Windows Vista – making you choose between your Palm and your PC

Since the launch of Windows Vista, there has been a lot of buzz on forums, mailing lists and websites; some people like it, some don’t. What you really need to know is that upgrading to Vista may mean making a tough choice; which do you value more, your Palm or your PC? If you upgrade to Vista, you’ll have to forego syncing your Palm as you used to.

Palm’s Vista Support Page is the place to visit regularly if you are thinking of Vista. Here is a quick summary of the state of the Palm nation when it comes to Vista:

Quick Install does not work.

The nice folks at BT Solved have come up with their own version of a Quick Install utility(freeware), which is Vista Compatible.

Palm Simple Vista Installer Set-up MSI file

You’ll need to download updates to Palm Desktop, especially if you Sync to Outlook using Palm’s Conduits.

Personally, I think Palm’s Outlook Conduits are crap; do yourself a favour, and look at Chapura’s Pocket Mirror. I use Pocket Mirror Pro myself.

Documents to Go version 9 and earlier DO NOT work on Windows Vista. Period. Even Docs To Go 10 has issues, since it relies on Palm Desktop (which presently has issues). Check the DataViz website for updates on their compatibility.

Personally, I don’t think Vista is worth the frustration of upgrading. I’m still running Windows 2000 myself, because I didn’t see Windows XP as a worthwhile upgrade either. And don’t get me started on that whole “Windows Activation” garbage; plenty has been written on that before. Just see what Google has to show on the subject. So, if you value your Palm or Treo, don’t go the Vista route (at least for another year, until all the issues have been worked out). If you really have to upgrade your computer, maybe consider a Mac + The Missing Sync, or Linux (Ubuntu is a popular choice), which usually has Palm Sync capabilities provided by pilot-link.