In 2007, with the advent of Windows Mobile 6.0, Microsoft dropped the name Pocket PC in favor of a new naming scheme:[1] As of 2010, thousands of applications existed for handhelds adhering to the Microsoft Pocket PC specification, many of which were freeware.

The HP OmniGo 100 and 120 used a pen and graphics interface on DOS-based PC/GEOS, but was not widely sold in the United States.

Palm-size PC (PsPC) was Microsoft's official name for Windows CE PDAs that were smaller than Handheld PCs by the lack of a physical keyboard.

[6] On April 19, 2000, Microsoft introduced Pocket PC with a revamped interface and to better compete against the popular Palm devices.

According to Microsoft, the Pocket PC is "a handheld device that enables users to store and retrieve e-mail, contacts, appointments, tasks, play multimedia files, games, exchange text messages with Windows Live Messenger (formerly known as MSN Messenger), browse the Web, and more.

[13] The generic ROM images for Mobile 6.5 are also available as part of the officially distributed and freely downloadable development kit.

Windows Mobile 5.0 solved this problem by storing all user data in persistent (flash) memory, leaving the RAM to be used only for running applications, as it would be on a desktop computer.

As a result, Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PCs generally had more flash memory, and less RAM, compared to earlier devices.

Before the Pocket PC brand was launched, there were other Windows-based machines of the same form factor called Palm-size PCs.

[17] Other examples include Casio Cassiopeia E-10/E-11, Compaq Aero 1500/1520, Philips Nino and HP Jornada 420/430.

Pocket PCs were manufactured and sold by several different companies; the major manufacturers include HP (under the iPAQ and now defunct Jornada brands), Toshiba, Acer, Asus, Dell (under the now defunct Axim brand), Fujitsu Siemens, E-TEN, HTC, and ViewSonic.

Companies like O2, T-Mobile and Orange were marketing Pocket PCs that have integrated mobile telephony (smartphones).

[18] Some Pocket PCs featured integrated GPS often combined with mobile phone functionality.

Pocket PCs with built-in telephony differ from Windows Mobile Smartphone Edition devices in several respects, including the lack of a touchscreen on the latter.

Some examples of current Pocket PCs with GPS integrated are the Fujitsu Siemens Pocket Loox N560, a high-end Pocket PC with a VGA screen and an integrated SiRF Star III GPS; the HTC TyTN, a small communicator with integrated slide in keyboard; the HP hw6945 and HP iPAQ hw6515 with integrated thumb-board, GPS and GSM/GPRS telephony; the HTC top-of-the-line Universal, branded as the QTek 9000 (also branded by various telecommunications companies as the Orange SPV M5000, T-mobile MDA Pro, Vodafone VPA IV, O2 Xda Exec, i-Mate JasJar, Dopod 900).

[19] A newer entrant into the Pocket PC market was its rival Palm, which sold devices like the Treo 700w/wx based on Windows Mobile 5.0 and featuring integrated telephony.