I'm scared to reformat my PDA (XDA Exec) as I spent £660 buying it just a year ago. Fine this isn't the most I've spent on a phone, but you can see that I don't want to waste my money.

I need to know if I can (freely if possible) download Windows Mobile 6 for my XDA Exec, I'm scared that the keyboard or video calling will stop responding as drivers aren't installed. Also I've got one which does have all of that, but does not support Windows Live, so I need that too.

Basically, I need:

Windows Mobile 6 Professional with all features to work on the XDA Exec

Hi there,
It is easily possible for you to update your device to Windows Mobile 6, as a bustling community of ROM developers at XDA Developers.com are constantly releasing free and improved versions of WM6 specifically for the HTC Universal handset (O2 XDA Exec/Orange SPV M5000 etc.).

However, like all upgrades, I would strongly urge you to read up on the matter before attempting it. Their forum is full of helpful advice regarding upgrading. There are pitfalls of upgrading your device from what I have seen so far: firstly, in some rare cases it can lead to bricking your phone - essentially destroying it. Secondly, while the guys who are cooking these ROMs are undoubtedly talented geniuses (flattery), there are some features they have not managed to perfect yet. Namely your video calling. I'm not personally aware of a ROM which provides this facility, so in all likelihood you would lose it if you chose to upgrade. There have also been problems with WiFi speed etc. in the past. My advice is to look carefully at all the comments about a specific ROM to see if anyone has had any problems (preferably after using it for a month or so).

If you do decide to go 'ROM-shopping', look carefully for a version which suits you. There are loads available from different guys, each one emphasises different things. For example, one may be a bare-bones 'vanilla' version which has features deemed pointless removed. While another may have lots of pretty themes included to make things look a bit for pleasant.

Finally, think carefully about whether you acually need WM6. I know it seems a bit obvious, but not alot has changed since WM5 aside from a pretty glassy taskbar and some other tweaks to programs. This is not a radical upgrade to WM. You'll have slight tweaks to the Mobile Office suite, HTML e-mail, Windows Live services (in some ROMs) and improved search abilities. If you can stick WM5 you may be better staying with it than going through the trouble of upgrading. But that's just my opinion, since I'm happy as Larry with WM5. Myself, I'll be waiting for an iPhone-competitor version in the future with pretty animations and so on (one can hope!). Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

Try here http://forum.xda-developers.com/