PDA prizefight: Palm OS 5 v Windows Mobile 2003
Published: 26 Feb 2004
And the winner is…
Any handheld you buy today is guaranteed to be powerful, practical, and more capable than a mid-'90s desktop system. In many respects, the playing field is level, regardless of which platform you choose.

That said, although Windows Mobile 2003 is the superior operating system when it comes to data entry and multimedia, Palm OS 5 offers easier operation, more third-party software, better desktop compatibility, and a stronger email application (even if it's not standard to the OS). As for Microsoft Office compatibility and core applications, the two operating systems are evenly matched.
In the end, Palm OS is the champ for now. But we're keeping an eye out for Windows Mobile 2004 and the new Palm OS Cobalt (formerly known as Palm OS 6). Maybe a rematch next year?
Full Talkback thread
25 comments
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Nice try to award Palm OS 5 as the winner! I disag... JED -
First of all, the difficulty you describe in openi... Steve Hall -
At a time when PDAs are used for more than just ha... Anonymous -
I have used to both the Pocket PC and Palm systems... Anonymous -
In using both the pocket PC and Palm for a long ti... Bill Ayers -
I used the Palm OS for six years and loved it. I... Paul Alandt -
I disagree as well with the direction this article... Anonymous -
Actually, they *did* compare the two fairly a... Verne Arase -
absolutely agree with the article. being a user of... David T -
The PDA market is losing out to smartphones. It wo... shekhar -
Given a choice, I will opt for Palm just simply I... Michael Lee -
i think pocket pc is better than palm os ,especial... hock lam lee -
You seem to be comparing the Pocket PC out of the... Peter Freeth -
I notice reading previous comments that opini... Denis -
If you want a paper weight, or at least to blow so... James E. Freedle II -
I recently purchased a PDA. Before doing doing tha... Nightz -
Windows Explorer makes Windows Mobile the winner i... Erik -
I was genuinely pleased with my Palm PDA - Sony Cl... Anonymous -
Not only does this article not compare like with l... Anon -
I think the article is rather good, no favorites a... Marijan Franovic -
After looking carefully at current PDAs I bought a... Duncan Corps -
Its been 2 years since the day i had my first PDA... strayato hirzaki -
And this is not an OS comparison I think. What abo... Michael Elfial -
I owned an IPAQ for a year and it was replaced 3 t... Monty Green -
hmm i'm stuck, i have had my IPAQ 1940 for ne... Anonymous
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