Windows Mobile 6 != Windows CE 6

Microsoft is once again attempting to clarify the difference between Windows Mobile and Windows CE. Sue Loh on the Windows CE Base Team blog states:

Windows Mobile 6 does NOT run the CE 6 OS. Technically the OS version # in WM6 is 5.02; it's an advancement of the OS (5.01) that was in WM5. Certain CE6 OS features have been ported to WM6. But the kernel VM architecture we've been discussing here does NOT apply to Windows Mobile 6.

(link)

Oh No, Not Again, ActiveSync

My ActiveSync posts (e.g., ActiveSync Sit & Spin) are the most visited blog entries on this site by nearly an order of magnitude. It's clear that many others have encountered the same problems as I. ActiveSync 4.5 beta, however, was working very well for me--in fact, flawlessly. So, perhaps I should not have been so eager to upgrade to the full release. Now, my current problem could be completely coincidental with my upgrade--I'd been running 4.5 for two straight days without experiencing a any problems. However, yesterday I plugged in my Cingular 2125 WM5 SmartPhone and a dialog box popped up that read "The software you are installing for this hardware: SmartPhone USB Sync has not passed Windows Logo testing to verify its compatibility with Windows XP." (see Figure 1 below)

Figure 1: Windows Logo Testing Dialog

If you click "STOP Installation" the SmartPhone device will not be recognized by your computer; thus, you must press "Continue Anyway." In my two years of SmartPhone development, I have never seen this dialog (not sure if it is related to ActiveSync 4.5 or not). After selecting "Continue Anyway," ActiveSync opened and properly synchronized my SmartPhone. However, after unplugging the phone and plugging it in again, I received another dialog box--this one was a bit more alarming: "One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it." (see Figure 2 below)

Figure 2: USB Device Not Recognized

After this point, no amount of restarting (either my computer or device) would fix this issue. I'm not sure if Figure 2 is related to Figure 1 at all, but it seems likely. Interestingly, my other WM5 device (a Pocket PC Phone) still synchronized fine.

I was able to fix the problem by:

1. Unplugging device from computer
   
2. Uninstalling ActiveSync 4.5
3. Restarting Computer
4. Reinstalling Activesync 4.5
5. Plugging device back in

Unfortunately, it only took me about three hours to get this right. Troubleshooting included a hard reset on my SmartPhone, thus losing all of my installed programs of which there are many. I don't believe the problem is on the device side, however, so a hard reset is probably not required (in fact, after my hard reset, plugging in my device would still cause the Figure 2 dialog to pop up).

ActiveSync 4.5 Released

You can download ActiveSync 4.5 here. The readme.doc includes an overview of new features, a select few are below.

• Feature: A device can stay connected to cellular and wireless networks while also connected to PC.
• Benefit: Enables the device to receive incoming VoIP calls and MMS messages when it is connected to a PC.
• Feature: An integrated troubleshooter utility is included.
• Benefit: The utility scans your PC and device to identify problems that can affect the use of your device with the PC.
• Feature: Overall stability has been improved.
• Benefit: Enhances the reliability of connecting devices and syncing.
• Feature: USB support has been improved.
• Benefit: ActiveSync 4.5 provides the fastest USB transport between your PC and your mobile device to date.
  

There's also a plethora of exchange related features, but I don't use those so I'm not sure how useful they are.

What's New in Windows Mobile 6

Jim Wilson has posted an article "What's New for Developers in Windows Mobile 6" on msdn (link). Note that the difference between WM 5 and WM 6 is much less substantial than the difference between WM 2003 (WM4) and WM5. This is, in part, more due to the transition between .NET CF 1 and .NET CF 2 imo. Nonetheless, Here is a quick summary of the new WM 6 features I'm most interested in:

• The .NET Compact Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 Compact Edition are in the ROM of all Windows Mobile 6 devices, which allows your application to use .NET Compact Framework 2.0 and SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition without needing to distribute or install either product on the user's device. This reduces the time and cost of application deployment resulting in direct monetary savings.
  
  This is absolutely fantastic. Most of the work I do currently utilizes both .NET CF 2 SP1 and SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition (used to be called SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition). By shipping with these binaries in the ROM, this greatly simplifies deployment/installation.


• An improved Device Emulator with many new features that allows you to test your applications across a wider range of device form factors without needing to purchase the device. This includes a cellular emulator and a GPS emulator
  
  
• A newly added lightweight version of the Tablet PC's inking API, Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP), allows you to incorporate ink-based features into your applications running on Windows Mobile 6 Professional and Windows Mobile 6 Classic devices.
  
  
• In addition to the more than 100 State and Notification Broker state values supported by Windows Mobile 5.0, Windows Mobile 6 adds several more. Windows Mobile 6 provides call state information for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone calls including the phone number, operator name, and more. Windows Mobile 6 also adds state information for device locking. State information is now available for changes in the keypad lock state, device lock state, and SIM lock state.

Update 02-15-2007: According to this post on the Windows Mobile Team Blog, the Windows Mobile 6 SDK won't be out until March 1st with a "refreshed" version on May 1st.