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Particulary for developers wanting to dive into the inevitable world of mobile applications, the Windows Mobile name has caused some confusion. Windows Mobile is the current MS marketing term for the PocketPC/SmartPhone OS.

Here's a quick look at these mobile platforms:
-Pocket PC 2000 / Pocket PC 2000 Phone Edition
-Smartphone 2002
-Pocket PC 2002 / Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition
-Smartphone 2003
-Pocket PC 2003 / Pocket PC 2003 Phone Edition (w/ .NET Compact Framework)
-Smartphone 2003 Second Edition
-Pocket PC 2003 Second Edition

And just to be complete, here's for the Windows Embedded Operating Systems:
-Windows CE (for small-footprint devices)
-Windows XP Embedded (a componentized version of the XP operating system)
-windows NT Embedded (a componentized version of the NT operating system)


Simply put, the basic difference between Pocket PC phone edition and a SmartPhone is the device's intended or primary use. a "Phone-PDA" (Phone w/ PDA functions) if for the SmartPhone and a "PDA-Phone" (PDA w/ Phone functions) Pocket PC Phone Ed.
ie. XDA I/II/IIIi/IIIs and a Smart Amazing Phone (Tanager/Voyager) or an Ericcson P900 and the Treo.

Also an important thing to note here is that PocketPC & Smartphone is WIN CE.


[Quick tips]
For sys ads out there, tomorrow Apr 12, if you purposely blocked XP SP2 ("DoNotAllowXPSP2" registry key) from automatic updates. This key is set to expire tomorrow so XP SP2 will now be automatically downloaded.