.KEYWORD activesync
.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE Way to go, ActiveSync 3.0!
.FEATURE
.SPOTLIGHT figalt activesync-cover.gif
.SUMMARY ActiveSync 3.0 is the new synchronization software used to connect your Windows CE device to your desktop or laptop computer. According to this informative article by contributing editor Dan Huber, there’s lots to be excited about. Sound too good to be true?. Read Dan’s article and find out if ActiveSync should be your next essential download!
.AUTHOR Dan Huber
ActiveSync is the synchronization software you use to connect your Windows CE device to your desktop or laptop computer. ActiveSync was the name of Microsoft’s synchronization technology, and the software itself was formerly known as Windows CE Services. It was also known to be problematic. With Microsoft’s new 3.0 release, much of that has changed.
.CALLOUT I must say, ActiveSync is looking mighty impressive.
ActiveSync is now the latest iteration in what Microsoft feels is their most recent and greatest solution to providing you and your PDA with easy synchronization of your PIM data as well as installation and removal of software.
.H1 Windows CE Services
My personal involvement in Windows CE doesn’t date back to the days of Windows CE 1.0, so I can’t comment on the earliest versions of Microsoft’s synchronization software. I came on the scene for Windows CE Services 2.0. To me, Windows CE Services didn’t seem like much more than a context-sensitive Windows Explorer window that contained a few commands that were part of the Mobile Devices folder of your computer.
In the Mobile Devices folder, you would find selections such as Application Manager, the portion of Windows CE Services that allows you to add and remove software that has been installed using that particular desktop. You could also initiate a manual synchronization task or open the Communications portion of Windows CE Services to adjust the settings used to connect to your device. There were also backup/restore utilities used to protect your device’s data. A tray icon was used to give you fast access to your connection settings, to allow you to force synchronization, and to open your "Mobile Devices" folder, which was the primary navigation tool for your device.
.H1 The good, the bad, the ugly
Windows CE Services was really only a partial synchronization solution between your desktop and your device (it had essentially no extras), yet it seemed that for such a small program, it was littered with bugs and glitches. Although it was not a disaster, it was by no means flawless. Windows CE Services was plagued with tricky installation problems on NT workstations, often tampering with Dial-Up Networking and randomly attempting to dial your ISP. It also only allowed either a connection to the device or the Internet, but not both, and tying up COM ports.
In all honesty, I didn’t find it too troublesome with my own system. To get past the "one connection only" bug, I downloaded and installed Dial-Up Networking version 1.3 for Windows 95. Doing this patched up that problem and allowed me to simultaneously connect to the Internet and my device. Another of Windows CE Services’ longest standing problems was that annoying prompt to dial your ISP. Prior to Internet Explorer 5.0, you had to either put up with that nag or configure Internet Explorer to connect via a LAN rather than through a modem.
Having done that, you would later have to manually connect to the Internet, which is a great annoyance. Once Internet Explorer 5.0 was released, some of you began to comment on how it had solved that problem. I myself installed Internet Explorer 5.0 and saw no more mysterious dial-up prompts.
That essentially wraps up all my headaches with Windows CE Services. But many of you had a more treacherous tale to tell. For those of you who use Windows NT, Microsoft has documented the need to reinstall the Service Pack to finish off the installation of Windows CE Services. Some of you, I’ve been told, have gone as far as formatting your hard drives and reinstalling Windows to get a successful installation of Windows CE Services. After reading many complaints and horror stories related to Windows CE Services, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. Now that ActiveSync is available, you too need no longer be a statistic.
.H1 ActiveSync 3.0
With the entrance of ActiveSync 3.0, there’s no need for Dial-Up Networking or sharing COM ports. According to Microsoft, we all also get enhanced synchronization speed, as well as simultaneous device and Internet connections. Sound too good to be true? Well, let’s find out.
ActiveSync 3.0 is another Microsoft product that follows the trend of integrating every product with the Internet in some form or another. As you can see in Figure A, Microsoft has adopted the large, labeled buttons (commonly associated with Web browsers), finely graduated status bars, and sleek animations for the new ActiveSync interface.
.FIGPAIR A ActiveSync encompasses new features, new performance, and a new look.
To indicate that synchronization is in progress, you can see in Figure B that the status of synchronization is indicated by both color and animation, letting you know instantly what’s actually happening.
.FIGPAIR B Isn’t that big whirling circle easier to see than that tiny tray icon?
In Figure C, a handy, though sometimes quirky, status bar has been added to help estimate the progress of a synchronization task. Microsoft has also included a timer to estimate the remaining time in your synchronization task. This may prove useful when synchronizing large documents.
.FIGPAIR C This three seconds turned into twelve seconds, so don’t bet your job on this timer.
.H1 Some problems with AvantGo
One flaw that I’ve found to be somewhat annoying (although I’m not sure I can attribute this to a bug in ActiveSync) is the odd miscommunication in synchronization status between AvantGo and ActiveSync. For those of you unfamiliar with AvantGo, it’s a product that allows individuals as well as large corporations to download Web pages, usually in "stripped" or "lite" versions, to Palm and Windows CE devices for offline and remote viewing.
