Dell Axim X50v gets unofficial Windows Mobile 6 upgrade

by Brad Linder Aug 10th 2007

Despite rumors that Dell might be working on a Windows Mobile-based phone, the company is pretty much out of the Windows Mobile business for now. And that leaves Axim X50/51 users pretty much on their own if they want to upgrade their devices from Windows Mobile 5.0 to Windows Mobile 6.

Overall, that might not be such a bad thing. Dell did an infamously poor job offering X50 users an upgrade from WM2003SE to Windows Mobile 5.0. The upgraded units ran slower and had more bugs than units running the older operating system.

But where Dell dropped the ball, the hacker community steps in. And after attempting to improve Dell's Windows Mobile 5.0 installation, one enterprising member of the XDA Developers forum has gone on to port Windows Mobile 6 to the Dell Axim X50v. Bear in mind, this upgrade is only for the VGA model. If you've got a Dell Axim X50 with a 320 x 240 pixel screen, this ROM will not run. Oh yeah, and installing any unofficial operating system upgrades like this could leave your PDA in an unbootable state. So this hack is not for the feint of heart.

That said, X50vs do seem to run much faster with Windows Mobile 6 than Windows Mobile 5.0. And you get upgraded versions of Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, Outlook, and other programs.

Update: If you've upgraded your X50v and are scratching your head trying to figure out how to revert back to Windows Mobile 5.0 or Windows Mobile 2003SE, check out our article on downgrading from Windows Mobile 6.

Tags: dell axim x50v, DellAximX50v, hack, windows mobile 6, WindowsMobile6, xda developers, XdaDevelopers

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

AsktheAdminDotCom said 7:59PM on 8-10-2007

Does anyone know if this rom include the remote desktop client? Can you believe its not on the wing?

Thanks from http://www.AskTheAdmin.com

GujuGuy67 said 9:23AM on 8-11-2007

It is great that more and more upgrades are trickling out... by the time all the devices have updates, Atom should be out.

David Chartier said 10:15AM on 8-11-2007

For those who wanted to digg this but noticed our badge wasn't working properly (it was pointing to the wrong story): I've fixed the issue. Sorry about the mixup.

Kenban said 5:24PM on 8-11-2007

Any Axim users out there know where to get a B26 tip for an iGo charger? iGo no longer makes any B series tips and the online store had been out of them for months before they discontinued the B tips.

Back on topic the WM5 update was bad but this hack sounds amazing. I noticed they list SDHC support (up to 8GB) as one of the features.

FSK1138 said 5:25PM on 8-11-2007

LOL
been running wm6 on Dell Axim X50v since
February 7th, 2007 !!!

FSK1138
http://myspace.com/fsk1138music

Rob Walley said 10:00PM on 8-11-2007

If I read this right, it won't work on the X51 model, will it?

jccalhoun said 10:01PM on 8-11-2007

There was already a way to upgrade the x51vs
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=308945
(Since I've only got an x50v I haven't tried the hack at that link so I don't know if it works or not)

sbites said 7:54AM on 8-13-2007

where I can try ROM wm6 for x50v? I wanna try. pls upload if can :)

Kevin said 9:22AM on 8-28-2007

I was wondering if someone is going to try a hack for the x50 model as oppsed to the x50v models. I would greatly appreciate it if someone would try this. Get back to me with a response.

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

View more Time Wasters