Microsoft took advantage of the abundance of software available for Windows as a selling point during the heyday of the PC wars against Apple. The advent and development of the Web—and the software giant’s eventual domination of the market—made this fact obsolete for many.

The world of handhelds is another matter entirely

Unlike desktops, Microsoft competitor Palm offers thousands of more applications than what's available for its Windows Mobile operating system (OS). Consequently, Palm PDA and smartphone users interested in moving to a Windows Mobile device may be loath to do so, as it would require leaving some of their favorite software behind.

Enter StyleTap and StyleTap Platform for Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs.

Currently in beta, StyleTap enables Windows Mobile devices to run many of the more than 20,000 available Palm OS applications. It works with software written for Palm 5.2 (Garnet) and earlier.


iSilo for Palm Running on Pocket PC

StyleTap CEO Gregory Sokoloff asserts, "With this product, users who decide to migrate from a Palm OS device can keep running their favorite applications. And for the first time, existing Windows Mobile PDA users can access the vast array of popular, proven Palm OS applications."

With StyleTap, Palm software appears and operates on a Pocket PC just like native programs. You can even cut and paste between Palm programs and native Pocket PC applications running on the same handheld.

Limitations include an inability to support Conduits—important because they are what exchange data between a handheld and a desktop during synchronization—and Bluetooth.

StyleTap does, however, enable both newer and older game applications to perform direct screen updates for performance purposes. It also works with today’s newer VGA Pocket PCs as well as older models.

The company bundles a StyleTap Application Installer too, as the name implies, install third-party Palm OS software from your Windows desktop to your handheld. (Nothing said about Mac support.)

Versions of StyleTap are in the making for other PDA/smartphone operating systems as well. That includes Symbian, the number one mobile device platform in the world. "This is the first of a family of StyleTap™ Platform products that will extend this capability to other handheld operating systems such as Symbian OS,” Sokolof said.

He added, “StyleTap Platform is based on the idea that the same application software should run on many different kinds of handhelds, regardless of operating system. This not only benefits handheld users, but also allows developers to target a much larger customer base."

The fully functional beta edition of StyleTap Platform for Windows Mobile is free for 14 days, whereupon you may buy it for $29.95. Those who purchased the beta can download version 1.0 for free when it is released.