The problem is that when I synchronize my Velo 500 with my desktop and AvantGo gets the latest information from the channels I’ve subscribed to, ActiveSync oddly reports that synchronization has completed. The synchronization icon appears in green and comes to a halt. The only indications that something is still happening are that the "Sync" button is shaded out and inoperable and the "Stop" button is able to be depressed, which is obvious in Figure D.
.FIGPAIR D This is a little confusing at first, but you get used to it.
Since I have a dial-up Internet connection for my desktop, the Dial-Up Networking tray icon will intermittently become active, also giving indication that it may be busy. However, I cannot determine whether ActiveSync or AvantGo is at fault, so I’m not certain that this is a bug in ActiveSync. Perhaps there will be a new release of AvantGo that will address these concerns.
.H1 Speed, speed, speed
One tremendous breakthrough with ActiveSync is the phenomenal speed in initiating a connection and the ease of setting those speeds. You no longer have to configure any COM port to a speed that matches your Windows CE device; just choose the speed on your device and ActiveSync will match it. To do this on an H/PC, choose Settings->Control Panel from the Start menu. Then, choose the Communications control panel.
As shown in Figure E, choose the PC Link tab, then the appropriate synchronization port (either serial or infrared in most cases), and then desired speed (115K should work in almost all cases). That’s it. You’re finished. So it seems ActiveSync has a lot going for it so far, huh?
.FIGPAIR E Fortunately, this is the only control panel you ever have to look at.
.H1 Wake me up when you’re done
I never like to leave a gap in any article I write, but I’m going to now. As long as I’ve known anything about Windows CE Services, I’ve known there was a built-in utility that allows you to backup and restore your device while you are connected. In the past, I’ve heard of some issues regarding this utility but, from what I have gathered, this option never really had that many complaints. However, I’m not very enthusiastic about waiting for my computer to do something and a large download of any sort is especially aggravating. I am sorry to say that I haven’t once, to date, used this utility in either Windows CE Services 2.0 and above or in ActiveSync.
My explanation behind my ignorance of this utility is this: I’ve invested a lot of money into Windows CE software for my device, and therefore have a lot of data to transfer. I’ve copied files that were one or two megabytes in size before and know that it’s painfully slow. But I will not wait at my desktop for hours for it to transfer approximately seven or eight megabytes of data over the fastest serial connection I can muster.
I’ve purchased BSQUARE’s bUSEFUL Utilities Pack as one solution to this problem and use it, instead, to make a very thorough backup and do it both faster and with less space, hence less time, to transfer the file. So this is the only feature that I haven’t yet taken advantage of in either Windows CE Services or ActiveSync and I can’t report on it.
.H1 Maybe a little grease will do it
The next obstacle you may have fallen victim to is the dreaded "stuck serial port." This occurs when Microsoft’s synchronization software captures the selected COM port and won’t release it for other software to use. One common example is the inability to transfer images from a digital camera to a computer because the software cannot access the COM port, since it appears to be in use.
I recently purchased a Texas Instruments TI-86 graphing calculator, and soon after purchased a cable to allow me to connect my calculator to my desktop. This allowed me to transfer programs back and forth to expand the capabilities of my calculator. I was a little surprised at first when I plugged the cable into the serial port and the calculator and ActiveSync prompted me that it did not recognize the device that was attempting to use the serial port. It then prompted me to either free the serial port or ignore the device. I obviously chose to free the port and voila, it worked! I must say, ActiveSync is looking mighty impressive.
There are still some parts of ActiveSync that resemble, if not exactly duplicate, what was available in Windows CE Services. The Application Manager is nearly identical, if not exactly alike. The configuration dialog boxes regarding file conversions are similar, and you can see the Device to Desktop dialog box in Figure F.
.FIGPAIR F I don’t think much has changed here but, then again, I see no reason for change.
The window that manages synchronization conflicts and how to respond to that conflict (such as two items being changed and which item is to be given priority) seems to have been clarified, as shown in Figure G.
.FIGPAIR G I wish all conflicts in life were this easy to solve.
As seen in Figure H, the concise dialog box dedicated to configuring the connection settings is easy to manipulate. By using the Get Connected button, a simple wizard easily configures your two computers to connect, making this once arduous task easier than ever.
.FIGPAIR H Imagine that — no rebooting to use your serial ports.
.H1 Better timing
I especially like how ActiveSync lets you choose which services you want synchronized. From what I remember, Windows CE Services, or at least the first versions of it, would attempt to synchronize everything contained in the desktop version of Outlook at the first synchronization. I remember having to make a mad dash to cancel the synchronization task in order to finish selecting the services I did or didn’t want. Whether or not my memory fails me here is really irrelevant since ActiveSync does exactly what it should do and does it with ease.
.H1 My vote
ActiveSync may appear to be somewhat small and without much meat to it. ActiveSync may not be flawless, it’s by far a leap in the right direction for Microsoft. This is one hurdle that they’ve managed to surmount in bringing you the capabilities of Windows CE with even less effort from you.
You should definitely upgrade.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
You can download ActiveSync 3.0 at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsce/products/download/activesync.asp.
Check out AvantGo at http://www.avantgo.com.
You can download a free trial copy of BSQUARE’s bUSEFUL Utilities Pack at http://www.bsquare.com.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
