That's not true. Memory configurations have improved markedly. Back in WM 2003 SE, memory was limited to maybe 96 MB ROM and 64 MB RAM (because of battery life) with rare exceptions (the iPAQ 5550 had 128 MB RAM, but that was split between storage and program memory).
Even processors have changed. I don't remember what the fastest processor in WM 2003 SE days was, but I think it was 400 MHz (it certainly was in WM 2003). Now we have devices with 500+ MHZ processors and even 624 MHz (like my iPAQ hx2795).
Steve
The actual memory allotted to run programs really hasn't increased until the latest bunch of devices were released, and then only on the high end HTC Touch devices. The way WM5/6 uses RAM is pretty wasteful. Most devices have been released with only 64 MB RAM and of that often only 25 MB or so is typically available to execute programs. In the WM 2003 days we typically had 64 MB of RAM, but could chose to allocate a percent of that to running programs, usually more than half (at least in my case).
Both the Dell Axim X50v and iPaq 4700 I bought running WM 2003SE had 624 Mhz processors. Even the Universal you mentioned had a 500 Mhz Processor. We still see most new devices with processors clocked much lower than this. The just announce Asus device is the first I know of that actually offers a processor with a faster clock speed than my 5 year old iPaq.
Sorry, but I can't agree that these devices have been evolving. I have to agree with the previous poster that WM hardware has been evolving at a snails pace compared to virtually ANY other computing technology we've seen in the last 20 years. Palm and Microsoft share the blame for resting on their laurels. Thank goodness Apple and Nokia have decided to push the envelope. Without their prodding, we still be dealing with VGA or worse, 240 x 240 screens, 300- 400 Mhz processors and zilch in the way of accessible memory.
The fact that MS now decides to try and port an old desktop browser to try and "compete" and then gives us the laughable "requires more advanced hardware" makes me want to scream! How stupid do they think we are??
I really hate this. I love having all the latest features on my phone and with the 2-year contracts we have to sign it means that either I won't have a cool phone or I'll have to pay a high price for one.
Look at the Zune model. Even the original model with differnt hardware inside still is 99.99% compatible with the models being released and sold today. Why can't that be done with phones?
I wish MS and it's partners would come together and have a deal where each device is required upgrades for 2 cycles or 2 years - after that they can stop supporting it.
This isn't solely Microsoft's fault. A large portion of the blame falls on the heads of the hardware manufactures. Microsoft is making money regardless but taking these new OS upgrades and hiring a team of developers to get the OS working on past devices requires a fair amount of money and in the end is not profitable for device manufactures to provide these updates. Microsoft knows this and instead of saying "Hey guys, you could get this update but your handset maker doesn't want to spend the money to get it done," they decided to take the more generic approach, which arguable keeps their partners happy, and stated that due to system requirements this software will have to be on new more 'powerful' devices.
Also keep in mind that Windows Mobile 6.5 and the infamous Windows Mobile 7 are right around the corner. It would be financially irresponsible to release Windows Mobile 6.1.4 as an upgrade when in a few months they will be doing the same thing again for WM6.5. I would rather Microsoft stop fiddling with Windows Mobile 6.1.4 and get on the ball get these darn updates out the door already.
This isn't really a big deal, I wouldn't be surprised to see some of those crafty Windows Mobile hackers out there find a way to cook the new features into our existing devices as they have been doing for years.
I kind of expected that.
But I don't really care.
For one I don't think IE6 will be that great, I don't think it will be much, if at all better than Opera Mobile 9.5. The possible exception is Flash support, but by the time IE6 is actually released (and provided that it really has usable Flash support) Opera should also have Flash running.
And the other thing is, that I'm pretty sure guys on XDA-Developers will figure out how to extract the IE6 and make it installable on older hardware and in case IE6 is too integrated into WM6.5 to run on WM6.1 or lower, it doesn't matter again, as there will be at least unofficial upgrade ROMs for many if not most devices.
I'm currently running full WM6.1 not only on my new HTC Diamond, but also on my HTC Advantage 7500 that never got an official upgrade to 6.1, on my HTC Trinity that never got even official WM6 upgrade and even on my HTC Himalaya that shipped with WM2003 back in 2004 and never got any ROM upgrade at all...
It also occurs to me that if IE6 is bundled with WM6.5, and IE6 requires new hardware (according to that blog post) then there will be no WM6.5 upgrades made available, only new hardware can handle it.
As mentioned, 400MHz was not the max on WM2003/SE devices. The HP hx47xx series and the later Dell Axims all had 624MHz processors running WM 2003. Later a WM5 update was made available for purchase. Processor speed slipped after that along with the spread of the early smartphones to save battery power.
