Re: New Device - No Sync


"John Ciccone" <JohnCiccone@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:15BD8FD9-9EBA-4541-96EB-404933427887@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Todd. I can't thank you enough for you time (and sympathy).

As you've kind of alluded to, I've avoided the Exchange route not just
because of the additional cost, but because other apps and data on the device
require synchronization as well.

Even before using Live Mesh, I found syncronization of files worked ok, if you didn't sync PIM data (contacts, calendar, notes, etc.) so using AS was far less of a hardship once I moved PIM sync to Funambol.

But also --- and I don't mind saying it anymore --- I've simply lost faith
in Microsoft over the past 2.5 years. A/S and WM as well as Vista devoured
way, way too much of my time, resources, peace of mind (and data). I just
don't think it has to be this way. Searching the net shows how rampant these
problems are. I'd have great trouble putting my name on it. (This from a
staunch MS supporter since 1989. We've been at this PC stuff for a long time
now. We should be much further ahead than this.) Frankly, it's what concerns
me about Mesh, your objective comments notwithstanding.

To be fair, Microsoft is a large company with lots of little pieces. I think the WinMo guys just haven't had the resources to build a terrific sync product, since the focus has mostly been on enterprise customers and Exchange, which works virtually flawlessly. I joke Exchange is as good as Activesync/WMDC isn't!

I think the "heat" has been turned up recently due to the iPhone and Google's Android, as well as RIM's continued success courting consumers as well as business, and predict we'll see good things from WinMo as time goes on. Too much is on the line for Microsoft to let Windows Mobile languish as a niche product, particularly if the mobile phone seems to be on the verge of replacing the PC in emerging markets as a primary internet device, as trends in the third world seem to indicate. And, as Live Mesh, Skydrive, Office Live, and the new "My Phone" services seem to prove, Microsoft is serious about the future, where it's going to be more about access to your data, than what device(s) you actually use to access it.

I even subscribe to Mozy, a backup service that offers you unlimited storage space for online backups of your PC's hard drives for $5/month. I use it primarily to backup the 100+ GB of digital photos my wife and I have of our kids. (In addition to the backups on a USB external drive, and DVD-Rs, of course! But Mozy is my primary "off site" backup if the house catches fire, or whatever.) I jokingly call Mozy "life insurance." My wife'd forgive me if we lost our tax returns, Word/Excel documents, etc. but if the digital photos ever went up in a puff of acrid smoke, she'd kill me!


But yes, I am ready to give up. After yesterday's morning from hell I went
in to the office where Active Sync on the Vista machine decided, once again,
that it had never seen my device before. Spent an hour unplugging,
restarting, replugging, rebooting, deleting partnerships, establishing
partnerships...

I've come home to the XP machine where my "Attention is required". Notes is
a problem again, but it won't tell me what that problem actually is. It's a
terribly busy time for me right now, so it's hard to keep up with this or
move somewhere else. So if anyone can help with this and the other issues,
I'd be eternally grateful. I just want to get back to doing my work and
living my life. If there's no ability or desire to fix these issues, then at
least until I can explore alternatives like the ones kindly suggested here.

Thanks again, Todd.


No problem. I really suggest giving Funambol a try, presuming you're allowed to add the Outlook plug-in to the work PC.


PS: Todd, along the way, did you find you had to get over a reluctance to
rely on your internet connection for access to current data or email history?


Not at all- I looked at it this way: cable/bluetooth sync requires proximity to the PCs, so an internet-based solution frees you to sync anywhere anytime, as well as have a "cloud" backup of all important data. If my device crashes while on a trip, I don't need access to my PC or even a recent backup file. I simply reenter the server settings, and watch all of my PIM data download to the device. With Live Mesh, I even have a folder of my important installed programs' .cab files, so I can reinstall my programs from anywhere there's connectivity. Keep in mind Live Mesh allows local storage on multiple devices, so the data isn't only in the cloud- my Live Mesh folders are also synced to my PC, just like the device's My Documents folder would be with Activesync. If MS' Mesh server goes down, I still have the files on both the device and PC(s).


I don't want to be the guy with the horse that won't buy a car, but I do
tend to keep coming back to this aversion to letting go of my info.


I wouldn't call it "letting go" as much as a "secure off-site backup"! ;-)

Again, the data would still be on your device and your PCs, as well as safely tucked away elsewhere "just in case."

Apparently, I've become such a "cloud" fan I'm starting to hate sunny days!




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