Review of Tracker 4

Symbian platform: UIQ
Review first published in: Palmtop User magazine, issue 8

It seems that users generally fall into two distinct camps. Those that love customising and tweaking their handheld's interface, and those that would rather stick with the original for simplicity's sake. Tracker 4 is perhaps the ultimate utility for confirmed tweakers, with a system of skins that can create the illusion of Windows XP, or Mac OSX, or Terminator, or Babylon 5, or anything else close to your heart. The desktop elements can differ widely in each skin, leading to a bit of a learning curve after switching, but then that's half the fun. There are dozens of third party skins to try out, or you can even roll up your sleeves and create your own.

At its heart, Tracker is a shortcuts utility, with desktop pages full of links to existing system and third party applications. It can also read your existing PIM databases, providing a Pocket PC-like Today view if needed. Nearly everything is done through the original applications, although at least Tracker automatically switches itself back to the foreground after an edit operation, after a slight pause.

There's a wealth of extra functions, most based around redefining what the P800's few hardware buttons do, but also encompassing basic system task management. And registration of Tracker also covers you for SymbianWare's own TaskMan and FileMan plug-ins, making the system even more comprehensive. No interface is perfect, and Tracker gives anyone complaining about UIQ a decent chance to change things to suit their own way of working. E20, from www.symbianware.com.