I installed Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac this weekend and have been giving some thought to syncing my Windows Mobile smartphone with a Mac instead of Windows XP (I have Vista running but don’t want to use WMDC). Unfortunately, all of the solutions have issues. Here are my options.
Sync my smartphone with Mac OS X’s iCal (calendar) and Address Book (contacts) using Missing Sync for Windows Mobile ($39.95 download). I believe I lose the ability to sync notes and tasks. And, I definitely can’t sync OneNote Mobile.
Sync my smartphone with Microsoft Entourage 2008 using,again, Missing Sync for Windows Mobile. Mark/Space said that Microsoft doesn’t provide a conduit/plug-in to work with Apple Sync Services. The effect of this is that all category information is lost (all categories are consolidated to the category “Entourage”). I use categories a lot. So, hmm. Everything except for OneNote Mobile should sync minus the category information.
Install Windows XP a virtualized Guest OS using either Parallels Desktop for Mac or VMware Fusion. This means I could install Microsoft Office for Windows along with OneNote Mobile. Unfortunately, VM virtual disk drives can take up a lot of disk space. Do, I really want to dedicate a VM and its associated disk space just for syncing a smartphone?
The last alternative is to dump Windows Mobile and buy a phone supported by Apple’s iSync. It is an interesting idea. But, I really like what Windows Mobile has to offer me (despite my disdain for ActiveSync and WMDC). So, that is not a reasonable alternative for me (although it seems to be a valid one for many other people).
If you are syncing a Windows Mobile 6 smartphone with a Mac, please let me know how your solution is working for you. Thanks in advance!