Is Pocket PC Windows compatible?

[the bh]

IS Pcket PC Windodows compatible?

Being a Palm user since 1998 I now notice a lot of extra fuctions in the Pocket PC computers and think about converting.

I love the extra fuctions on some of the newer machines and think about buying a FSC Loox 720 to get VGA, WLAN and USB support. But I would like to know if I can use my favorite Windows programs on it or if it only runs special programs.

As a IT professional I would like to run programs like Netstumbler and if I find a RJ45 TP to USB I would love to find software to check quality of connected cables as well. Will it work?

Will it run Quicktime? Can I convert video using VideoMach and Brinck & Smacker? Can I play poker online using real cash and borrowed WLAN access?

Is it really a full blown computer now?

And how does the CPU copare to Intel Pentium series CPU's. What to compare the 520 MHz too? Is it comparable to a Pentium II or III or whatever?

Thanks

[Wiggster]

The Pocket PC is much more akin to the Palm than a full-blown Windows PC. The "Windows Mobile" operating system is derived from Windows, but it isn't the same by any regards. Programs have to be developed specifically for the Pocket PC, just as they had to be developed expressly for the Palm. There are plenty of programs out there (not as many as are out for Palm, I believe, but still more than enough to choose from), so chances are you'll find something to do what you're working for.

But to compare it to a PC isn't really fair. The 624 MHz processor of my device is no match for a 400 MHz processor from an old PC. The RISC processors of PDAs are low power consumption with limited computing power. They are PDAs, not PCs.