Bravo Lifehacker! It has been wonderful seeing you 'show the love' for software on the ol' PDA. I am sure many lifehackers use (or are forced to use) a PPC for their jobs. Keep it Up!

On a related note: Total Commander is amazing. A great free alternitive to more pricey software like Resco Explorer.

Dadu

I'm loving this Windows Mobile coverage! Please continue.

collinturner.com

It is only for unlocked phones. Do you know what happen if it is not unlocked?

ChambrasWeed

Just to chime in on the WinMo coverage - keep it up! I don't like Apple (or AT&T, for that matter), and the BlackBerries just don't do it for me. I've used Total Commander CE along with SurrealApps Unlock to make changes, update programs, etc. Good stuff indeed.

Anything out there about other plug-ins or skinning the screen?

Norcross

Nice i really love the last posts you made about how to improve our mobile experience! i definitely prove it.

ChambrasWeed

Ditto on the Windows Mobile coverage! I love it!

I've never regretted buying Resco Explorer; it's been extremely helpful in many occasions. But Total Commander seems like a great alternative. I wonder if TC can do registry backups/exports. I'd imagine so, but it's something I'd miss from Resco. I also noticed that encryption is missing from TC. Not a must-have, but it has certainly been nice to have in Resco. Other than those things, it seems to be on par with Resco at a much more attractive price.

drummrsanonymous

@ChambrasWeed:
Unlocking your phone isn't THAT hard. It's almost always worth it, too. This is especially true for Windows Mobile phones.

Kudos, LH, for bringing light to the PDA software scene, but man are you behind the times! This software is so 2005!

Myrddin-Wyllt

It is not for unlocked phones. It works fine on my Sprint Touch.

JiltedCitizen

Total Commander is the File manager for me for years. The greatest thing its that you can use and create loads if plugins and addons for it.

Take a look at this page: [www.ghisler.com]

Wokkel

Thank you for all the WinMobile software coverage. It's been a segment untouched by LF in the past for some reason.

bnosach

Good to see all these WiMo/PPC posts all of a sudden! I installed Total Commander yesterday in order to overwrite some of the write-protected system files on my new HTC device - I can't imagine getting one of these and not wanted to customise it far beyond the manufacturers intentions :)

@Myrddin-Wyllt: "This software is so 2005!" - is there a better, more recent alternative?

Joel

@bnosach: I agree, it does seem like that, but the Windows Mobile posts have been slowly trickling in for a while. Hopefully this increased enthusiasm will continue!!

Joel

First there was Norton Commander and then came Windows Commander and then came Total Commander which was simply a name change from Windows Commander.

I only use Windows Explorer when I have no choice.

I have tried a lot, maybe there is something better out there, but for now at least it is TC as it was for WC and before that NC!!

Thank you Christian Ghisler :)

Albyxx

@Jonathan Harford:
1. Highlight the exe you want to make a shortcut to
2. Click File, >>>> (A)
3. Click Create Shortcut
4. Click Tree and navigate to where you want the shortcut placed.
5. Highlight the target folder and click OK.
6. Navigate to the destination folder and rename as desired (it will be named filename.exe.lnk by default)

Myrddin-Wyllt

The real bottom line here is, although TC/CE totally kicks ass, LH is really behind the times in reporting about it!

Myrddin-Wyllt

@Joel: It's not that there are better applications out there (though someone surely will argue that point). It's that it took LH some three years to realize that those of us who are serious about mobile computing have been using this kind of thing--and sadly, PPC technology hasn't changed much, beyond having fancier user interfaces, that pretty much all mimic the iPhone, which isn't much of an advantage, unless you like your mobile being slowed down by a bunch of worthless animation.

Some REAL news might be an exposé on the latest browsers to come on the heels of Safari mobile. Skyfire is making some news in PPC circles, and the NetFront browser is nearly as good.

Myrddin-Wyllt

How do I make a shortcut with TC? I can't figure it out!

Jonathan Harford

I don't know about mobile, but I have been using the regular version of TC for a long time and it's a great program!!

scerwup

yeah LH. keep up the windows mobile coverage, but stick to the newer programs please. Most ppl that are up on their ppc software have heard of this program and have it installed. I do. Have for quite a while.

techhead89

Been using TC for 10 years now. Best utility ever.

5h17h34d

+1 to the greatness of TC for WM and the increased PPC coverage.

D-Bo

++1 for WM coverage. Total Commander has been my file explorer of choice for a long time now.

How about an LH post for your top 10 free (or v. cheap) WM downloads? Here are a few decent examples to get you started:

Oxios Memory ([www.oxios.com]) - a great little utility for clossing stubborn background applications and freeing up memory on your phone. I have it mapped to the side button on my Treo.

JuneFabrics PDANet ([www.junefabrics.com]) turns your WM phone into a modem, so you can do free "tethering", i.e. use your smartphone broadband connection for your laptop.

WM5torage ([wm5torage.en.softonic.com]) - a utility that fools your computer into thinking the removable SD memory card on your pocket PC is actually a USB flash drive. This is real useful if you need a flash-drive in a hurry and have mislaid yours. Also good for getting files on and off the card without going via ActiveSync.

FlashVideoBundle ([wiki.xda-developers.com]) - a plugin for The Core Pocket Media Player (TCPMP, featured on LH a few days ago), which automatically launches TCPMP to play embedded flash videos. What this means? FULL you-tube access in windows mobile from your browser!

Weather Panel ([forum.ppcgeeks.com]) - a non-supported program from MarsWare that a lot of very cool people have hacked and modified to make a really nice today screen weather plugin, which uses hardly any memory. Lots of talk about this on the treocentral forums.

Keylight ([freewareppc.com]) is a small utility that lets you switch on and off the key backlights on a treo - really useful if you wanna watch movies in the dark, and extend your battery life.

Scott Seligman's Launcher ([www.scottandmichelle.net]) - a tiny today-screen plugin which shows icons to all your applications, for quick launching. Takes up virtually no memory compared to similar utilities.

MS LiveSearch - Obvious

GoogleMaps - Obvious

SkypeMobile - Obvious

Fring Mobile (kinda like skype but better)

Opera Mini - Decent browser (you can run it using a small Java engine such as Cloudyfa's Esmertec build).

Picsel viewer - ([www.palm.com]) allows you to view adobe PDFs on your device. MUCH MUCH faster and smaller than acrobat for mobile devices, which is now very outdated.

PointUI Home - ([www.pointui.com]) Really neat iPhone like interface for WM devices. Takes a lot of memory but has some good nice eye candy.

Hidelogo (google for hidelogo.cab) - gets rid of the carrier information line on your today screen (e.g. verizon, sprint), thus freeing up more real estate.

Today Agenda ([freewareppc.com]) customizes the calendar section of your today screen - a lot more options than the WM standard version.

FloatMe ([www.freewarepocketpc.net]) - a utility that adds the ability to float windows on top of each other and move them around the screen - very useful if you have an app' that runs on a different native screen resolution, or you want to have more then one thing open at once.

virgilstar

I must agree with the other two comments...the Windows Mobile posts have been great! Look forward to more...

spotsphill

TC is a great piece of software...been using it since my iPAQ 3970 days (2003). It needs an interface update, however.

onesix18