Just finished upgrading my T-Mobile MDA (HTC Wizard) to Windows Mobile 6 (PDA Viet 4 rom) a few minutes ago. I’ve used the device less than ten minutes and I already absolutely love the new OS. I’ll do a video screencast later but suffice to say they have really put in a lot of work. The first time I got to play around with WM6 was during checkin at Mandalay Bay when I was speaking at Exchange Connections, one of the developers let me check it out on his device. And today, through the power of pirating community, I too have a WM6 device.

First glance: Improved device setup.

Upon startup, Windows Mobile 6 prompts you to setup the device, security and email. This used to take a bit of an effort before but Windows Mobile 6 makes it seamless by guiding you through the process. Calibration of the stylus is identical to WM5 but the next screen is a bit different. Instead of setting just the time zone (and then spending 2 minutes going around control panels to setup time and date) both time, date and time zone are put on the same screen. Password enabling is easy as well. The final step is E-Mail Setup

First glance: E-mail setup

You’re given an option of corporate Exchange server or other source, such as POP3/IMAP. Exchange server setup is seamless and has far more features. For example, you can sync all the usual items, but you have additional options with email – sync 20K, 50K, all text (no images) in addition to the previous offerings. You also have the ability to send HTML emails and further annoy your friends with oversized signature blocks

First glance: The coolest feature

By far the coolest Windows Mobile 6 feature and perhaps the #1 reason to take a chance: Encryption. Windows Mobile 6 allows you to encrypt storage cards. Ever since Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2 and AKU2 we’ve been able to remotely wipe PocketPC devices – but with Windows Mobile 6 we can go a step further and encrypt storage cards. This way only the device can access the storage card and the device can be remotely wiped. How’s that for improvement?

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