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Welcome to the first "Letters to the Editor" section in Handheld PC Magazine. Most of the letters in this issue turned out to be questions about hardware and software, but general comments are welcome as well. Because of staff limitations we cannot respond to all letters or e-mail. Please send us questions, suggestions for improvements in the Magazine or in Windows CE, ideas for new software, or general comments. All responses, unless otherwise indicated, are from Rich Hall, Editor of Handheld PC Magazine. You can reach Rich at rich [at] thaddeus [dot] com.

Palm-size PC spreadsheet program?
I recently purchased a Palm-size PC and I am looking for software that reads Pocket Excel files. Do you have any suggestions?

Danny Kucer (dkucer [at] artmetco [dot] com)

Palm-size PCs don't come with a built-in spreadsheet program, but there are P/PC spreadsheet programs available from third-party vendors. Check out SpreadSheet (www.bsquare.com), Pocket Spreadsheet (www.surerange.com) and PTab (www.z4soft.com). Also, you can export spreadsheet data to text files and use the Palm-size PC's Note Taker application to view and edit the document. However, this is a one-way process. Rich

Dictionary program for the PC Companion?
Can you tell me if there is a dictionary for CE out there? I have a Casio E-11 and cherish it. Thanks.

Joe Belmonte (bgman [at] starnetinc [dot] com)

There are a number of spelling checkers and a number of English-to-other-language dictionaries, but the only true dictionary I could find was Pocket Dictionary, a 20,4000 word U.S. English dictionary. There is a demo available at the developer's Web site (Surerange, www.surerange.com). They also have Pocket Thesaurus, a 30,000-word dictionary providing synonyms for frequently used words. Hope this helps some. Rich

Graphics on the PC Companion?
Do you know a Windows CE program similar to CorelDraw or PageMaker?

Peter Grimm (PeterGrimm [at] compuserve [dot] com)

Don't hold your breath for a PC Companion page layout program, or even a full-featured graphics program. Those programs are better suited to more powerful desktops with larger file storage capabilities and better displays. However, there are a few basic graphics programs you can check out, including PocketDraw (www.systemix.com), PalmItchSketch (www.cemonster.com), and One Cat Doodler (www.onemanandacat.com). Microsoft Power Toys includes a Pocket version of Paint. You can download it for free at www.microsoft.com/windowsce/Products/down load/. ­ Rich