OpenNetCF SDF vs .Net CF 3.5

Question

Going through the documentation of the SDF, i found many classes like the BitmapEx class or the TextBox2 class. I could see their members, but i could not find any text that explained to me why i needed to use them instead of whats given in the .Net CF 3.5

So, what i am requesting is something [a document] or someone to explain how or why the SDF classes are better than their CF equivalents. Now, the bitmap and textbox where just examples. It would be preferable if i could know more about the framework itself and how to use it.

Just for background:

I am developing an OCR solution for mobile phones. It does the entire processing and detecting using the cell phone capabilities. The app is able to segment [into characters] a 800x600 area of image with some 7 lines of text in around 80 seconds on a HTC Diamond. I believe i should be able to improve the performance. Right now i have done absolutely no performance optimizations. Am reading lots of articles on optimizations etc... will post some separate questions on those topics as and when i come across something i cant solve...

Answer 1

The SDF classes aren't designed to be "better" than the CF classes - they are largely an extension of the CF-supplied classes. In many cases they provides methods, properties, etc. that the full framework may have but that the CF omitted.

Obviously that's an over-simplification - for example the entire OpenNETCF.WindowsCE namespace is purely features that don't exist in the FFx or the CF, but as a general answer, that's how it works.

The SDF is not a replacement for the CF, it's an extension of it.