Windows Mobile 5.0 supports hardware never before available to Pocket PCs. WM5's support for high capacity storage media allows Pocket PCs to store not merely a few megabytes, but several gigabytes of data on small internal hard discs or flash memory chips (see the iPAQ rx5915). With gigabytes of internal storage, large numbers of audio files can be stored, as can large video files ripped from DVDs, transferred from TiVos, or downloaded from the Internet.

Persistent Memory Storage, the Windows Mobile 5 ROM-RAM paradigm, changes the way Pocket PCs manage data and system memory.  Previously, a Pocket PC's internal RAM pulled double duty as both a storage medium and system memory, but Persistent Memory Storage moves Pocket PCs a step closer to PC-like functionality.  Like a Desktop PC, the RAM in a WM5 device is used only as system memory, leaving data to be stored in the ROM, which protects it from loss if the Pocket PC's battery is fully drained. With WM5, a drained battery no longer results in data loss.

USB 2.0 support in WM5 increases data transfer rates by 40-times, making the transfer of large audio and video files much faster - a feature that must exist when large-capacity memory chips allow for the storage of gigabytes of data.

As you would expect, Windows Mobile 5.0 is a mixture of entirely new software and functionality with with updated (and hopefully improved) software and functionality.

Windows Mobile 2005 Today Screen with Soft Buttons

Windows Mobile 5.0 ships with an updated Office Mobile, which for the first time includes PowerPoint Mobile.  Word Mobile and Excel Mobile have been updated with new formatting and viewing support, primarily where tables and graphs are concerned. PowerPoint Mobile allows for viewing PowerPoint presentations, but has no authoring capabilities.

WM5 PowerPoint Mobile

WM5 Excel Mobile

WM5 Word Mobile

Internet Explorer Mobile, formerly Pocket IE, has also been updated.  In addition to full page viewing support, IE Mobile now supports saving images from web pages directly to your Pocket PC.  There's also a new status bar that shows the real-time progress of downloading content. 

Internet Explorer (IE) Mobile Status Bar

All Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PCs include Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, which isn't new, but was only available on select Windows Mobile 2003 SE Pocket PCs.  WMP 10 Mobile supports playback of various types of audio and video files, including protected content (purchased and subscription) from online providers.  It also supports syncing playlists and album art.

WM5 Windows Media Player 10 Mobile

ActiveSync 3.x has been around for years.  With the release of Windows Mobile 5.0, Microsoft also released a new version of ActiveSync.  ActiveSync 4 supports all Pocket PCs with previous versions of the Pocket PC or Windows Mobile OSes, but also has new features for WM5 Pocket PCs. 

As mentioned, Windows Mobile 5.0 supports USB 2.0; ActiveSync 4 supports high-speed USB connections as well.  This makes syncing and the transfer of large files much faster when paired with USB 2.0 Pocket PCs.   ActiveSync 4 also has enhanced multimedia syncing customization and support.

Unfortunately, and somewhat confusingly, Microsoft opted to discontinue support for syncing via Wi-Fi in ActiveSync 4, though Bluetooth syncing is still an option.  The new networking-based connection method also caused a few headaches, though later versions of ActiveSync 4 addressed some problems.  Let's hope Windows Vista's built-in syncing software eliminates some of the connectivity headaches when it arrives in January 2007.

Most, if not all, Pocket PCs currently shipping ship with WM5.  Handhelds and smartphones running Windows Mobile 6 will begin shipping in Q2 2007.  For a listing of current Pocket PCs and Pocket PC Phones, click here.

HP offers Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrades for their HX business-class Pocket PCs, namely the pre-WM5 iPAQ hx2100, hx2400, hx2700 and hx4700 models.  Dell is also offering WM5 upgrades only for their X50 Series Axim Pocket PCs.  This includes both the X50 and the X50v. 

Because Windows Mobile 5.0 uses a new memory management scheme that requires all data to be stored in the ROM, WM5 upgrade compatibility is limited by available ROM space on a given Pocket PC.  Pocket PCs with smaller ROM chips can't use the Persistent Memory Storage, and so, can't run Windows Mobile 5.0.  Pocket PCs like Dell's X50v or HP's hx2700, have large ROM chips to accommodate WM5's memory system.

Have questions or comments? E-mail us.