SmallMenu/SmallMenuPlus are Pocket PC softwares which integrate task manager and cascading program launcher. You can execute, switch, and close programs by SmallMenu/SmallMenuPlus.

Executing SmallMenu/SmallMenuPlus will bring up an integrated menu which contains a task list with icons and cascading program menus.

Remarkable features of this software include:

1. Compact, fast and light.

2. Shows task and program icons including Pocket Outlook icons that other task managers do not display.

3. Non stylus operations. Executing, switching, and closing programs can be accomplished when the program is assigned to a hardware button.

4. Cascading program menus.

5. Easy custom program launch menu configuration.

6. Battery status can be displayed on the Navigation bar. (except Pocket PC 2000)

7. Easy battery monitor icon configuration. (except Pocket PC 2000)

8. Selecting "Today" item on the main menu raises "Today" screen. (Plus)

9. Replacing Start Button to raise SmallMenu. (Plus)

10. Easy Start Button image configuration. (Plus)

11. Lists recently executed programs. (Plus)

12. Automatically closes tasks which exceed the limit specified by the user. (Plus)

13. Background tasks can be closed without raising the window on the top. (Plus)

14. "Favorites" can be easily accessed via cascading menus. (Plus)

15. Main menu items are flexibly configurable. You are able to list most accessing program items in the main menu. (Plus)

16. Pocket PC can be turned off via the menu. (Plus)

Easy one-handed task management operation can be achieved with the Action Control of your Pocket PC.

When assigning SmallMenu/SmallMenuPlus to a hardware button, for example, to record button, you can push the button to pop up SmallMenu/SmallMenuPlus and choose the desired program/task by rocking up/down the action control.

Configuration for the level of mixture

The main menu for version 3.0's has a very flexible menu configuration. You can accept pure program launching menus to pure task management menu from the main menus if they are set at "Locate items in the main menu".

Tips for migrating to ver 3.x

The main menu in version 3.0 has a very flexible menu configuration. Users can directly access Today, Programs, Recent Programs, Favorites, Tasks, and Suspend from the main menu when set at "Locate items in the main menu".

One should not JUST set the "Locate items in the main menu" flag for Programs. I recommend the following:

1. Create a subfolder named "Programs" under the menu folder for SmallMenuPlus.

2. Move shortcuts and folders from the menu folder to the new folder "Programs". Do not move frequently accessed shortcuts.

3. Then, check the "Locate items in the main menu" box for Programs.

Now, the main menu will look like version 2.x. Frequently accessed programs will appear in the main menu, and can be easily accessed (shown as the right figure).

I added the feature "Locate items in the main menu" to answer the following request:

It would be nice if there were an OPTION to place a few items on the main pull-down menu so that they would be there permanently.

In conclusion, main menu items are very configurable, however one should have an appropriate configuration goal when configuring main menu items.

Battery Monitor

Please try the new Battery Monitor feature in Ver 3.4. Now, you do not have to switch the screen to "Today" to check the status of main battery.

See online help of SmallMenu/SmallMenuPlus to learn more about the Battery Monitor.

Update Description

v3.21 2007.10.29 Automatic launch on soft-reset fixed.

* An error occured if "Launch SmallMenu on every soft reset" was turned on. This error was introduced in ver 3.20.

v3.20 2007.6.18 Increase a compatibility with Phone Edition

* Phone program of Windows Mobile Phone will no longer be listed in SmallMenu task list.

* Settings of SmallMenu is now placed in the regular Pocket PC control panel settings window.

* SmallMenu item in SmallMenu menu is now configurable. You can now remove the item from the main menu of SmallMenu.

v3.19 2006.1.30 Default installation path changed

* Default installation path has been changed.

v3.18 2006.1.25 Compatibility with WM5 improved

* Softkey 1 label was changed to "Notification" at Today screen if SmallMenu battery monitor was displayed. This problem has been fixed.

* SmallMenu no longer closes ActiveSync if the device is connected to Desktop PC and if the device is Windows Mobile 5.

* The battery remaining amount information shown in the battery monitor balloon is now present even if the device is charging.

* Added an icon to Settings item in SmallMenu main menu.

* SmallMenu settings now opens the same page the user opened last time.

* SmallMenu slowed down when Telephone or Light Mail program was running on Willcom W-ZERO3. This problem has been fixed.

* SmallMenu now adds icons for Contacts and Light Mail on Willcom W-ZERO3.

v3.17 2005.8.12 A few task management problems fixed

* Switching to Calendar or Tasks via SmallMenu shows non working (ok) button on some condition. This problem has been fixed.

* Opening a document from PocketWord, or opening a message from Inbox showed multiple task items. This has been changed to show a single menu item for them. Still PocketExcel document windows are shown independently from its document list window. I left this as it is since users can open multiple documents simultaneously and conveniently from PocketExcel document list window.

v3.16 2005.5.23 A few problems fixed

* Closing sub menus by left arrow button caused focus going away. This problem was introduced in v3.15. v3.16 fixed the problem.

