Windows Mobile 5 - why do it?

[Daeljan]

Hi all,

Just got myself an O2 XDA(ii). I have heard people banging on about WM5 and how I should upgrade the OS.

However, one question - why do it?
What will I gain by doing the upgrade?
Will it consume more system resources and therefore have an overhead performance?
What woes will be introduced by upgrading - will it break anything?
Is WM5 really as stable as WM3?

I hope I can get answers to these questions!!

Many thanks!

[Midget_1990]

why use windows when dos works fine?

[Daeljan]

Windows is a GUI, dos is a CLI.
Both human interfaces are radically different.

The questions I posed are reasonable.

[kdskamal]

Try this..

borrow a WM5 device from someone for a day and dont use ur WM2003 device.

If u like something in that device, install WM5 on your BA and test it, try it

[Daeljan]

I thought that this was a technical website for developers - I had hoped for some slightly more in depth answers, like contrasting for example:

consumption of system resources
bugs
reliability
speed
new system features
security
power management
etc...

[unicorn78]

Hi,
It is a true question,
- I have just used WM5 a week. So I hope my experience will be useful for you.
Fist, the WM5 store all data on it's ROM so you won't lost you data example: instaled program in device, contacts, SMS, MMS... if it run out of energy, hard reset... But, that causes the speed is slower than official WM2003 Version 1.42.
It still remain some bugs example: sometime freeze when you turn it on, BT and wifi sometime need a softreset to turn on.
The energy consumsion is the same (waiting phone mode). Others depend on backlight, % CPU usage.
Certainly WM5 have much more feature. I really don't known what I should advice you now because I still often reset 1-2 time/day:D like my laptop. But I don't like thing which is the same forever :D expecialy softwares.
I hope you can have your answer.
I thought that this was a technical website for developers - I had hoped for some slightly more in depth answers, like contrasting for example:

consumption of system resources
bugs
reliability
speed
new system features
security
power management
etc...

[Daeljan]

Thank you very much for that answer!

To be honest, I got the XDA because I need something to keep me organised time-wise, so I'm more interested in stability than eye-candy. I don't want to fall behind the times either, but I may hold out untill WM 5 matures a little more. What you said about hanging when you switch on is off-putting enough - I had heard similar things about WM5 related to connectivity, but I've never had the chance to hear about it first-hand.

If anyone else would like to add something of similar content to this thread, I'd be very happy to read about it.

Cheers.

[MDAIIIUser]

This is xda-developers so the question of why use WM5 on BA sort of answers itself by the simple fact that M$ has not given it to us in the first place (well this could also not be true as M$ did make a copy but none of the providers gave us a rom so that we all go out and by a new WM5 Device).

So why not? In the long run its more of a matter of taste, some have gone for and stayed with the WM5 on a BA, others have gone back and others have gone and brought a REAL WM5 device.

Its up to you, if you read the threads (of which there are many) you will find reasons to stay away and reasons to install it. Like I say its sort of personal.

Oh yes DOS was and is cool, still to this day I use it.

[BA_Flash_GOD]

why don't you just flash to WM5 try it out

[BA_Flash_GOD]

why don't you just flash to WM5 try it out, and if you don't like it go back 2k3, makes the most sense. You seem like a smart chap i'm sure you can figure it out, no harm to the device, and you'll get all your answers bra :D

My two cents if you like command line and stability learn linux, bash away! :D

[wzaatar]

I thought that this was a technical website for developers - I had hoped for some slightly more in depth answers, like contrasting for example:


Hi Daeljan,

Welcome to the community! I'm sorry if some of the guys answered like that, but you have to understand that this question pops in from newbies every couple days "Why shall I do it?", "What's the difference", etc... So some of us just get tired of answering! :-)

I am sure however, that you'll find many extremely interesting, highly technical threads.

So, to answer your question: WM2K+3 vs WM5

- I believe that part of doing it was actually to try to see it could be done, I mean the operators left us with an exceptional device (the BlueAngel) without upgrade, so many of us felt "betrayed" and wanted to get the latest, and greatest despite the lack of official support for a release.
- The LATEST version of WM5 (Helmi v3.2) is much more stable that the early versions, I'm currently running it and never think about downgrading back to WM2K3. Amongst the things I find interesting:
- The OS is almost as fast as WM2K3, in fact I run all most of the new versions of software flawlessly.
- WM5 has flat memory and no sharing between the "Storage" and "Execution" spaces (Which is something you will immediately notice on your old OS), so you get more running memory for your applications.
- Because of the above, WM5 has "resilient" storage, i.e. a reset will not erase your data, that alone is a great advantage.
- Some apps that do not run anymore on WM2K3 are now accessible for our community.
- Some applications are natively available on WM5 (Like Mobile PowerPoint) for example, and are not there on WM2K3.
- Better synchronization with your desktop device (You can, for example see your contact pictures directly synchronized, whereas with WM2K3, you can't).

