Microsoft Getting Serious About Windows Update For Devices?

[Ed Hansberry]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.istartedsomething.com/20090414/over-the-air-updates-for-windows-mobile-in-the-works/' target='_blank'>http://www.istartedsomething.com/20...e-in-the-works/</a><br /><br /></div><p>The I Started Something blog has run across a <a href="http://members.microsoft.com/careers/search/details.aspx?JobID=AFAE0CBE-40A6-4075-80CB-01D0630AFE3E" target="_blank">new job posting at MS</a> that indicates Microsoft is getting serious about the Windows Update feature on a mobile device.</p><p><em>"Our goal is to enable customers to anticipate and enjoy a predictable stream of new and improved capabilities for their Windows Phone via a Device Update service that is worry-free and easy-to-use"</em></p><p>It is going to not only have to be as easy and worry free as the iPhone update mechanism, but as powerful as well. Apple has kept the iPhone users that originally purchased the device in 2007 up to date where the hardware allows, and the new 3.0 OS will still work on those original two year old iPhones with only minor limitations in capabilities. Contrast that today with a lot of Windows Mobile 6.1 devices that won't be upgraded to 6.5 due out this fall, giving their owners far less than even one year of having a device with the latest features.</p><p>The article indicates this feature won't be on 6.5, which may be true. 6.5 is probably too far along to have any major changes to it before the release date, so it may be 7.0 before we see this implemented.</p>

[Reid Kistler]

Tend not to worry a lot about The Latest & Greatest, as long as the current system - be it PDA, Phone, Laptop, Desktop, Whatever - functions well.

Know going in that today's purchase will be out-of-date "soon," and while it makes sense to do a reasonable market survey to see what is expected in the Near Future, one can go Crazy from either trying to Keep Up, And/OR Regretting Yesterday's Purchase.

OTOH, it is always nice to have OPTIONS, and although my Fuze has only minor irritations (many of them fixed by various tweak apps), it would certainly be nice to be able to make the CHOICE of whether to update the OS or not, and am glad to hear that MS at least appears to be working on that.... (Although it seems likely to impact only upcoming devices.)

[subzerohf]

Tend not to worry a lot about The Latest & Greatest, as long as the current system - be it PDA, Phone, Laptop, Desktop, Whatever - functions well.

Know going in that today's purchase will be out-of-date "soon," and while it makes sense to do a reasonable market survey to see what is expected in the Near Future, one can go Crazy from either trying to Keep Up, And/OR Regretting Yesterday's Purchase.

OTOH, it is always nice to have OPTIONS, and although my Fuze has only minor irritations (many of them fixed by various tweak apps), it would certainly be nice to be able to make the CHOICE of whether to update the OS or not, and am glad to hear that MS at least appears to be working on that.... (Although it seems likely to impact only upcoming devices.)

It's not just for new features - but for critical bug fixes. The iPhone 2.1 and 2.2 updates fixed the 3G problem that plagued the iPhone 3G (2.0). It also fixed some usability bugs, such as the accelerometer malfunction.

Apple has the advantage of a stable and user friendly iTune/app store environment to distribute the OS/firware updates. I just can't imagine how Microsoft can match that, with so many manufacturers pumping out WinMo phones these days.