How to connect PDA (Windows Mobile device) with Windows 7 and sync contacts, calendar

I installed Windows 7 beta on my desktop. It appeared to be much better than Windows Vista which lived for 2 weeks only on my PC. However I was still disappointed by the speed as well as many other things.

I was particularly interested to see Microsoft's Windows Mobile device support. I was expecting to plug-in my PDA without installing any software, but after connecting my AT&T Tilt all I got was an error that my device wasn't recognized.

A little bit disappointed I went to the Start menu and tried to type "Windows Mobile", but found nothing!!!

It appeared that Windows Mobile Device Center needs to be downloaded and installed. Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 is only compatible with Windows Vista and Windows 7; if you run Windows XP or earlier, you have to download Microsoft ActiveSync. Windows Mobile Device Center supports Windows Mobile 2003, 2003 SE, 5.0, 6.0, 6.1, 6.5, Windows Embedded CE 6.0. It won't work with Windows Embedded CE 4.2 or 5.0, Pocket PC 2002, or Smartphone 2002 devices.

You also need Microsoft Outlook 2002, 2003 or 2007 to sync your e-mail, contacts, tasks, and notes from your computer.

Download Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 from Microsoft web-site:
32-bit version | 64-bit version


Although I was able to sync my contacts and calendar with Outlook, I didn't manage to access Internet from my Windows Mobile device when connected to Windows 7, although it worked just fine in Windows XP.

It appeared that there are alternative solutions to syncing contacts, calendar, mail.

One of them is Google Sync for Windows Mobile devices. It allows to synchronize the built-in Mail, Calendar and Contacts apps on your Windows Mobile device with your Google account. With Google Sync you can Synchronize your calendar and contacts with Google.

Features:

• Gmail sync. Get your Gmail pushed directly to your Windows Mobile device. Your inbox is always up to date no matter where you are, or what you're doing.
  
• Synchronize your contacts. Get your Google contacts quickly and easily to your Windows Mobile device. With Sync, you can have access to your address book at anytime and place that you need it.
  
• Get calendar alerts. Using your Windows Mobile device's native calendar, you can now access your Google calendar, and be alerted for upcoming appointments with sound or vibration.

Please note that Google Sync uses the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol. When setting up a new Exchange ActiveSync account on your Windows Mobile device, existing data may be removed from your phone. Please make sure to back up before you set up Google Sync.

Another solution doesn't require not only Miscrosoft Outlook, but also Microsoft Windows. Although the solution is cumbersome and should probably be done by geeks only, it is possible to connect your Windows Mobile device with Linux like Ubuntu 9.10 and use synce to sync contacts, calendar and mail with Evolution, free clone of Microsoft Outlook for Linux.