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POCKET PC SOFTWARE

LIST PRO

Supplied free with the iPAQ and superior to the inbuilt Tasks function as it allows multiple lists, hierachical organisation and manual ordering. Unfortunately it doesn't allow pasting into the notes field.

• List Pro http://www.iliumsoft.com/listpro.htm

PERSONAL FINANCE

MS Money on a Pocket PC is very limited, and much more light-weight than Personal Money Tracker which I used on the Palm. It can sync, however, with the PC version which is a sophisticated program offering an impressive range of graphs and reports. A patch is needed for UK use.

DATABASES

The Pocket PC operating system offers the possibility of synchronising tables with those in an Access database on a PC. I expected Pocket Access to be included, especially as it appeared ou the ActiveSync menu. It was developed for the CE 2.0 Pro, but not yet for Pocket PC. I first bought PocketDB which allows you to enter your own SQL statements, but it was so slow with a 500-record table as to render its use impractical, and I have recently switched to HanDbase which is fast and functional, although the Pocket PC version synchronises only at file, not record level.

• HanDBase http://www.ddhsoftware.com/solutions_handbase.html

DEVELOPMENT

Pocket PC users have the choice of PocketC (where you can code directly on the palmtop or through a PC interface), or Microsoft's free Embedded Visual Tools, which comes in eVB or eVC flavours. I started to develop a little strategy game in eVB for practice, but it soon began to push the iPAQ's limits.

• PocketC http://www.orbworks.com/wince/
• eMbedded Visual Tools 3.0 http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/downloads/emvt30.asp

PAINT

Some sort of paint program is another area I'd expected to see covered for free in the O/S, but it isn't. You can get Pocket Artist but it's not cheap.

• Pocket Artist http://www.conduits.com/ce/artist/index.htm

BEAMING WITH PALMS

• Peacemaker http://www.conduits.com/ce/peacemaker/

RED PHONE

This allows the iPAQ to manage the address book in the Nokia 8210 and other Nokia mobile telephones.

• Red Phone http://www.visualit.co.uk/

POCKET MINDMAP

A rather specialised program, but I find it useful for planning webs and articles.

• Pocket Mindmap http://www.pocketmindmap.com

POCKET STREETMAPS

Allows you to copyh A-Z style streetmaps off the Internet. As a pedestrian I find these much easier to use than MS Pocket Streets. What I'd really like, however, is Vindigo, but this is only available for the Palm.

• Pocket Streetmap http://www.pocketstreetmaps.com

RIK - 11 September 2001