[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile ROM Development] Joe Bleau:
Energy Rom Feb.27 Memory Usage Report vs Start Menus

On my spare Tilt 2 (AT&T version of Touch Pro2) I just did:

Turned off the phone, removed SIM & memory card connected phone via Active Sync and ran task29 to clean the phone to guaranty a clean install.

After Task29 the phone was now stuck on the MainSplash screen (normal) so I pressed Volume Down + Reset switch while still connected to the PC to go in Bootloader Mode.

Flashed the phone with the Feb.27 NRG ROM version: Energy.RHODIUM.28244.Sense2.5.Cookie.2.0.Feb.27.

Disconnected from PC & restarted the phone for good measure, still w/o SIM nor memory card.

The Tilt 2/Touch Pro2 512 MB total onboard memory is divided in three parts: ROM reserved for the phone itself & not accessible to the user, Storage (that can be expanded w/ a memory card) and most importantly RAM memory needed for running programs and labelled Free Program below and there lies the weakness of the

default

current NRG ROMs because of our Rhodiums low RAM memory limitations. One needs to change that default Start layout to free up some RAM memory for running programs IMO.

So out-of-the-box stock Feb.27 NRG ROM w/o SIM and checking with > Home > Slider to Settings > SD card & phone storage:

Total Storage: 245.97 MB

Used Storage: 64.48 MB

Free Storage: 181.49 MB

Total Program: 185.54 MB

Used Program: 112.21 MB

Free Program: 73.33 MB >> 71.43 MB after opening once all the folders & sub-folders in the Start Menu including the ones found under the Settings tab.

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Panel: After selecting the cooked-in Panel in > Start > Settings > Start Menu Layout Switch and rebooting:

Total Storage: 245.97 MB >same as stock

Used Storage: 64.48 MB >same as stock

Free Storage: 181.49 MB >same as stock

Total Program: 185.54 MB >same as stock

Used Program: 86.84 MB vs. 112.21 MB stock >> a saving of 25.37 MB of RAM!

Free Program: 98.55 MB vs. 73.33 MB >> a gain of 25.22 MB free RAM!

Free Program: 94.29 MB vs. 71.43 MB stock after opening once all the folders & sub-folders in the Panel Start Menu including the ones found under the Settings tab.

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Winstart Free: After selecting back the "Normal" default NRG in > Start > Settings > now found in > Personal w/ the Panel version >Start Menu Layout Switch I installed the current Winstart free version: WinStartV2.2Free.cab and restarted the phone 3 times because

I got a .NET error the first 2 times

:

Total Storage: 245.97 MB >same as stock

Used Storage: 64.47 MB >virtually same as stock

Free Storage: 179.50 MB vs. 181.49 MB stock

Total Program: 185.54 MB >same as stock

Used Program: 112.99 MB vs. 112.21 MB stock!

Free Program: 72.56 MB vs. 73.33 MB stock.

Free Program: 67.58 MB vs. 71.43 MB stock after opening once all the folders & sub-folders in the Panel Start Menu including the ones found under the Settings tab.

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Winstart Free + Arto/JB cab: After installing Arto Start menu Remover wm6.5.x JB.cab that you can find in this post: WinStartV2.2Free.cab + Start menu Remover FIXED w/ Memory Freed:

Total Storage: 245.97 MB >same as stock

Used Storage: 64.48 MB >same as stock

Free Storage: 179.49 vs. 181.49 MB stock

Total Program: 185.54 MB >same as stock

Used Program: 86.95 vs. 112.21 MB stock >> a saving of RAM similar to Panel!

Free Program: 98.59 MB vs. 73.33 MB >> a saving of RAM similar to Panel!

Free Program: 92.88 MB vs. 71.43 MB stock after opening once all the folders & sub-folders in the Panel Start Menu including the ones found under the Settings tab.

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Winstart Paid Version: I then uninstalled in this exact order: Arto Start menu Remover wm6.5.x JB.cab and WinStartV2.2Free.cab, rebooted & installed the Winstart paid version: WinStart2.2.CAB, entered my key and

that's important to save some RAM memory: selected "Disable Start Menu"

, Save and restarted the phone:

Total Storage: 245.97 MB >same as stock

Used Storage: 66.88 vs. 64.48 MB stock

Free Storage: 179.50 MB vs. 181.49 MB stock

Total Program: 185.54 MB >same as stock

Used Program: 87.04 MB vs. 112.21 MB stock!

Free Program: 98.50 MB vs. 73.33 MB stock >> a saving of 25.37 MB of RAM!

Free Program: 89.56 MB vs. 71.43 MB stock after opening once all the folders & sub-folders in the Panel Start Menu including the ones found under the Settings tab.

Note: 92.88 MB (free Winstart + Arto/JB cab) - 89.56 MB (paid) = 3.32 MB is the RAM cost of the default Winstart paid settings including "Use caching" enabled for a faster poping up Start menu.

After unselecting everything in the Winstart > Menu > Options > Performance

except the caching

, rebooting and again opening once all the folders & sub-folders: Free Program: 89.74 MB so the RAM gain is insignificant but it's more fluid w/o the animation & the low resolution icons IMO.

Save 4.72 MB of RAM with Panel vs. Winstart paid version after opening once all the folders in Start Menu but it's a lot less fluid, pretty & customizable IMO.

Winstart Free + Arto/JB cab is nicer, more customizable, a tad faster and adds a Taskmanager bar on top to check running programs with the ability to kill them vs. the cooked-in Panel Start Menu & could take it's place in future ROMs IMO

if the memory savings feature is included

so to have a similar memory savings as Panel. A link in the Winstart Free > Menu > Upgrade could be added in exchange for the author's permission to include the Winstart Free in the popular Energy ROMs and would probably bring him some business & extra Options features to the user like Performances (animations, icon resolution & cache settings), Layout (# of icons per line, icon size, background image, etc), Debug, Save/Load configuration, etc.