Windows Mobile Device Center - Why Must You Suck So Badly?

[Mike Temporale]

<p>ARGH... My frustration level with Windows Mobile Device Center just keeps getting higher and higher. In the past I've talked about the combination of <a href="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/news/show/22905/0/1/2">WMDC and Vista</a> and how they are keeping me from syncing my data on a regular basis. Well, today brings about an all new problem. In the past, the problem was the Vista failed to see that the device was even connected to my computer. Today, that wasn't the case. Oddly enough, Vista can see my phone just fine, but for some reason when I run WMDC I get the ever intuitive error message: Error. Gee, thanks! That really helps me figure out what the problem is. Launching Sync Center, it clearly shows my device but it didn't indicate if it was connected or not. It shows that I was able to successfully sync yesterday without a problem. So I highlighted the Vox and clicked the Sync button. Guess what? It sync'ed just fine. WMDC still doesn't want to be any help, but at least I was able to sync my phone.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/spt/auto/1191503315.usr3.jpg"><img alt="Click to view full size image" border="1" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/500/spt/auto/1191503281.usr3.jpg" /></a>&nbsp;<br /><br />I can't help but wonder about Joe User who has just picked up his new Vista laptop and a new Windows Mobile 6 device and is faced with such a broken experience. How can I recommend these devices to clients, family, or friends? How can Microsoft set such a horrible piece of software free for unsuspecting users. Syncing is the cornerstone of these devices. If you can't connect it to your computer to put your data on the device, then these are no better than your average dumb phone. Come on Microsoft - It's time to make it right <br /></p>

[chrisjaffe]

Preach on Brother Temporale.

This is just one of the many reasons that I have just downgraded (or is that upgraded). I am now happily back in the land of XP and have found my friends Office 2003 and ActiveSync.

[stevew]

Same here. WMDC was the last draw for me and I went back to XP. I don't miss anything about Vista (or WMDC).

[Mike Temporale]

Vista has not been a problem for me. I bought a new laptop with Vista pre-installed from the factory. I haven't had a single issue with Vista.

My only problems are with WMDC. :mad: I would rather not reformat my machine because of 1 horrible application. It's a long process to rebuild and configure a machine. There's always headaches around getting the correct drivers for the the laptop. That's a headache I'm trying to avoid. Although, it may just be the only solution. :(

[Foo Fighter]

The larger question is why does Vista suck so badly? Recent events led me to downgrade to XP Pro, after enduring months of abuse from Vista... I've had my fill. This version of Windows is, by far, the worst OS release Microsoft has put out, second only to WinME. And that's saying something. It delivers miserable performance in both applications and gaming, driver compatibility is rotten, and is generally the buggiest OS I ever laid my mouse finger on. Worst of all there are no appreciable benefits to suffering through this horrific upgrade. At least XP served a purpose (merging NT codebase) and was a smooth well polished product.

For me Vista is the last straw. When Leopard arrives later this month, I will move entirely to OSX. Microsoft should shove Windows, as it exists today, into a virtual machine a write an entirely new platform from the ground up.

[possmann]

You know - it almost makes you want to head back to Activesync... Kinda makes you wonder if all those folks headed over to the WMDC. They had such a great opportunity - it almost seems like this service is an afterthought and is budgeted as such in features, functionality and testing...

[midtoad]

WMDC must be really, really bad for people to want to go back to "ActiveStink". During the year that I used a Toshiba e830 I had frequent problems with AS. By the end of the year I'd had to recreate partnerships several times, frequently fail to have the PDA recognized by the desktop (running XP), etc.

I moved back to Palm with the purchase of a TX and was pleased to rediscover how well Hotsync functions. It just works, every time.

No, I'm not a troll. If a small company like Palm can get syncing right, why does Microsoft continue to get it wrong, year after year after year. AS stank back when I used Pocket PC 2002, and it appears to still stink 3 generations of the OS later. It's a major deterrent to me ever buying a WM-equipped smartphone.

[nycsmartphone]

After reading this thread I opened Sync Center while my Sansa c240 music player was connected and found the c240 listed in Sync Center. I didn't realize that sync center also managed the sync with Windows Media Player . I also sync a Toshiba Gigabeat, both units sync without problems.

I recently bought a Sansa c150 music player. I have so far returned two units to Sansa as defective as they would take hours to sync (9 hours for 100 songs!). After reading all the problems and how bad the syncing is with Vista I'm thinking it is Vista and it's sync which is bad, not the c150.

I am lucky as I am syncing my 3125 regularly. Every couple days the sync craps out and I need to reset the phone and reselect the email folders to sync but this has now become part of my routine (why do I accommodate bad products like this?). Also the 3125 connection does not allow Outlook to shut down properly and when restarted Outlook takes its good old time to check it' file for errors, slowing my machine to a crawl.

Microsoft should be ashamed to release products which operate like this. How do they expect to compete?

Big article about Google's phone plans in the New York Times today. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/business/media/08googlephone.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
They are not competing with the iPhone rather more of a competition with Microsoft.

[Kirkaiya]

WMDC on Vista definitely is a very "rough" application (service? component?), and that's putting it mildly.

Fortunately, I don't actually use it very much, unless i'm installing something from my laptop, or dragging photos over, which is not often, or the occasional sync with FlexWallet when I've added new cards.

About 18 months ago, I set up a Zimbra server (functionally about the same as Exchange, and compatible with OTA wireless sync), and I have my Dopod S300, aks Star Trek, set to sync every 30 minutes during the day directly to the server.

Sync'ing OTA (over the air) is seamless, takes place without my knowing about it, and means i rarely ever need to deal with the whole "Sync Center" and "Mobile Device Center" crap. WMDC all glitter, but no gold (that is, it's a very pretty interface that works about 50% of the time).