removed -- LAN/WiFi syncing, category syncing, backup/restore, case-by-case conflict resolution and probably more.
The truth is, Microsoft doesn't care about ActiveSync or WMDC, although they'll never say it. For them, they see the future as Exchange sync (which is far more reliable than ActiveSync), and the largest business customers presumably use that.
I've got a "syncing" feeling (sorry) that you're right. However, if they really want to make WM more consumer-friendly, they need to keep PC syncing as an option. Syncing to an Exchange server won't cut it, even if it's free, because you can't synchronize files there. So programs like eWallet would be a lot less useful.
I suppose Microsoft could have some cloud (I hate that term) syncing (like Live Mesh?), but what if I don't have Internet access? Nope, I still want to be able to sync with my own PC.
I've got a "syncing" feeling (sorry) that you're right. However, if they really want to make WM more consumer-friendly, they need to keep PC syncing as an option.
Who says they want to make WM more consumer-friendly? We do, for sure, but Microsoft doesn't seem to pay much attention to it. The consumer applets built into Pocket PC have stagnated at best as of late. I know you find WMP adequate, but it is a far cry from what other platforms now support, and really has not improved featurewise for a long time (and WMP sync is buggy). Reader is basically ignored now, etc.
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Syncing to an Exchange server won't cut it, even if it's free, because you can't synchronize files there. So programs like eWallet would be a lot less useful.
Well... notice that Microsoft never really got around to adding file sync for Smartphones. (At least, as of WM5. I haven't tried recently, but would be surprised if it was otherwise.) Who knows if Microsoft will continue supporting it in the future...
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I suppose Microsoft could have some cloud (I hate that term) syncing (like Live Mesh?), but what if I don't have Internet access? Nope, I still want to be able to sync with my own PC.
We'll see how much longer that model lasts, though. Apple does have MobileMe (albeit not free), and Google is planning to use exclusively online syncing for the G1.
I'm one of those statistical anomalies; a person who's had no problems with ActiveSync and now WMDC at all. To really make things hard on WMDC, I switched to Thunderbird and Sunbird using BirdieSync along with WMDC. It still works flawlessly. ...makes me wonder what I'm doing right.
My wife, however, has had all manner of difficulties: Sometimes it will sync the "wrong way" and remove some carefully taken notes or changes to items. Sometimes it won't synch at all. Other times it will stop with errors (which produces my main complaint with AS/WMDC: Why is it so hard to figure out what exactly prevented the sync? Why can't we get the exact offending item with a note saying exactly what's "wrong.")
In order to try to solve her issues, I investigated various alternatives to AS and every one of them was worse than the original. Some wouldn't sync everything that AS does. Others crashed regularly. Some wouldn't even run once. I went back to AS because it was still better than the alternatives for synching with Windows Mobile.
So what about alternatives to Windows Mobile? I've experimented with those too. Linux has some pretty good GUIs, but other software needs to be recompiled for ARM and for the smaller screen. The iPhone has some really nice features and a lot of decent apps, but I really don't like the lack of cut-and-paste, the lack of a data card slot, and the fact that apps aren't local (so you have to be connected to use them). In both cases, I can't find anything that compares to the functionality of Pocket Informant.
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The iPhone has some really nice features and a lot of decent apps, but I really don't like the lack of cut-and-paste, the lack of a data card slot, and the fact that apps aren't local (so you have to be connected to use them).
The first two are definitely true, but the third? Apps most definitely are stored locally, and you do not need to be connected to use them.
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In both cases, I can't find anything that compares to the functionality of Pocket Informant.
Pocket Informant is coming to the iPhone, but with a huge caveat: the iPhone's calendar data store isn't API-accessible, so PI is implementing their own calendar data store and a corresponding separate sync.
...Pocket Informant is coming to the iPhone, but with a huge caveat: the iPhone's calendar data store isn't API-accessible, so PI is implementing their own calendar data store and a corresponding separate sync...
Can't help but wonder if Pocket Informant will make it to the apps store, or will they nix it as it 'duplicates existing functionality'...?
Question for all the MVP's that contribute to this site - does MS listen to you guys at all? Do they have anyone actually listening to feedback from fans and critics or are they just winging it out in Redmond?
We try really, really hard to advocate for the users, and there's really no shortage of things that we bring up that need improving. The problem is that we don't seem to be able to get through to them...at least, not in any way that makes any traction. I know for a fact that some of our feedback makes its way onto feature lists, but when it comes to assigning resources, and there's never enough, so guess which features tend to get cut? The features that the product manager didn't think of himself. I'm generalizing to some degree of course, but I've been watching Microsoft in this space for 11 years now, so I've definitely noticed a pattern...
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ActiveSync Woes
(At least, as of WM5. I haven't tried recently, but would be surprised if it was otherwise.) Who knows if Microsoft will continue supporting it in the future...
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