Chronicles of a windows mobile user gone iPhone

We can't ignore the iPhone here at pocketnow.com - it's j

ust too big a deal. All of us on staff are faithful Windows Mobile users, because as far as we know, it fits our needs and wants better than any other mobile OS. It's got great third party app support, it works with Exchange perfectly, it's available in a huge variety of devices and form factors, and we all know it very well. Over the next few days, I'm going to take you through a blog series that takes a look at many aspects of the iPhone's functionality from the perspective of a long-time Windows Mobile addict. That's me.

The phone is sexy, we all know that. We also know that the fancy screen animations and graphics are real, and that the performance is snappy (or you may not know this if you haven't been reading the other tech blogs). I, too, can confirm that the visuals of the iPhone are stunning and there is virtually no lag going from screen to screen. It's all optimized very well.

I use 4Smartphone for hosted Exchange (and if you don't already use Exchange and you're a Windows Mobile user, 4Smartphone is a very affordable way to get into it). The iPhone, as of right now, has exchange support, but only for servers that run IMAP support. And even if the server does have IMAP support, it STILL won't do push email (it'll pull) and it won't sync your contacts, calendar and tasks. This may be a deal breaker for most of you that are reading this right now.

I tried plugging in 4Smartphone's IMAP email settings, but still haven't had success. So as of right now, I have no email on my phone. Take a minute to let that sink in, readers. No email on my phone.

There are rumors abound about real Exchange coming to the iPhone thanks to a licensing deal in the works with Microsoft. I'm very much hoping for this to come to fruition.

Tomorrow I put my BlackJack in the drawer, and I'll be setting out with my new iPhone. Lots more to come.

Update: Wow, after changing the port setting, I got the IMAP email to work! It shows all of my folders just like Exchange would, and read and unread states are synchronized. It's not real Exchange like on Windows Mobile, but very close (in terms of email sync). More on this later.