This is probably a stupid/obvious question, but does Windows Mobile ever receive updates like Windows XP or its predecessor do/did?
Bump, maybe not as stupid/obvious as I thought?
damn, ate my previous post. Ok, let me caveat that I’m reasonably familiar with this subject but it isn’t my area of expertise.
assume you mean Windows Mobile aka WM aka the operating system powering smart devices (phones, pocket pc/pda phones that can connect to the internet)?
I believe the full answer is yes, it is possible. No, the mobile operators do not do this as a rule. And yes, depending on how your Exchange server is configured you can do a lot of things.
One can actually push patches, updates, email, group policy, modifications, remote wipe of the device, etc if connected to an Exchange server.
The Microsoft Windows o/s pushes out patches through the internet via windows update. This happens when you log onto the internet. I assume Windows Update is configured to check with the Microsoft servers if there is a new patch, and then to download that patch. You can also do this manually.
For WM, it’s more complicated. WM is an operating system that various mobile operators and device makers modify. Each device maker creates their own ROM build based on WM and the various components that make up their device. The i-mate ROM is not the same as the Samsung ROM. So, it’s complicated because there are hundreds of devices (meaning hundreds of different ROM flavors built on top of WM3 or WM5 or WM6 and different languages) as well as dozens of mobile phone operators worldwide.
I believe the only way outside of updating via an Exchange server is if the Mobile Operator were to push out updates. In China this does not happen. Not sure about the US or rest of the world.
Most device maker OEM have updated ROM builds that incorporate patches and improvements. Both from MS and from the OEM for their specific device. One then would reflash the device to get the upgrades. It’s not horrible to do but you do lose the data, have to reconfigure the device and reload apps.
For far more than anyone should ever want to know on this subject, please visit here. This morning I downloaded a newer version of WM5 pocket pc version ROM and reflashed my i-mate with a Qtek RoM. I then tried to load a hacked WM6 version done by a Russian. It loaded but then I was unable to dial the phone or connect to the internet. I reflashed back down to the WM5 version. Reflashing a device takes about 10 minutes, but then you need to configure and reload apps.