Trends in Windows Mobile
Synchronization
By Chris De Herrera,
Copyright 2008
Version 1.00 Revised 5/21/2008
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Introduction
One of the most critical experiences users expect after purchasing a
Windows Mobile is the ability to synchronize their data with their
mobile device. This article focuses on describing the current state of
both desktop and Exchange synchronization as well as projecting future
trends for Windows Mobile synchronization.
The Current State of Desktop Synchronization
Currently users of Windows Mobile 6.1 devices that wish to sync with
Windows XP. For users of Windows Mobile 6.1 that wish to sync with
Windows Vista use Windows Mobile Device Center (WMDC) 6.1.
Synchronization and Manageability
Functionality
Desktop Synchronization
The functionality of both ActiveSync and WMDC are approximately the same
with their focus on synchronizing with your Calendar, Contacts, Tasks
and Inbox in Outlook as well as installation of applications from your
desktop. However there are some differences such as WMDC does not allow
users to uninstall Windows Mobile applications from their device while
synchronizing. With Windows Mobile 5 and 6.x, you can sync your default
calendar, contacts and tasks folder and most of the Inbox folders except
for the Drafts and Sent Items.
Also, for the enterprise customers, With System Center Mobile Device
Manager, Microsoft has released the ability to enable or disable
synchronization via ActiveSync or WMDC. However this device
manageability of ActiveSync or WMDC does not allow granularity to
address the user options for Outlook synchronization. Also,
developers use ActiveSync or WMDC to test new applications they are
creating using Visual Studio.
Reverting back to PPP for Stable Connections
ActiveSync and WMDC both use an underlying TCP/IP connection with your
desktop to allow RAPI function calls to synchronize data. With Windows
Mobile 6.x, and selected versions for Windows Mobile 5.0, there is a new
option to revert to the more stable PPP connection instead of the RNDIS
introduced with Windows Mobile 5.0. To enable the private PPP stack,
click on Start, select the Settings
menu option and click on the Connections tab. Launch
the USB to PC application and uncheck the
Enable advanced network functionality radio box.
The Current State of Exchange Synchronization
With Smartphone 2002, Microsoft introduced the support for synchronizing
with Exchange 2000 using an add-on called Mobile Information Server.
With the release of Exchange 2003 Microsoft integrated the functionality
that Mobile Information Server offered along with additional device
management functionality. In Exchange 2003 and 2007 along with Windows
Mobile 2003, 2003 SE, 5.0 and 6.x, Microsoft has added additional
capabilities to synchronize and manage more capabilities with these
devices as each new release has been introduced.
For a comparison of the features of Exchange synchronization features by
client visit
http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/faqs/exchange/feature-comparison.htm.
This comparison documents the increased functionality with new mobile
device releases and new Exchange versions.
The Trends in Synchronization
After looking back over the incremental improvements with ActiveSync 4.x
(see
http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/faqs/activesyncversions.htm for a summary
of the changes for each release), Microsoft has slowed the addition of
features to sync with the desktop while focusing on adding support for
new releases of Outlook and Windows Mobile. This is a
negative trend when compared with the new features that Microsoft added
during the ActiveSync 3.x product lifecycle.
With over-the-air synchronization of Exchange and Windows Mobile,
Microsoft continues to add functions with each release as documented
above.
Comparing Desktop and Exchange Synchronization
In comparing the differences in the enhancements for synchronization for
the desktop and Exchange, it is clear that Microsoft is adding more
features to support the enterprise customer. I believe that this trend
will continue for Windows Mobile as the Exchange team evolves the
functionality of synchronization. Further the Exchange
ActiveSync is supported by multiple hardware vendors from Apple and
Symbian as well as Palm. In my opinion, the desktop synchronization via
ActiveSync and WMDC has been left to stagnate since the introduction of
ActiveSync 4.x.
Future Trends
With these synchronization trends, I expect that more and more end users
as well as enterprise customers will use Exchange ActiveSync to get the
latest calendar, contacts and tasks information onto their devices. Some
companies are already offering hosted Exchange solutions which include
synchronization such as Mail2Web (free) which encourages individual
users to take advantage of the enterprise functionality of Exchange with
their Windows Mobile devices.
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