Is Windows Mobile 2003 really faster? [of course!]
Jason Dunn, of pocketpcthoughts.com, has conducted some extensive testing to determine if Windows Mobile 2003 is really faster. Here is the test. It's nice to see some extensive tests like this. I found it also interesting to note that in some cases going from Pocket PC 2000 to Pocket PC 2002 certain things slowed down (and yes, an instance of a slow down going to 2003 from 2002). :/
I give Jason kudos for obtaining a special build of Windows Mobile 2003 that is for the iPAQ 3650 (no, this will not be released to the public). I actually don't mind not upgrading my iPAQ H3650 (it is running PPC2002, upgraded from PPC2000); I plan on keeping it as a test device once I get a new device in October. I agree with Jason that Microsoft made the correct decision in concentrating on improving ARM performance under Windows Mobile 2003, and not making any XScale optimizations. (my own opinion <insert_employer_disclaimer_here> is that if your PPC app perf is really sucking *that* bad, either you are doing something incorrectly [go evaluate how you are doing something], or you are doing something inappropriate on this platform [re-evaluate your architecture and see if something is a candidate to be moved off to a PC or server, or can be accomplished through different means])
As I've told people, putting your app on Windows Mobile 2003 will give it a performance boost (just like running your database in SQL Server 7.0 on WinNT 4.0 and Win2k, back in the day), and to couple that with a newer device (think PXA255 @400MHz, more RAM and ROM), you app will show a noticable perf boost.
-Nino
p.s. Maybe that SQL Server 7.0 reference was a bad one.. :/