Can Windows Mobile Make a Comeback?

[Rocco Augusto]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/oct/30/mobile-phones-microsoft' target='_blank'>http://www.guardian.co.uk/technolog...hones-microsoft</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"The smartphone landscape is changing rapidly with the arrival of the T-Mobile G1, the first phone based on Google's Android software, and the huge success of Apple's iPhone business. And if both of these take big slices of the smartphone market, that leaves less for everybody else &ndash; unless they can find a way to respond."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/zt/auto/1225398917.usr8.jpg" /><br /><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Courtesy of The Guardian. Illustration by Tobias Hickey]</span></em></p><p>I was reading The Guardian this morning when I ran across this interesting Windows Mobile article, "<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/oct/30/mobile-phones-microsoft">Can Microsoft be a Mobile Hero?</a>" There isn't anything new in the doom and gloom department that hasn't been said a million times already but it is nice to read the opinions of a person that isn't as closely tied to the Windows Mobile experience as all of us are here. It amazes me to see the Internet turn so quickly against Windows Mobile and cast it aside like an old shoe. I personally do not believe the situation is as dire as everyone else believes, but I do feel it is very important that Microsoft steps up their game and focus on usability for their next release as if their lives depended on it. I don't see Microsoft letting Windows Mobile die anytime soon, but on this current path-to-nowhere I can easily see Windows Mobile quickly becoming irrelevant.</p>

[Pony99CA]

For a nice counterpoint to the doom-and-gloom, read Matt Miller's I like Windows Mobile and am not ashamed to admit it (http://blogs.zdnet.com/cell-phones/?p=214). Then check out TechRadar's Microsoft: Expect surprises for Windows Mobile (http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/microsoft-expect-surprises-for-windows-mobile-480963).

It sounds like WM 7 will be announced in February 2009.

Steve

[TimeHunter]

I've been using a Windows Mobile phone since the Motorola MPx-200. Of course, WinMo wasn't called that back then, but the reason I went there and am still there is for data synchronization. I like only having to manage my data in "one place."

I will confess I'm a little baffled by the difference between the Standard and Professional versions. I get the support for touchscreens, but why the heck doesn't Standard expose categories on the calendar while Professional does? Let's not even talk about the whole recurring event mess (can anyone say "where's the daily option?"). Thank goodness I can fix it with Outlook on my computer, but I really should not have to go there.

Then there's the whole managing the screen configuration, again much more difficult in the Standard version versus the Professional version (hooray for being a geek and knowing XML).

I like the iPhone and G1 and I feel they have both brought some much needed feature innovation to the smartphone world, but I'll stay with Windows Mobile and the Outlook integration. Keeping my data management simple, and not having to spend extra for it, is the key to my choice.

[Pony99CA]

I will confess I'm a little baffled by the difference between the Standard and Professional versions.
From a high level, the difference is simple. Yes, there's the touch screen, but I always explain it as WM Professional is for PDAs with phones, WM Standard is for phones with PDA functions. Or, put another way, WM Professional is a PDA first, a phone second; WM Standard is a phone first, a PDA second.

For example, WM Professional (and Classic) doesn't support profiles. WM Standard has an emasulated Tasks program. There are many other differences, of course, including the Today screen vs. the Home screen that you mentioned.

Steve

[Torque]

Since I'm stuck with AT&T until August of 2009 and refuse to pay them an early termination fee, I don't have the Google Android as an option. AT&T would not sell the Google phone side by side with the iPhone. Also, I need to synch with Vista and Outlook and that leaves me with limited options. I'm stuck with this Blackjack 1 for a while. Next year's new iPhone might be an option IF it synchronized with Outlook, but I don't see it happening. There is nothing wrong with Windows Mobile for me. It was a step up from Palm. Improvements can and will be made, I'm sure. Whether or not I stick with the platform this time next year is more determined by what else is available and if alternatives can successfully synch with Vista and Outlook. I use what works for me. Right now, Windows Mobile works fine.