Microsoft has made some changes to Pocket PC's messaging and PIM functions. Again, these changes are tweaks rather than total revamps, and you may not notice some of them right away. Partially based on user feedback, the company has enhanced many existing functions so that they offer more functionality or are easier to use.

Enhanced e-mail
E-mail accounts are now easier to set up, to organize, and to use. For example, the Inbox has a new gradient shading that makes e-mail text more visible and information more intelligible. Also, the auto-suggest function found in Pocket Word is now present in the Inbox, speeding up typing of correspondence. And Pocket PC now supports signature files, letting you attach customized information to all of your messages.

Easy on the eyes: A slight gradient makes e-mail messages a bit more legible. (Click to enlarge.)

What's next: A slight tweak to the Today screen shows your next appointment, even if it's tomorrow or even later. (Click to enlarge.)

Pocket Outlook improvements
Other areas of the Pocket Outlook application have been similarly altered. Aside from the more-readable gradient shading, Pocket Contacts offers an optimized search function, and the most commonly used fields, such as Work Telephone and E-mail Address, are logically placed toward the top of the entry for easy viewing. Pocket PC 2003 also supports vCard files, so contacts can be easily added to the database.

Today and tomorrow
Even the Calendar and Today screens show some improvement over those of earlier versions. The new calendar view shows weekends and holidays in different colors from standard weekdays, and the Calendar application now accepts vCal files to easily incorporate new meetings and events. The Today screen offers one small but significant change: It now shows the day's events and the next upcoming event recorded on the calendar.


Intro |  Improvements to networking |  More multimedia and other software |  Upgrading options