Lost, not confused, wondering where to discuss

[mgholley]

Long time reader, first time caller.

I consider myself fairly tech savvy. I'm an MCSE and have been for 10+ years. I'm comfortable with windows but have played on mac and linux.

I think I basically understand "cooking" ROMS vs. installing apps, but some things confuse me. I'm working to try and iron out some of the reasons for pushing a whole new ROM, but any hints to noob posts or FAQ which discuss why someone should/would choose to build their own ROM, use another's ROM vs just installing the preferred apps would be helpful.

My biggest problem, I guess, is the confusion I always have working in a forum format for finding applications. It isn't specific to PPCGeeks by any means, but it is one of the places where I guess I'd like to see if things could be done differently. Understandably, some people try to stay out of the iPhone, WM Device debate. However, one thing that seems to be undeniable is the ease with which iPhone users can find new applications and install them. I'm wondering if there is anyone (or a group) that has considered changing the format for places like PPCGeeks and/or XDA-Developers to make application presentation a bit more logical.

For example, if I'm curious about finding a new contact manager for my phone, my best bet is to type "Contact Manager" into the Forum Search feature and then begin the long painful seach through ~480 threads to hopefully find information about a contact manager. It may or may not work on my phone, it may not be what I'm looking for (sometimes its difficult to track down the OP of an application or to find screen shots & detailed descriptions). There have been many times where I have come to PPCGeeks thinking "oo, I'd like to try out a new contact manager" only to leave 30min later frustrated because I couldn't find what I was looking for. A majority of my time was wasted by getting directed to custom ROMS, "cooking" tips, and sometimes outdated links to the actual application itself. I learn that in order to run the application I have to essentially re-install the phone OS, wipe clear all of my text/call history and re-sync all of my info with the exchange server and MS Live account. In other words, a big pain in the butt to simply try a new application.

Now I realize I could go out there and buy/try a variety of 3rd party applications...but I'm really more interested in the free one's which are developed in open source by the community.

IMHO, wouldn't it be much nicer if there were a downloads/apps tab to the forum? Much like tucows.com or download.com...applications are sorted by category...provide screen shots...ratings...version information..etc.? I had high hopes when SprintMogul.net first came out, but it never really seemed to take off. Most of the software on there is seriously outdated and very limited. Have there been discussions about doing such a thing here at PPCGeeks? I think that it would probably help the WM community as a whole and help us to "recruit" folks who go to iPhones simply because they get so confused trying to navigate forums as a way to try applications. There is some really neat stuff out there, but the way its presented, I believe, scares off quite a few potential users. They run off an buy iPhones because they can click their way through applications while we have to spend hours and hours researching before we can even install some of them.

So, I guess my two questions are this: 1) Is there a FAQ or thread that discusses why someone would bother with a complete OS re-install (ROM) to simply get a few apps on their phone? I understand the need when moving from WM 5.x to 6.1 or to 6.5....but in most other cases is seems like a real headache. 2) Is there someone (or a group) that might be open to re-working part of the site into a more user friendly and accessible format for finding/dowloading applications?

Thanks, and I DO appreciate all the hard work by folks on the site. I don't want to come accross as sounding like I'm unhappy, but I've found that sometimes these developer forums can get user-unfriendly. They are frequented by a smaller group of very knowledge people who are very experienced at what they are doing and don't realize/have forgotten how steep the learning curve can become for some potential "allies" that would help make WM Devices more accessible and popular.

Thanks for your help.

[demonlordoftheround]

Well, you started in the right place in the Software Forum. Searching is somewhat of a challenge, but I use Google to search for a generic term like "Contact Manager" then from those results you can go to the Software Forum and search for specific software. Although not everything is free, there are many freeware programs available and sites (freewarepocketpc.net) that distribute freeware.

As far as changing the OS, to get an application, there usually isn't any need unless you are looking for a new user interface like M2D or Titanium which are best incorporated in an updated ROM.

Keep searching and reading. Don't be discouraged. I can't tell you how many programs I have found simply by accident by reading though the threads just to be informed.

We are friendly here, for the most part, if all alse fails post a question. Good luck.

[sHockz]

Yes, you are right, Steve Jobs' coveted iPhone has a classy way of browsing and selecting apps to BUY. With a myriad of people slaving away to approve apps and charge bundles, it is no wonder they have it working so smooth. Let me put it this way, if you want to buy a movie that just came to DvD, you can do 2 things:
A. Go to the store and buy it
B. Look through the internet and find the torrent file with english words (and german subtitles, lol!)

Their are several mediums to go about searching for software is my point. One is free, and requires a small bit of research, while the other costs money with more of an "instant gratification" feeling.
Personally, I think the iPhone app store is convenient, but extremely unfavorable. Apple must process, test, and charge for every app submitted. The guidelines for submitting apps are ridiculous, and not free and open. Google was recently turned down by apple for the app they designed, can you believe that?

To answer some of your q':
"1) Is there a FAQ or thread that discusses why someone would bother with a complete OS re-install (ROM) to simply get a few apps on their phone? I understand the need when moving from WM 5.x to 6.1 or to 6.5....but in most other cases is seems like a real headache. "
Mainly, what people are trying to do initially is get rid of bloatware and free up RAM. The Mogul is seriously underpowered RAM wise, so the performance boosts can be quite significant when done properly. Also, people like to be able to fully customize the phone from the boot screen and up. ROM's simply are an easy way to kind of 'get her done' without the hassle of constantly installing apps. It takes 10 minutes to load a ROM, and about 30 seconds to restore all your data.

2) Is there someone (or a group) that might be open to re-working part of the site into a more user friendly and accessible format for finding/dowloading applications?
I don't disagree with you on this. I would love to see more structure in the app browsing process. But a couple of issues arise with this, and can be explained fairly easily. First, you can't really compare our apps to Apple. Apple has a proprietary piece of software, and every app written is written for one single OS. Since they have such control over the OS, its patches, versions, etc, they are able to have a very large network of compatible applications. With Winmo, PalmOS, etc, you have too many OS's with too many versions with soooooo many apps for each one, that trying to catalog them is a nightmare. Each phone has different screen sizes, different hardware, different software. You really have to be quite specific when choosing programs to install, as a program might run properly but wont format to your screen. I for one would love to see something along the lines of what Apple has done, but getting that done will require an immense amount of time and effort.....which Apple has tons of once again.

People here are pretty nice and helpful. Don't be afraid to try things out on your phone. The learning curve really isn't that bad. If you are MCSE certified, then you should have next to no problems once you get started. Don't be scared to ask questions either. Just follow the directions, re-read the steps a couple times if you need to. Don't be put off by the super long posts about how to change out your ROM, once you get started you will realize it isn't that hard and doesn't take that long. So, hope I answered some of your questions and cleared some stuff up. Good luck!