Wednesday, February 6, 2002
Pocket PC 2002 and Windows 95
Posted by marlof in "ARTICLE" @ 12:32 PM
With the Pocket PC 2002 users running older platforms feel left out in the cold. A Pocket PC 2002 needs to have Activesync 3.5 installed, and that one can no longer live together with Windows 95. One user posted in the newsgroup that he could get a partnership using Activesync 3.5 on Windows 95, but upon connection mayhem was there. Later on, after installing the Service Pack 1, even starting Activesync 3.5 no longer worked.
First, let it be said that I don't agree with users who think that Microsoft should make all their new products backwards compatible. Since resources can be spent only once, I'd rather see Microsoft work on enhancements and adding functionality for current systems that can still be bought. Every software product has a life cycle and since December 2001, Windows 95 is in the non-supported phase, 6+ years after it's initial launch. At one point, especially in a world where much progress is made each year, it is better to look forward and not look back.
Running unsupported out-of-date software in a company is always a risk. Of course, upgrading software costs money. But everything in the company costs money. In general software is written off in three years. That means you could or even should logically expect having to buy new software after that period of time. If that is not necessary, great! You're not spending money, although you shouldn't have been surprised if that would have been needed. But if more time passes and in the end the software is no longer supported, you might get into trouble. Especially with an operating system there might be extra risks. As Ed Hansberry pointed out to me, windowsupdate.microsoft.com has pretty much stopped providing security updates for Windows 95 (although there is continuous support for IE 5.5). You could be subjecting yourself and your company to a security issue if some hacker releases a virus/worm/backdoor in the future.
Some people still say "Keeping older software up and running is not a big problem if you use your software for the exact same task that you used it for when you bought it. If it worked then, it will work now."
I have a lot of experience with that way of thinking. We're still using WordPerfect 5.1+ for DOS in my company. We're a lawfirm, and we just write texts. Nothing fancy (besides the content of course), just plain text. WP is still a great tool for that, and it beats Word for speed anytime! But we're always worried if we can get new printers to work. Because the software might still perform the same task, the hardware generally breaks sooner or later, and should be replaced. Next to that adding new software to the set up is as big a gamble. In my office we want a new database system, but it is very hard to find one that is able to link to WP. In the unsupported phase, changing something to a set up is risky.
And with the new Pocket PC 2002 that proved to be the case. If your company has gambled on keeping outdated software on the systems 'because it still does what we want it to do' and they want to add Pocket PC 2002, they're out of luck, and they should upgrade. But sadly, for many of you, the choice to get a Pocket PC 2002 is a personal choice. As it is not company policy in order to get the company to change the operating system and PIM 'one user can't sync his excellent PDA' simply is not a good enough an argument.
If you're in that fix and can not force the company to upgrade Windows 95 to enable you to sync a Pocket PC 2002, you might be interested in a trick that was posted in the newsgroup by several people. Install Activesync 3.1. Connect - using a serial or IrDA connection - your Pocket PC 2002 to the desktop. There will be complaints about this being not a good match, ignore those. Do not set up a partnership, but remain a guest. As this enables you to transfer files between your Pocket PC and desktop, this might be enough for some of you. If you want to use synchronization, you can use a third party sync solution ( Intellisync or XTND Connect PC ) that does support both Pocket PC 2002 and Windows 95 to do your synchronization. Not a beauty, but apparently it works.
First, let it be said that I don't agree with users who think that Microsoft should make all their new products backwards compatible. Since resources can be spent only once, I'd rather see Microsoft work on enhancements and adding functionality for current systems that can still be bought. Every software product has a life cycle and since December 2001, Windows 95 is in the non-supported phase, 6+ years after it's initial launch. At one point, especially in a world where much progress is made each year, it is better to look forward and not look back.
Running unsupported out-of-date software in a company is always a risk. Of course, upgrading software costs money. But everything in the company costs money. In general software is written off in three years. That means you could or even should logically expect having to buy new software after that period of time. If that is not necessary, great! You're not spending money, although you shouldn't have been surprised if that would have been needed. But if more time passes and in the end the software is no longer supported, you might get into trouble. Especially with an operating system there might be extra risks. As Ed Hansberry pointed out to me, windowsupdate.microsoft.com has pretty much stopped providing security updates for Windows 95 (although there is continuous support for IE 5.5). You could be subjecting yourself and your company to a security issue if some hacker releases a virus/worm/backdoor in the future.
Some people still say "Keeping older software up and running is not a big problem if you use your software for the exact same task that you used it for when you bought it. If it worked then, it will work now."
I have a lot of experience with that way of thinking. We're still using WordPerfect 5.1+ for DOS in my company. We're a lawfirm, and we just write texts. Nothing fancy (besides the content of course), just plain text. WP is still a great tool for that, and it beats Word for speed anytime! But we're always worried if we can get new printers to work. Because the software might still perform the same task, the hardware generally breaks sooner or later, and should be replaced. Next to that adding new software to the set up is as big a gamble. In my office we want a new database system, but it is very hard to find one that is able to link to WP. In the unsupported phase, changing something to a set up is risky.
And with the new Pocket PC 2002 that proved to be the case. If your company has gambled on keeping outdated software on the systems 'because it still does what we want it to do' and they want to add Pocket PC 2002, they're out of luck, and they should upgrade. But sadly, for many of you, the choice to get a Pocket PC 2002 is a personal choice. As it is not company policy in order to get the company to change the operating system and PIM 'one user can't sync his excellent PDA' simply is not a good enough an argument.
If you're in that fix and can not force the company to upgrade Windows 95 to enable you to sync a Pocket PC 2002, you might be interested in a trick that was posted in the newsgroup by several people. Install Activesync 3.1. Connect - using a serial or IrDA connection - your Pocket PC 2002 to the desktop. There will be complaints about this being not a good match, ignore those. Do not set up a partnership, but remain a guest. As this enables you to transfer files between your Pocket PC and desktop, this might be enough for some of you. If you want to use synchronization, you can use a third party sync solution ( Intellisync or XTND Connect PC ) that does support both Pocket PC 2002 and Windows 95 to do your synchronization. Not a beauty, but apparently it works.
