Gartner Group Analysis Of Microsoft Pocket PC.

With the launch of its Pocket PC, Microsoft joins competitor Palm Computing in offering a handheld platform that Gartner Group believes is worthy of business user consideration. On April 19, Microsoft announced the immediate availability of its latest personal digital assistant platform, the Windows-powered Pocket PC. Pocket PC prices is set by hardware manufacturers but are expected to range from $299 to $599.

Microsoft's improvements in Windows CE are significant. The platform now has achieved a level of usability that should keep business purchasers productive during the ownership period (previously many Windows CE users discarded their machines after short periods). The platform's big lure to buyers is in its entertainment features, namely integrated MP3 (MPEG Layer III) player, e-books, games and Internet Explorer using the bundled AvantGo offering. Although difficult to justify for business use at launch, such capabilities may be eventually useful to new types of enterprise applications.

However, according to Gartner Group, Windows CE still has many inconsistencies in the applications. Gartner equates its maturity level to standard Windows somewhere between v.3.1 and 95. The Pocket PC's personal information manager (PIM) is still less friendly than the Palm PIM, but it is close enough to satisfy many users. Microsoft's ActiveSync 3.0 is far superior to the synchronization function in Palm's offerings and integration with Outlook is extremely good. However, Lotus Notes customers will not find much that is offered, as the Pocket PC is really an extension of Microsoft Office. One misleading aspect of this announcement is Microsoft's use of the term "Windows powered," leading many users to believe that the platform is Windows-compatible. The Pocket PC platform is only about 25 percent compatible with standard Windows.

In regard to the hardware on which Windows CE will run, Gartner believes that the Compaq Computer iPaq Pocket PC looks to be a slightly better design than the Hewlett-Packard (HP) Jornada 540. Primarily, this is because of the HP device's awkward pen storage mechanism and poor screen readability in brightly-lit environments. If judgments were made on looks, the HP would win hands down. The units are close in capability, with neither having the near-perfect design traits of the Palm V. Compaq's add-on jackets for expansion are a nice idea. We cannot recommend purchase of the Casio Computer units by enterprises due to Casio's inability to provide the level of enterprise support offered by Compaq and HP.

The Pocket PC platform has improved sufficiently to the point where the end-users experience is acceptable. Gartner removed its previous recommendation to avoid this platform for personal productivity use. Gartner continues to recommend Windows CE over Palm for industrial use and vertical applications. Palm still is strongly recommended for business users. As previously recommended, IS organizations should now plan to support both the Palm and Windows CE platforms and plan for Symbian support when products arrive later in 2000.