* The way how SmallMenu closes ActiveSync changed back to a simple way. v3.16 now sends WM_CLOSE to ActiveSync. From v3.12, SmallMenu used a different method to close ActiveSync in order not to close it when ActiveSync is used for communicating with Desktop PC. But the method did not work properly on some devices or on some cases.

* The condition for showing programs on the task list has been slightly changed. v3.16 now shows programs with WS_POPUP style for its main window such as MioMap from MiTAC.

v3.15 2005.2.22 Compatibility with other programs improved

* SmallMenu could not raise Settings Window when Settings Window was closed by WISBar Advance or by Magic Button. Now SmallMenu improved compatibility with these programs and it can raise Settings Window even when it is closed by the programs.

* SmallMenu uses special method for closing ActiveSync since closing ActiveSync is harmful if ActiveSync on Pocket PC communicates with Desktop PC. However, on some system condition, SmallMenu failed to close ActiveSync even when ActiveSync did not communicate with Desktop PC. There still remains the possibility of the failure, but the probability is much reduced.

v3.14 2004.9.21 Completed compatibility with Windows Mobile 2003 SE

* SmallMenu has completed compatibility with Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition Pocket PC, including VGA screen support.

* Added an option to show file icons instead of window icons in task list.

v3.13 2004.4.15 Improved compatibility with Windows Mobile 2003 SE

* SmallMenu has improved compatibility with Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition Pocket PC.

* Fixed a problem with tdLaunch, which prevented SmallMenuPlus from showing Pocket PC Settings Window.

v3.12 2004.3.29 Settings menu item added to the main menu items

* SmallMenuPlus is now able to open the Pocket PC Settings Window. This is an experimental implementation, and is subject to change in future versions.

* Menu item check boxes maintain their checked/unchecked status when they are highlighted in Pocket PC 2002/2003.

* SmallMenuPlus now automatically closes ActiveSync when the user configures 'Close tasks when the number exceeds' to close tasks. Users should note that SmallMenu will not close ActiveSync while a Pocket PC and a Desktop PC are communicating via ActiveSync.

v3.11 2004.3.17 A memory corruption problem in alternative battery icons fixed

* A memory corruption problem observed when the user specified alternative battery icons has been fixed. With Pocket PC 2002, the problem may not have been visible. However, with Pocket PC 2003, alternative battery icons did not work and specifying the alternative battery icons made SmallMenu behave incorrectly because of this problem.

* "Worker" class windows, such as, Pocket Word editing windows and Notes editing windows are now listed in the task list.

v3.10 2003.9.10 Systemwide settings for menus added

* Systemwide settings for menus have been added.

v3.9 2003.7.24 Start button refreshes when the theme changes

* SmallMenuPlus's start button refreshes automatically with theme changes.

* SmallMenu's Recent Programs remain on display after refresh.

* Sub menus of SmallMenu will have More... items when the number of menu items in the sub menu is too large to be displayed without scrolling. Additional menu items will appear in a sub-sub menu called More....

* The Speed Dial Window and Call Log Window in Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition will no longer appear in the SmallMenu task list.

* A New detection method for "Power on". Now there is no longer a Storage Card problem. A warning message will no longer be displayed even when installing SmallMenu to a Storage Card.

* SmallMenuPlus 3.6, 3.7, and 3.8 automatically hide the start button when Password or Information Screen is displayed. Now hiding the Start Button is configurable. Hiding the button is performed by an additional thread. You can turn off the thread by turning "Hide the button" option off.

* In previous versions, SmallMenu could not list tasks when another menu was displayed. This problem has been fixed.

* A few other minor problems have been fixed.

v3.8 2003.5.26 "Charging" icon added, and miscellaneous problems fixed.

* "Charging" icon has been added to the battery monitor.

* I have experienced cases of the transparent Start Button in SmallMenuPlus version 3.5, 3.6, and 3.7 becoming obscured in iPAQ 3955. Now the Start Button in SmallMenuPlus version 3.8 has an unobscured visibility.

* Installers in SmallMenu/SmallMenuPlus packages of previous versions choose wrong versions (Pocket PC 2000 versions) of SmallMenu/SmallMenuPlus when installing SmallMenu/SmallMenuPlus to Pocket PC 2002 via ActiveSync 3.7. I believe this is caused by a bug of ActiveSync 3.7, but the installer has been modified to work around this installation problem.

* SmallMenu/SmallMenuPlus only listed the volume control balloon as a task when the speaker volume balloon was displayed. Now, SmallMenu/SmallMenuPlus lists all tasks.

* In previous version of SmallMenu/SmallMenuPlus, Battery Monitor was listed as a task when the Battery Monitor balloon was displayed. Now the Battery Monitor balloon is not treated as a task by SmallMenu/SmallMenuPlus.

* In previous versions, creating shortcuts which pointed to an upper folder sometimes resulted in SmallMenu/SmallMenuPlus creating an infinite program menu tree. This problem has been fixed.

