On September 6, 2001, Microsoft announced the next generation of the Pocket PC, referred to internally at Microsoft as "Merlin," but officially known as the "Pocket PC 2002." The new Pocket PC 2002 operating system and built-in software have significant improvements over the original Pocket PC, released in April of last year. This article discusses the most notable of those changes and provides a comprehensive table of all of them. Note that I discuss only changes and improvements, not the features that carry over from the original Pocket PC.

ENHANCED USER INTERFACE

One of the first things you notice is the enhanced user interface (UI) of the Pocket PC 2002.

The Today screen and the rest of the UI are now "skinnable." This lets you change the color scheme of the various screens, and personalize the look and feel of your Pocket PC with your own graphics (see Screen 1). Further, you can share these skins with others.

Screen 1: The Today screen is "skinnable,"�letting you customize the look of your Pocket PC 2002.

Improvements have been made to the title bar at the top of every screen. It now permanently displays a new speaker icon. Tap on this icon and you can quickly change or mute the volume, a great feature for meetings, movies, or walks in the park. As with the original Pocket PC, the title bar on the Pocket PC 2002 displays the current time. However, if you tap on the time, a notification bubble will now pop up, displaying the time, battery status, and your next appointment (see Screen 2). Whenever critical information needs to be displayed, such as incoming e-mail, due appointments, or low batteries, one of these notification bubbles will pop up. The other thing you'll notice on the title bar of any application, except the Today screen, is either an "OK" or an "X" button. "OK" closes a dialog box; "X" lets you quickly minimize (not close) one or more programs to quickly return to a recently used application. Occasionally, other icons appear on the title bar. For example, if your batteries are getting low, a battery icon will appear in the title bar reminding you it's time to charge them.

Screen 2: New to the Pocket PC 2002, tap on the time displayed on your title bar and a reminder box pops up, displaying the time, battery status, and your next appointment.

The "tap-and-hold" feature is another big improvement to the UI. On a small and relatively crowded screen, it's easy to tap on the wrong button. Tap and hold down on the desired button or icon and a ring of small red dots will circle the button giving you visual feedback on where you tapped. Tap-and-hold also lets you access some menus. For example, press and hold down on the time in the title bar and a menu pops up, letting you change the time display from digital (default) to analog.

Finally, Microsoft has enhanced the readability of the UI by switching to Windows XP-style icons.

IMPROVED POCKET OUTLOOK

The Pocket PC 2002 expands on the capabilities of Pocket Outlook, making Calendar and Contacts easier to use.

Contacts now lets you display your list alphabetized by company or by individual name. This makes it far easier to find someone in a particular company, if that's all you remember.

Contacts' data input screen has been reorganized so that the most common contact information (name, job title, company name, phone number, etc.) is at the top of the screen. This eliminates the need to scroll down to enter common information.

Microsoft also improved its built-in Appointment Book application, enhancing Calendar's group scheduling capabilities and including the ability to display week numbers in Calendar's Week and Month views. The simplest and most useful improvement was the addition of icons to switch between views. All you have to do is tap the appropriate icon at the bottom of the display to switch between the various views: agenda, day, week, month, and year � no more struggling with a drop-down menu (see Screen 3).

Screen 3: Calendar adds icons at the bottom of the screen that let you quickly switch between agenda, day, week, month, and year views.

REDESIGNED INBOX

Microsoft did a great job of totally redesigning the Inbox application, adding many features requested by users of the original Pocket PCs.

Inbox ISP Auto Configuration configures your e-mail accounts automatically, based on your e-mail address. No more hassles with configuring your e-mail if it's in Microsoft's database!

Inbox now supports HTML documents, letting you view e-mail messages written in HTML format.

THE NEW "MY TEXT" FEATURE; MSN MESSENGER FOR "CHATS"

The My Text pop-up menu lets you quickly enter standard replies. It comes with default replies: Yes, No, Call me later, etc. (see Screen 4). You can also create your own short replies. It speeds up e-mail and MSN Messenger replies.

Screen 4: The My Text pop-up menu lets you quickly enter standard replies in Inbox (shown here) and MSN Messenger.

You can now use ActiveSync to synchronize e-mail subfolders. I use subfolders extensively on my desktop PC to organize my e-mail and this new feature really makes it a lot easier to use the Pocket PC with my desktop PC.

Additionally, Inbox now lets you spell check your e-mail, accept or decline meeting requests, and reply to e-mail with voice messages. It also automatically translates Pocket Word and Excel documents to desktop PC formats when you attach them to an e-mail.

Microsoft added a Pocket PC version of MSN Messenger to the new set of applications. You can now use your personal Microsoft Passport accounts to log into MSN Messenger and chat from your Pocket PC. As mentioned earlier, the My Text feature makes for fast responses to instant messages. Privacy controls block incoming messages when you are "Away" or "Busy." Also, it supports auto logon and logoff. This means that when you want to send or receive messages, it automatically connects; when you're finished, it disconnects.

SPELL CHECKER FOR POCKER WORD; DRM5 SUPPORT FOR MS READER

Microsoft added a couple of practical features to the built-in version of Word. The best improvement is Pocket Word's new, built-in spell checker (see Screen 5). I use Pocket Word a lot and this helps me catch spelling errors before I forward a document to someone else. (Unfortunately, users of upgradeable Pocket PCs, like the iPAQ 3600 series devices, will not have this feature when they install the Pocket PC 2002 operating system and applications.) Microsoft also added a "word-count" option to Pocket Word. I find this handy when I'm writing a document that has to be a specific length, like the articles I write for Pocket PC magazine.

