Buzz On The Boards

It's pretty easy to tell that the Pocket PC is starting to take off. When I started writing this column, reading the Pocket PC newsgroup each day was a manageable task. But now I have to go through 400 and 600 messages each day, and that's a lot of reading! It means that in the two-month period since I wrote my last column there have been about 24,000 messages on that one newsgroup. While it has the highest volume of any of the Windows Powered newsgroups, there are around 30,000 or more messages between all of the different newsgroups and message boards.

The focus for this issue of Pocket PC magazine is utilities, and a few are being mentioned over and over again by Pocket PC users. One is Dashboard by Snoopsoft (www.snoopsoft.com/pocketpc/dashboard.html). Dashboard is a Today screen replacement that not only allows more functionality for your Today screen, but is 'skinnable,' meaning that you can put different looks on your Today screen. Dashboard allows you to view Appointments and Tasks simultaneously, view e-mails, and launch any program you've defined from the Today screen along with many other functions. Check out Nitin Gupta's brief review of Dashboard on page 38 of the March 2001 issue. Dashboard is a shareware program for Pocket PCs only. It is available for trial download at the Snoopsoft Web site. The shareware registration fee is $13.

Another often mentioned utility is PocketNav from Scott Seligman (www.scottandmichelle.net/scott/cestuff.html). Pocket-Nav is a small utility that lets you quickly close applications and switch between open applications. It also adds a Today screen icon to the top navigation bar so that one tap takes you back to the Today screen. PocketNav is freeware for Pocket PCs only. It is available for download on the developer's Web site.

Dashboad is a customizable Today screen replacement that lets you view Appointments and Tasks simultaneously, view e-mails, and more. It's 'skinnable,' allowing you to create different looks.

HandyZIP from CnetX (www.cnetx.com) is another utility that you may want to check out. HandyZIP lets you compress and uncompress ZIP files on your Pocket PC. HandyZIP lets you increase the available storage space on your Pocket PC by keeping some of your files in ZIP format and unzipping them when you need them. You can also view the ZIP files without having to expand them. HandyZIP is shareware. Free evaluation copies are available on the CnetX Web site for Pocket and Handheld PCs. The shareware registration fee is $19.95.

PHM Registry Editor lets you edit the Windows Registry on your Pocket PC.

Finally, if you like digging into the way things work you may want to take a look at PHM Registry Editor from Philippe Majerus (www.phm.lu/products/regedit.asp). If you don't already know your way around the Windows Registry, you probably don't want to play around with this one. Make a mistake in the Registry and you can lock up your Pocket PC and force a hard reset that will wipe out everything in internal memory (but not on your storage cards). I mention this because it is often asked about in the newsgroups. But be careful with this one. PHM Registry Editor is a freeware program and available for download at the developer's Web site.

PocketNav lets you close applications and quickly switch between open applications.