* Installing SmallMenu on a Storage Card might sometimes resulted in the error message "Cannot execute smenu.exe" when a Pocket PC device was turned on. Although this issue has been resolved, installing SmallMenu on a Storage Card is not recommended because the Start Button will not be hidden when Password Screen appears.

* A few other minor fixes have been made.

v3.7 2003.3.25 WIS Bar related degradation fixed

* WIS Bar related degradation has been fixed. SmallMenuPlus 3.6 could not raise its menu by tapping the Start Button while WIS Bar was running.

* A safeguard has been added to prevent users from conducting a full reset operation in some circumstances. When a soft reset operation is performed while SmallMenu is creating menu trees, the next SmallMenu execution will raise the SmallMenu settings dialog box before creating the menu trees.

v3.6 2003.3.17 Configurable battery icons

* Battery monitor icons are now configurable. You can replace them via a bitmap file.

* Battery monitor now include charging status. (However, charging status has the same icon as "Online" status by default.)

* A button has been added to configure "Low battery warning".

* "Launch delay" option added. When the entire screen becomes covered by a startup window after a soft reset, SmallMenuPlus will not be able to capture the regular Start Button as a transparent Start Button. And when program menu trees are built on a memory card which is recognized by Pocket PC a few seconds after a soft reset, SmallMenu will not be able to create program menu trees correctly. In such cases, this option will solve the problems.

* SIP pop-up window automatically appears when the edit field is tapped.

* A smart installer/uninstaller is included in SmallMenu. Users can now do upgrades/uninstalls without having to exit SmallMenu. Before, users had to exit SmallMenu when they wanted to upgrade/uninstall SmallMenu.

* SmallMenuPlus now recognizes the Jornada 525/548 password screen before creating the transparent Start Button. Now SmallMenuPlus creates the transparent button after the jornada 525/548 password screen disappears.

* The SmallMenuPlus Start button is no longer located on the Pocket PC Password screen or Owner Information screen.

* A few other minor problems have been fixed.

v3.5 2003.3.5 Default start button has changed to transparent one

* Default start button is now a virtual transparent button.

* Special treatments for WIS Bar has been eliminated since the transparent button made them unnecessary.

* SmallMenuPlus 3.3 and 3.4 did not display a background bitmap for WIS Bar. Now this problem has been resolved by the elimination of WIS Bar special treatments.

* Battery bar order has been changed to go from left to right instead of right to left.

v3.4 2003.2.24 Battery Monitor added

* Optional Battery Monitor added which displays a battery status icon on the Navigation bar of Pocket PC 2002.

* A few linkage mistakes have been fixed on the online help file.

v3.3 2003.2.5 An optional 'Suspend' menu item added

* An optional 'Suspend' item has been added. You can turn off your Pocket PC device via the 'Suspend' menu item.

* SmallMenuPlus now uses the WIS Bar skin automatically when WIS Bar is running.

v3.2 2002.9.2 An option to generate an auto start shortcut

* An optional auto start shortcut file in Windows startup folder has been added.

* /s command line option now performs program menu trees and favorites menu tree caching so that the menu items can be rapidly accessed when the pop-up menu first appears. In previous versions, SmallMenu took a long time to pop up when the first pop-up menu appeared, especially when there were many menu items in the menu tree.

* Memory corruption problem has been fixed. Memory corruption may have been observed as a menu item strings corruption problem. The problem may have occurred in cases where there was a shortcut file which pointed to a folder in the SmallMenu's program menu folder/favorites folder, and when the shortcut file name was shorter than the target folder name.

* SmallMenu exhausted CPU power when files (non shortcut files) were located in SmallMenu's menu folder. This problem has been fixed.

* Plural setting dialog boxes could be opened. This problem has been fixed.

* Task managers listed-up SmallMenu just after SmallMenu was launched with /s command line option. This problem has been fixed.

v3.0 2002.8.12 Flexible configuration for main menu items

* Edit Menu Items dialog box has been expanded to configure all main menu items.

* Favorites with a cascading menu is added.

* Minimum required memory for a menu item in SmallMenu has been reduced (From 36 bytes to 24 bytes).

* Today and Recent Programs can now be listed and changed before other settings are configured. In the version 2.2, they were not able to be listed nor any changes for their settings were saved before system registry entry for SmallMenu was created.

v2.2 2002.7.30 Close Icon has been added

* Close Icon can now be added to each task item.

* New Edit Menu Items dialog box has been added, and the configurations of Today and Recent Programs are moved to the Edit Menu Items dialog box.

v2.1 2002.5.27 The code base has been merged to ProgramMenu

* The code base of SmallMenu has been merged into ProgramMenu's code base.

* Custom menu folder can be chosen via tGetFile.dll's folder dialog box.

* Closing Contacts window while a contact item was opened prevented Contacts from re-opening until soft reset was performed. This problem has been fixed.

* Windows without class names such as Daniel Jackson's QTris now appear in the task list.

* A few other minor problems have been fixed.

v2.0 2002.3.5 The first Pocket PC version