Screen 5: Pocket Word's new spell checker option.

Microsoft changed MS Reader's user interface, making it easier to use. However, it does not have the standard menu structure and look of other Pocket PC applications (see Screen 6). Microsoft added the much-requested DRM5 (Digital Right Management, level 5) support, allowing Pocket PC 2002 users to purchase and download secure eBooks from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online sources.

Screen 6: MS Reader has a new, easier to use interface.

STREAMING AUDIO AND VIDEO WITH MEDIA PLAYER 8.0

Microsoft includes the latest version of Windows Media Player with the Pocket PC 2002. Media Player 8.0 allows the user to play stored or streaming audio and video (MP3, Windows Media Audio, Windows Media Video, and FhG formats). The new Web favorites feature lets you save the Web addresses of streaming media sites. Media Player 8.0 sports a new "skinnable" interface, letting you customize the look and feel of the interface. Finally, Media Player now has the ability to control streaming video and audio connection speeds to optimize the experience. Microsoft also added support for DRM5, so audio vendors can securely provide you with audio from your favorite artist.

MORE FEATURES FOR POCKET INTERNET EXPLORER

There are a number of new features in Pocket Internet Explorer (PIE) that I've wanted for awhile. You can finally download graphics, documents, and other files from the Web directly to your Pocket PC. For slower connections, you can speed up the downloading of a Web page because PIE lets you turn off the automatic download of graphics, sounds and other files. After the page is displayed, you can selectively display the images you want to see. Pocket Internet Explorer now comes with WAP support, which means you can now access WAP sites from the same built-in Web browser.

CONNECTION MANAGER SIMPLIFIES NETWORK CONNECTIONS

Microsoft's improved Connection Manager simplifies connecting to your ISP or network by centralizing and automating the process. You no longer need to separately enter connection details for Inbox, Pocket Internet Explorer, MSN Messenger, or third-party applications. Open Connection Manager and you are presented with two setup options: Internet and Work (see Screen 7). The Internet section at the top of the screen is for configuring dialup and direct network connections to the Internet. The Work section at the bottom is used to support VPNs (Virtual Private Network), proxies and synchronization with ActiveSync via your network. The thing to remember is that once your connections are set up, Connection Manager automatically applies the most suitable path for a connection request given to it by any Pocket PC application.

Screen 7: The Pocket PC 2002's improved Connection Manager simplifies the process of connecting to your ISP or network.

TERMINAL SERVICES CLIENT

One of the most requested additions to the Pocket PC 2002 was Terminal Services Client, which lets you remotely log onto a Terminal Server via a landline or wireless connection. The user can then run full desktop PC applications from his/her Pocket PC, access corporate data, and interact with the server in other ways. Applications run on the server and data is stored there. The Pocket PC simply acts as the terminal, letting you see what's happening and control the process. Since the Pocket PC's display is much smaller than the desktop PCs, the Terminal Services Client includes navigation buttons that let you quickly display any portion of the larger screen on your Pocket PC's (see Screen 8).

Screen 8: The Pocket PC 2002's new Terminal�Services Client lets you access and run applications�stored on a corporate server from the Pocket PC.�Navigation buttons at the bottom left of the screen let you display any portion of larger desktop PC screens.�

BETTER MEMORY MANAGEMENT AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS

The Windows CE operating system at the core of the Pocket PC 2002 manages system memory better. It keeps frequently used programs available, but closes down others more gracefully without letting you run out of system memory. This means that you don't have to pay much attention to the applications that are running in the background. Microsoft also added the ability to update selected portions of the Pocket PC 2002's operating system and built-in applications stored in flash ROM. This makes it easier to fix bugs and add features, without needing to install a "Service Pack" in internal RAM memory.

I tested the Pocket PC 2002 software on an iPAQ 3600 Pocket PC. The Pocket PC 2002 software appears to operate at about the same speed as the original Pocket PC software.

ACTIVESYNC VERSION 3.5 SUPPORTS SYNCHRONIZATION WITH DESKTOP PCs OR SERVERS

ActiveSync version 3.5 is required to synchronize the Pocket PC 2002 with your desktop PC. It is a user-installable desktop PC program that comes on CD with all Pocket PC 2002 devices. Users of upgraded iPAQ 3100 and 3600 series devices or the original @migo Pocket PC will have to download ActiveSync 3.5 from Microsoft's Mobile Devices Web site (www.microsoft.com/mobile/downloads) or search PocketPC.com.

The Pocket PC 2002 working with ActiveSync 3.5 supports a couple of cool new features. "Desktop pass-through" lets you connect your Pocket PC 2002 to your desktop PC and use the desktop PC's Internet connection to browse the Web from your Pocket PC. You can also use the pass-through feature with MSN Messenger, e-mail, and other TCP/IP applications without installing an additional proxy server. I find the pass-through feature particularly useful for checking the look of Web pages designed to be viewed on the Pocket PC screen.

Microsoft added an ActiveSync status screen to the Pocket PC 2002. This gives you the same information displayed on your desktop PC's ActiveSync status screen, and is redundant if the only way you sync is on a data cradle. But if you synchronize data remotely with your desktop PC or company server, you can now check the status of the sync with your Pocket PC 2002.

A GREAT UPGRADE!

I am very pleased with the overall performance of Pocket PC 2002. I have been using it, installed on the original iPAQ 3600, for the past few months and I have found it to be more useful than the original Pocket PCs. I really like the spell checker feature, the ability to connect via ActiveSync over my network without entering an IP address, and the automatic upgrade features the most. I can't wait to try all the different Pocket PC 2002 systems with different hardware features.