How to Do Everything with Your Pocket PC and Handheld PC

Chapter 1: Welcome to Windows for Pocket and Handheld PCs

• Recognize the Handheld PC, Handheld PC Professional, Palm-size PC, Auto PC, and Pocket PC platforms
• Know what Windows Powered devices include
• Know the different parts of Windows for Pocket and Handheld PCs

Windows Powered devices do more than just manage appointments, addresses, and task lists, though they do that very well. With a Windows Powered device, you can read your e-mail and surf the Web. You can write a letter, balance your checkbook, make voice recordings, read books, and listen to music. In the case of the Pocket PC, all these things are possible in a device that can rest on your hand and fit in your pocket.

Everyone's information needs are different, and the Windows software for Pocket and Handheld PCs provides you with all the tools to meet your needs. This book is about how to use this software to make your Handheld or Pocket PC your own personal informationappliance.

Each component of Windows for Pocket and Handheld PCs is covered in depth in the chapters of this book. It focuses on the current versions of the software that run on Handheld PC Professionals and Pocket PCs. While older versions continue to exist, and much of what is contained in this book applies to those versions, the focus is on the newest software for these two platforms.

We begin here by laying the foundation, learning about all the different hardware platforms that combined are the Windows Powered devices. This chapter also includes an introduction to Windows for Pocket and Handheld PCs, all of which is explained in more detail in the remaining chapters of this book.

A Handheld PC Professional includes the same types of hardware used for Handheld PCs. The professional version of the device is different because it has newer versions of the Windows software, but in reality it is replacing the Handheld PC. Throughout this book 1 simply refer to the Handheld PC, which means a Windows-powered device that uses a keyboard and runs the latest version of Windows for Handheld PCs.

Information Applianccs

In the 71 years since it was introduced, the television set has undergone a number of changes.

From black-and-white to color images, and simple 19-inch round displays to 35-inch flat panels, the television set has been improved and re-invented. Through it all, one thing has remained constant: each television set has a button, and when you press that button the screen springs to life to display what we commonly call TV. It is true of all consumer electronic devices that we expect them to work the instant we turn them on. Radios and CD players start playing music and Gameboys start playing games. What about your personal computer? What happened the last time you turned it on? Did it spring to life and start computing?

In offices all around the world, the following ritual is played out every morning; you might even find yourself doing it: after fighting through traffic and dragging yourself and the work you brought home into your cube or office, you hang up your coat, turn on your computer, grab your coffee mug, and head for the coffee machine. Sound familiar? This ritual has come about because of what is known as the booting process of personal computers. Computers are very sophisticated devices capable of doing remarkable things; but despite all their power, they forget everything they know the instant the power is turned off.

Perhaps your boss has heard that notebook computers can make employees more productive, so he or she buys you one. Despite the fact that you are now expected to work 14-hour days, that seems to be a small price to pay as you open the box of your brand-new notebook computer. Who cares how much you are now expected to work? Your notebook is cool and nobody else in your department has one.

Over time, you stumble across the Outlook icon on the desktop and discover that it can store appointments, contacts, and tasks. In fact, you learn that it can be used for all of the same functions as the planner you carry with you all of the time. You realize that if you use Outlook to manage your time, rather than your planner, you would have one less item to carry home every night. Plus, carrying it into meetings gives you a chance to show off your notebook to your envious co-workers. So, you begin the task of entering all of the appointments, tasks, and contacts from your planner into Outlook. This works splendidly during the day, as everything is right there at your fingertips as you work on your computer. Then comes your business trip. As you enter the airport, your pager goes off. You seek out the nearest telephone booth to call your boss, who wants to know whether you are available the day you get back to attend an important meeting with a potential client. With one hand on the telephone, you unzip the bag that contains your notebook computer, fumble around to turn it on, and then wait for what seems an eternity while your boss grows impatient and you watch puffy clouds on your screen. You wish you had the Franklin planner that you left on your dresser at home.

Wouldn't it be great if your computer were as easy to use as a television set and functioned from the moment you turned it on? That is the promise of information appliances. In his book The Invisible Computer, Donald Norman defines the information appliance as ". . . an appliance specializing in information: knowledge, facts, graphics, images, video, or sound. An information appliance is designed to perform a specific activity, such as music, photography, or writing. A distinguishing feature of information appliances is the ability to share information among themselves...