Microsoft Active Sync 3.7.1 Released!

[DavidW]

I think Alix sums it up. In time, most if not all of the software that doesn't work with ActiveSync 3.7.1 will be fixed. I don't expect Microsoft will reverse the changes in ActiveSync 3.7.1 as the new RAPI features are officially documented and people will be using them. I doubt that it's possible to make future versions of ActiveSync that have both backwards compatibility and the new features - I think Microsoft would have already done this in 3.7.1 if they could.

I certainly don't doubt that there will be more versions of ActiveSync in the future. However, there's no need for people to upgrade to 3.7.1 - to my knowledge there's no device on the market that works with 3.7.1 but not 3.7. At the moment, most people are best sticking with 3.7, and leaving 3.7.1 well alone. It's annoying that you can't have the fixes in 3.7.1 without software compatibility issues, but that's the way things are for now.


As Dave says, creating a new partnership is mandatory after downgrading ActiveSync, and you really do want to be overwriting the information on the Pocket PC, otherwise you'll land up with duplicate information in your PIM databases (the "combine" function isn't that great, largely because of internal data differences between Outlook differing to that in Pocket Outlook that make it less than straightforward to recognise duplicates).

The best thing to do is sync, backup, then do the work to downgrade ActiveSync without touching anything in Outlook or Pocket Outlook. Create a new partnership (overwriting all information on your Pocket PC - it will be the same as that in Outlook because you haven't changed anything since you last synced) before you change anything in either Outlook or Pocket Outlook.


Dave mentions installing ActiveSync 3.6. For some that makes sense - there's some software that works better with 3.6 than 3.7. However, those running Pocket PC 2003 (or SmartPhone 2003) should install 3.7, as that's the lowest version officially compatible with the 2003 operating systems.



David

[DavidW]

I finally downgraded my system. As someone else noted, the files that were left behind after the uninstall were those in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Notesync Forms\ - though I went right through the wcesetup.log file by hand, and cleared out one or two other bits that I expected to be overwritten but wanted to be doubly sure about.

I was glad I exported the Apps registry key I mentioned in my previous post - I could just reimport it and all the applications were back in ActiveSync's Add/Remove Programs.


The whole process is a bit of a pain - but if you're methodical and prepare well, you can make it much less painful than it otherwise would be. Of course, making a System Restore point (Windows XP or Me users only) and even a full backup of your system (if you have suitable facilities) is highly recommended before trying to tease ActiveSync 3.7.1 out of your system to install an earlier version.



David

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