Can you run any PC software (within reason) on a PocketPC?

[N8Magic]

A friend of mine is looking to buy a Axim for work, and he was wondering if he can run some basic windows apps on the PocketPC.

Does PocketPC software have to be specially coded for the OS?

This is the software he'd like to run on it. (not using the 3d visualization of course )

 

[notfred]

What OS and processor are in a pocket PC?

 

[jhu]

pocketpcs usually use arm processors so the programs would need to be recompiled or run via an emulator

 

[N8Magic]

notfred: The unit he's looking at uses a 400MHz Intel XScale processor. The OS is MS PocketPC 2002 (or 2003 whatever)

jhu: How good are the emulators? I was hoping PPC 2002(3?) would have an interpreter/emu built in.

 

[DaiShan]

The program must be ported to the pocket pc, however I think you will find a plethora of programs that will allow you to do just about anything you can imagine, from games, to database creators, and everything in between, the PDA has moved from the realm of appointment management into a versatile tool for the on the go professional. I take notes on mine occasionally, keep track of my finances, play games, watch movies, check email etc. anything I need to do just about, I can do.

/edit on a side note you can run terminal services via wifi and run the application on your desktop (2k server or xp pro) and not miss much functionality, of course this implies an available internet connection. Terminal services does a much better job of managing bandwidth than VNC does, there is very little lag on a wireless network with terminal services whereas with VNC I have found that it is almost not worth bothering with.

 

[OulOat]

I code for the PPC, and it is a pain. eVB is VB castrated and castrated again. I'm guessing you could probably run a lot of old programs after being ported, but don't even think about the newer ones. And it is so slow too. Are you sure that it's MS PocketPC 2002, I though all PPCs run Windows CE?

 

[ErmanC]

Terramodel? I run that program and I'd say it's a safe bet to answer NO. First of all, it's takes a pretty powerful desktop to do it justice and second, there's a hardware (parallel port) key involved. So looks like that's a double wammy on the PocketPC. Now a good alternative might be one of those tablet-laptops with the convertible screen. It might have the guts and do what he's looking for. If all he wants is the field notes stuff, then there are lesser apps made by Trimble that might be implemented on the PocketPC. It would be similar to a data collector. It really is cool software if you've got the application for it though. I've seen some awesome stuff done with realtime terrain modeling, automated heavy-equipment control, and what-not.

What line of business is your friend into? We run this stuff and some GIS apps and tinker with GIS development on the PocketPC for engineering applications so we might have some common links there. PM if I can give you anymore info.

Hope it helps.

 

[Ionizer86]

WinCE 3 is the embedded OS behind many of these small devices, such as pocketpc's, smartphones, and hpc's. PocketPC is the add-on for the OS that lets it work well with a specific device called a PocketPC (quarter VGA screens, arm processors, etc).

Stuff has to be ported, but there's ports of many big-name software titles, like Word (albeit pretty sad), excel, powerpoint clones, outlook (pim), acrobat reader, ACT, Quicken, expedia streets and trips, instant messangers etc.

But when you look around, there should be lots of software for many purposes, from multimedia to games to information management and productivity, internet, etc. 3D graphics would probably be a no go though, because the only 3d you'll find are in games such as Argentium (sp?). These devices probably aren't so fast, though I don't have a pocketpc 2002 model.

Yes, a tablet would work, but at ~$2000, a cheaper laptop would be a much better consideration.

 

[jemcam]

Originally posted by: OulOat
I code for the PPC, and it is a pain. eVB is VB castrated and castrated again. I'm guessing you could probably run a lot of old programs after being ported, but don't even think about the newer ones. And it is so slow too. Are you sure that it's MS PocketPC 2002, I though all PPCs run Windows CE?

No, my Ipaq runs MS Pocket PC 2002.