IE6 is a piece of crap anyway, despite it's past popularity. It currently doesn't even properly support popular apps like Facebook, not to mention it's many, many security holes. It was one of the least standards-compliant browsers ever causing many, many, website developers many man-hours of grief trying to make it work with their sites. Why anyone would want it on on any device, let alone an underpowered mobile device is beyond me. So instead of asking why it isn't available as a stand alone, you need to ask yourself why you care!
This isn't solely Microsoft's fault. A large portion of the blame falls on the heads of the hardware manufactures. Microsoft is making money regardless but taking these new OS upgrades and hiring a team of developers to get the OS working on past devices requires a fair amount of money and in the end is not profitable for device manufactures to provide these updates.
Also keep in mind that Windows Mobile 6.5 and the infamous Windows Mobile 7 are right around the corner.
This isn't really a big deal, I wouldn't be surprised to see some of those crafty Windows Mobile hackers out there find a way to cook the new features into our existing devices as they have been doing for years.
Rocco----
Please - it's not Microsoft's fault? Who made the decision that the browser is part of the OS and can't be upgraded independently? There isn't a technical reason it has to be tied to the OS, it's a pure business decision made by MS to require that IE be part of the ROM instead of a separately installed application.
WM 6.5 & 7 "right around the corner"? Please, we probably won't see 6.5 devices until 3rd quarter 2009 at the earliest, and mark my words it will be late 2010 before 7 is actually available on devices. Unless your corner is in the next city, I'm not sure I'd use those words.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not all that disappointed that I can't load IE6 on my existing devices, truth is it's a terrible strategy on Microsoft's part. My issue is with the outright lies Microsoft pushes to explain these decisions. And to a lesser extent, comments such as yours that tend to excuse Microsoft for these decisions. It's part of a bigger issue I have with how poorly Microsoft has performed in the mobile space over the last several years. Instead of actually addressing the issues and needs, we simply get corporate double speak. I'm reminded of the recent Mac commmercial, where "PC" is allocating all his money to marketing, instead of fixing Vista". I typically hate those Mac commercials, but that one does seem to hit a little close to home.
It also occurs to me that if IE6 is bundled with WM6.5, and IE6 requires new hardware (according to that blog post) then there will be no WM6.5 upgrades made available, only new hardware can handle it.
That would seem to be true, but of course who really thinks the new hardware will really be any different than the old hardware? We haven't seen much progress in the last 7-8 years, do you really think there will be huge strides in the next 12 months?
What a load of Bunk! I could not agree more with all of the comments and posts - AUGH !
However I go back to comments I have ranted on before (without getting off topic Pony99CA ) I think people like us are considered power users while the majority of people buying these types of phones really don't use or may be consered with the majority of features *that could be* if things were done differently.
Many times I have hoped and prayed that someday, PDA phones (aka "smartphones") would be treated just like PC/laptops; the consumer shops around and buys a device and we then shop around for a suitable service plan - just like we do for an ISP (Internet Service Provider). The updates for the OS come directly from the Operating System manufacturer - not the service provider. Additional features (or service offerings like "VCAST" or "Sprint TV" etc...) could be added on just like if we were to add on a software application on our PC/Laptops.
There is NO reason that this could not occur TODAY. The benift from this would be huge for all parties; OS problems fall on the responsibility of the OS maker and updates could be easily pushed to devices (finally putting that now usless useless Windows Update icon to use) instead of having to be screened by the carrier. The reason the carrier doesn't want to send out updates is beacuse it is a waste of money to them - they have to insure that their custom applications they developed still work and that costs money - with no additional revenue for them. Were is their incentive?
So have the carrier build their little custom applications and charge a monthly fee to provide that service instead of baking that in to the devices ROM. Kind of sounds like Software as a Service doesn't it - hmm where have we seen that model before?
If we could move to this model think of how much better off we would be?
Rounding back to the comments in the Blog - so if we wanted to "upgrade" or get new features from MS we would have to insure that our devices' hardware would be able to handle it - you all know we call that "minimum system specifications/requirements" We see that on every software application we buy for our PC's/Laptops today - why would it be different with PDA/Phone devices? We check or devices hardware specs, if they can handle the push, we get it, if not we can elect to get a new device that can handle the beefier requirements.
I really believe that some day we'll get there - but it will take a revolution... Some one (some carrier) needs to make that first step...
LinkBack to this Thread: http://forums.thoughtsmedia.com/f397/internet-explorer-6-windows-mobile-devices-no-upgrades-updates-new-devices-only-91373.html
Why does MS make it so hard?
) I think people like us are considered power users while the majority of people buying these types of phones really don't use or may be consered with the majority of features *that could be* if things were done differently.
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