On the other hand, we have a few issues (That are getting fixed with every new release), like:
- Slightly higher power consumption.
- A very, very ugly bluetooth protocol stack... People are doing an amazing job there, and the problem is almost over.
- Other minor issues that you'll discover while browsing the links.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

W.

[Midget_1990]

1) click search, type an abbrevieted version of your first post in it.

2) be swamped with a massive amount of posts ABOUT THE SAME THING.

3) repeat in future.

(sorry if im being a bit harsh but i myself have awnserwed this question many times before, just search in future!)

[Daeljan]

Thank you all for your answers, and sorry for making you repeat yourselves.
I suppose that this is an obvious topic for discussion that many people naturally want to know about.

So why not post a summary of it all somewhere where people can find it without having to mine the forums? I searched the FAQ for WM5, Upgrade, Windows Mobile 5, in various combinations and nothing came up.

The bluetooth problems are a little scary though if the XDA is to be used as a GPS, connected to the antenna via bluetooth.

Anyhow, thanks again.

[unicorn78]

You can try, it is easy to downgrade, not compelex as in the instruction.
1. Change to bootloader mode, connect USB run Ship file,
2. After the instaltion procces finished, softreset your BA.
3. The first start maybe get mistake, cause ExtraRom could be changed, softreset again, your BA will run in a pure state, unhide ExtraROM-softreset, copy all files in the ExtraROM of Ship file (extract from Ship file) to the ExtraROM, you can also change ExtraRom as you want.
4. Hardreset---everything is OK.

[MDAIIIUser]

Wzaatar
Very nice post you did there old chap, thanks. You almost got me to try it all over again.

[PPCNUT]

I use the ROM in my signature and I find it great apart from the odd problem but that could be from the 50+ apps I have on it.

[spkr4thdd]

Thank you very much for that answer!

To be honest, I got the XDA because I need something to keep me organised time-wise, so I'm more interested in stability than eye-candy. I don't want to fall behind the times either, but I may hold out untill WM 5 matures a little more. What you said about hanging when you switch on is off-putting enough - I had heard similar things about WM5 related to connectivity, but I've never had the chance to hear about it first-hand.

If anyone else would like to add something of similar content to this thread, I'd be very happy to read about it.

Cheers.

OK, I'll try to give you a different slant on things....

WM5 utilises persistent storage (as stated above) which means that, should you find yourself in the unfortunate position that your BA has run out of juice you'll retain all your data (even the RAMDisk contents contrary to some other peoples posts). This is not the case in WM2003SE. If you let the battery run down in WM2003SE it's adios amigo! And start all over again.

WM2003SE while quite stable, is not perfect, especially once you have several apps installed and use it aggressively. WM5, while technically only in beta for this device (as they are mostly hacked/patched/ported ROM's) can prove to be a very stable platform. I have used nearly every version of WM5 on this forum to try and find the 'right' one... and I use my BA constantly, for business purposes and satnav guidance.

Comparing the 2 OS's is like comparing Windows XP and Vista... XP is a proven system, Vista is not, so direct comparison would be unfair to either... as for performance, with the tweaks now found in the newer WM5 ROM's I find my BA responds as well, if not better, than with WM2003SE, battery consumption is a little higher but that can be resloved with any of the CPU throttling apps available...

I wholeheartedly recommend the AKU 2.6 version of Helmi's ROM. I went away on business recently with WM2003SE installed and while away flashed this version of the ROM. My reason for being back with WM2003SE prior to this was the sluggishness of my BA after a while of running WM5. During my absence the Page Pool fix reared its head and all seemed to be good in the world. While AKU3.2 is the newest version of WM5 it has inherent compatability issues with much of the software available for WM5, even Microsoft's own such as Voice Command (an app I actually make use of!). The AKU2.6 ROM doesn't have these issues, and with the paging fix does not become sluggish at all.

9 weeks on and my system has only frozen once, and that was with a 'hacked' piece of software so I don't blame the system... I have not had to reflash once, and I honestly don't remember having to soft reset... I have yet to find a WM5 compatible app which doesn't work with it, and I use it day in, day out.

In short, I jumped on the WM5 bandwagon some time agao and was very disillsusioned at one point, so much so that I returned to WM2003SE... However I missed the smoother GUI, the much better handling of popups and alerts, the tighter integration with Outlook, the better operation of ActiveSync and so forth, so I came back to the fold, and I will not be downgrading again...

