Hello.
The differences between those three OSes have more to do with the host
device's hardware-platform limitations and less with the added
software features they include (such as Media Player, Java etc.)
I'll start from the end.
The SmartPhone OS (or windows mobile as it's now known) focuses on
bridging the world of PDAs with that of mobiles.
It offers a cut-down version of Pocket PC Phone Edition which mostly
features PIM applications, no Office apps and includes internet
software such as IE and a very basic version of Outlook.
It is designed so that all apps and their menus can be used with just
the thumb of one hand (which is how most phones are operated) and not
using a touch-sensitive screen and fiddly menus.
Most of the functionality is accessible using two soft-keys under the
phone's screen.
Bluetooth support depends on the hardware implementation.
The OS will support Bluetooth if it's in the phone (see Orange
SmartPhone E200) and it comes built-in with Media Player which also
allows streaming content to be played back as well as the standard
WMA, ASF etc.
Java is generally a grey area with this platform and third-party
experimental attempts (such as that of Motorola MPx200) exist but
offer limited compatibility.
The Pocket PC Phone Edition is nothing more than an extension of the
Pocket PC os (which is designed for use in small keyboard-less
touch-screen devices) to allow integrated phone-dialling and wireless
internet access over GSM.
Basically it's a glorified PDA with a built-in phone that can dial
straight out of your contacts and be used as a modem instead of having
to carry a separate mobile. Other than that, it comes with Media
Player, supports bluetooth and (again) experimental versions of J2ME.
Finally, Windows CE .NET is a whole different story...
It's actually two different things.
Windows CE .NET is first and foremost a .net implementation for
devices. In other words, it's a technology that can be built into all
of the aforementioned platforms and allow the execution of .net code
It's a pocket version of the .net framework in other words.
Then, there's the Windows CE .net operating system which is
essentially an OS based on .net technologies and with native support
for its framework.
It belongs to the CE family of OSes which focuses on cheap handheld
laptop-like devices with solid-state memory (i.e. no hard disks) and
set-top boxes such as webTV and gaming platforms.
In other words, it's an attempt to port Windows over to the
computer-in-a-box-but-not-a-windows-pc market and is mostly there for
OEMs to adopt and build into their own hardware platforms rather than
for it to exist as a standalone OS with a specific prupose (such as
the PocketPC os)
Symbian can only really compare with the Smartphone OS and as a more
mature product, it wins hands-down in simplicity, stability and
hardware requirements (although the Windows-friendly smartphone has a
lot to offer in the easy-migration direction).
The Palm OS on the other hand can be compared pretty much only to the
PocketPC OS as they are both designed for exactly the same reason.
Who is better? I don't think this particular one can ever be answered
with certainty.
It's the same as the PC/Mac battlefield...
PalmOS is totally idiot proof but limited in many ways to more fancy
things such as multimedia.
PocketPC on the other hand has all the bells and whistles but still
learns in the user-friendly aspect and is also a much heavier OS in
terms of hardware requirements.
Hope this helps! |
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