Memory Question

[fmvela]

I have a dumb question: what's the difference between "Program Memory" and "Storage Memory?"

[Russ Smith]

Not a dumb question at all.
Program Memory is memory used by programs while running. It's similar to RAM in your desktop or laptop. Programs load into program memory to run and use program memory for data while they're running.

Storage Memory is memory that is used to store program files and data files. It's similar to your hard-disk on your desktop or laptop. It keeps the program files and data files so you can retrieve them when you want to use them.

The whole Program Memory/Storage Memory thing has been a part of WindowsCE/Windows Mobile since the beginning up to and including WM5. In those devices, the operating system (and possibly some user-installed programs and files) resided in Flash memory. Everything else, including user-installed programs and files, resided in the section of main memory called Storage Memory. Flash memory is non-volatile. Even if it loses power, the contents stay. Main memory isn't. If you suffered a power loss or did a "hard-reset," all user-installed programs, settings, and so forth were lost. This situation was unacceptable for cellular carriers, who wanted WM phones to keep their updates even if they lost power.

So WM6 changed that and did away with the concept of Storage Memory entirely. Now, the operating system and all updates and user-installed programs and data are stored in non-volatile Flash memory. Main memory is used entirely for Program memory.

[PetiteFlower]

Persistent memory started with WM5. You can of course still do a hard reset, but losing power won't lose all your data.