Next monday Microsoft will launch the PocketPC 2003 platform that will replace the popular PocketPC 2002 platform. Although it is largely an upgrade from the previous version, as we’re used to from Microsoft, there are some changes that really do make a difference. Asus sent us a MyPal a620 prior to the launch outfitted with the new PocketPC 2003 edition and we’ll be evaluating it in the next few pages to see what new features PocketPC 2003 brings to the table and how well Asus has implemented them on their PocketPC.



The Asus MyPal a620 PocketPC, featuring a 400MHz Intel PXA255 processor and 64MB memory
The first major improvement is better support for WiFi, in PocketPC 2002 it could be a rather adventurous undertaking to get a wireless network connection up and running. PocketPC 2003 promises to do much better with the automatic connection to available WiFi networks. Naturally the specifics of what network to connect to and a host of other settings and security features can be accessed through the Connection Manager. Overall PocketPC promises an easier configurable WiFi connection, better registration with WiFi networks and last, but not least, better security with added support for VPN networking.

As a network connection will most likely also be used for web browsing Microsoft completely revamped the rendering architecture of the PocketPC Internet Explorer which not only speeds thing up considerably, but also offers support for more internet standards. Standards that are now available in PocketPC 2003 are XHTML, CSS, HTML 4.0, JavaScript 5.5, WAP 2.0, WTLS, IPv6 and many more, which makes the PocketPC web browser compatible with the vast majority of websites found on the internet and intranets which often use some of the more exotic protocols.