Okay, well after upgrading the ROM you cannot restore from a backup so you have to start from square one. Why? Because if you do a restore, along with a restore file, there are other system files that would be restored too that can restore old ROM settings and files and just basically undo any of the benefits/enhancements of the new ROM you've installed.

Anyway, I'm not going to get into too much detail as to setting up ActiveSync 4.1 other than I've set up the partnership to sync directly to my Exchange Server (and yes, push email is functioning!) and I now have my Contacts, Emails, Notes and Appointments (I don't sync my Tasks...long story ) all restored to my device. In the most basic sense, I'm back up and connected - I can call everyone in my Contact list as well as able to keep up with my emails. Now we can get into the apps, more specifically my must-have apps.

Let me begin by saying this, when installing apps, especially on the K-JAM, due to the limited amount of space in Main Memory, try to install the majority of your applications onto the miniSD card (and if you don't have one yet - you'd better consider geting one!). If any apps have to be installed onto Main Memory, either the developer recommends it or you'd want those programs to remain available on your device should the card go bad or by some reason you lose your card. Here are my top candidates for Main Memory apps:

1.Resco Explorer 2005 v 5.35

Winner of Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine's 2005 Best Software Awards, this is my favorite app that is as full featured as the actual Windows Explorer and more. Resco Explorer consists of: The File Manager, Recycle Bin, Today Plugin, Strong File Encryption, ZIP Compression, The built-in viewer, The Network Browser, The Registry Editor and The FTP add-in. This is a well reviewed product and one I stand behind in having judged for the awards myself. Very easy to use, and has great customer support to boot. Don't be surprised to find this software suite replacing a small handful of apps you may have had to install from several other locations.

2.IM+ Mobile Instant Messenger for Pocket PC

Another PPC Best Software Awards 2005 winner - I've chosen this one because of the richness of features, availability of customer support and especially its compatibility with WM5. If you have gotten used to IM as another form of communication to supplement SMS that supports AOL, ICQ, MSN, Y!, Jabber and even GoogleTalk, then this is the one you'll want to have.

3.The Core Pocket Media Player
The best performing media player (IMHO) and winner of the SPPPCMag Best Software Awards in the Multimedia/Video category that supports the following audio and video file formats: AVI (*.avi); Matroska (*.mkv, *.mka), MP4 (*.mp4, *.m4a), Ogg Media (*.ogg, *.ogm), ASF (*.asf), Mpeg 1 Layer III, Ogg Vorbis, Musepack, Windows Media Audio (on Windows Mobile devices), AC-3, AMR, Adpcm, uLaw, DivX, XviD, MPEG4-SP (plus B-frame support), MPEG1, M-JPEG, Windows Media Video (on Windows Mobile devices). I love using this with a registry hack when streaming content from my Media Center Edition PC and www.orb.com services.

4.Microsoft Voice Command v1.5
Another SPPPCMag winner (is there a pattern here?). A Voice Recognition program that requires no training that I've personally have had no problems with. I use it primarily for the phone features, but there are other capabilities available as well that allows for usage with other programs. Again, there is a registry hack I use for this to enable voice commands from a BT headset.

Well, that's it for now...my next post will be about a couple of those reghacks I've alluded to.