If you use Push Email anything after AKU2 (or is it 2.3?) is a Godsend, and believe me, the overall feel of the OS is much smoother, it feels like a 'pocket pc', rather than a really gucci phone!!

I use my BA to play media, read newsfeeds, browse the web, check/send email, and all the other stuff my mates do on their laptops, and if you have the right settings for your provider there should be no issues with connectivity... I have A2DP set up as well so I have a stereo BT headset for music/video etc... I run TomTom, Garmin Que, OziExplorer...

Oh! And I use it as a PDA/Organiser, my life is on that brick, and believe me, it gets hammered!!

I also have an XDA Exec now and to be honest I prefer the BA... although I do love my IQ (but Smartphone is a whole different kettle of fish)!!

I hope this gratuitous plug of WM5 helps sway your decision ;)

[Nicolfa]

I personally like WM5. The issue for me, and the reason I bought the SX66 in the first place, was screen size and muscle. Alot of the affordable WM5 devices out have small screens compared to what I am used to in a PDA. I cannot afford and Jasjar (wish I could) so I looked for something with a decent screen size and processing power.

The SX66 was the only choice for me, EXACTLY because I could flash it too WM5 :) Haven't looked back since. I run my games (Morphgear - SNES), work with my files without having to squint too much, play my music and get phone calls. Coolest thing in the world.

I have compared it side by side with the 8125 and the windows Treo, it kept up easy enough. Out did them in some area's, lost in one (no camera)... but in the end its just as functional as the new ones.

Flash it and see!

[joseph.sapri]

[QUOTE=Daeljan;1032575]Thank you very much for that answer!

hi Daeljan,
Just reiterating what people has said before :)

To be honest, I got the XDA because I need something to keep me organised time-wise, so I'm more interested in stability than eye-candy.
-- if this is what you need, then you definitely need to upgrade to latest WM5 (Helmi, Xplode - both are great). The sole idea of "persistent storage" itself is a must to upgrade. I am using IIs (Helmi's rom) and I actually found my BA is more stable than when I used 2003SE. I had this hard reset issue when I pressed the green button to receive phone call. It annoyed the hell out of me. It happened to me about 3 times... Now this problem is gone. Just imagine yourself is out of town for a business trip and suddenly our "stable 2003SE" hard reset by itself and the back up file is at home in your pc... what a bum huh? it happened to me.


I don't want to fall behind the times either, but I may hold out untill WM 5 matures a little more. What you said about hanging when you switch on is off-putting enough - I had heard similar things about WM5 related to connectivity, but I've never had the chance to hear about it first-hand.
-- This is a subjective comment from me, I think the current version of WM5 out here are good enuf. I dont think it will "mature" too much cause people WILL be busy playing with WM6. As far as I know, more and more developers make new softwares for WM5/6 and less make them for 2003.

Yes, WM5 still has some issues now, but I have not found 1 piece of software that is perfect. even 2003SE had issues. However, these are acceptable issues (for me anyway).

Just a happy user of WM5 and I would never go back to 2003SE (unless I want to sell my beloved BA, then i might have to flash it back to factory rom :)).

If you want to wait, dont wait for WM5... wait for a more stable WM6.
Like other happy users, I still have hopes the geniuses from xda-dev would find a way to make WM6 work on BA... whatever solution that is...

[hardingt0110]

WM5 allows me to install apps to my storage cards - very useful! There is also the "device lock" feature which has saved me $$$ in phone bills from calls I didnt make.

[rizortiz]

knw what? i beliv u better try it by yourself..
actually, there are several advantages of using wm5 compared with wm2003
as mentioned by the people here in the xda community..

in my case, its really nice having my phone with wm5 now..
enjoying it so much..

semper fidelis,

rizortiz

[bushako]

:rolleyes: i think there are other such features in the wm5 like a much better user interface...it also depends on what you are looking for...performance, appearance, stability or security in your pda...i own a xda2i myself and after going through the differents thread regarding the new operating system wm5 i definetly would go for it if it were to be available for the xda2i...if you have heard of the iphone then youd also know that you can make your pda operate like one only if it operates on wm5 using the Wisebar program..and also i have heard that it backs up all the data directly onto the rom and therefore you can prevent data loss unlike wm3 were most of the data such as sms,email and the contacts is stored onto the ram and can easily get erased if by any chance the backup battery runs out(which happens alot to me)...however for stabily wise id definetly opt for the wm3...and i think they both deliver the same security so no problem with that...and for performance i think the wm5 brings little or no difference in performance compared to the wm3,for the mean time im happy with my xda2i and its wm3 OS.:cool:

[adotan]

since I was asked the same question, after googling a bit I found the following :
http://www.4winmobile.com/q-what-are-the-changes-in-wm-50-vt435.html
for those reasons I think it worth upgrading to WM5