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  #1  
Old 09-23-2008, 05:30 PM
Rocco Augusto
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Default Rumor: Windows Mobile 7 Delayed

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/...d-half-of-2009/

"Good thing nobody's working on anything right now in the smartphone space, or this could be really bad news for Microsoft, whose current version of Windows Mobile lost the technology and usability edge a while ago, and is being bandaged up by the likes of HTC to keep the OS relevant to consumers. According to CNET, some of Microsoft's partners in the space are claiming that the upcoming Windows Mobile 7 has been pushed back to the second half of 2009, instead of the "early next year" they'd been expecting. Microsoft has yet to make a formal announcement about the release date of the OS or the specific feature set, so we can't exactly point our fingers and laugh, but we'd say crying big, mobile OS tears into our morning cereal is certainly appropriate."

 

 

At the moment I wouldn't consider this anything more than an Internet rumor since we never had a set date from Microsoft to begin with, but to be completely honest I really didn't expect to see Windows Mobile 7 hit the mainstream the latter half of 2009. When you look at the time it took between the release of every previous version of Windows Mobile and the amount of time it took device manufactures to update existing devices or even release new handsets with the latest and greatest operating system, it has been pretty close to laughable. Even if they announced something today, we wouldn’t see widespread saturation of new handsets until close to summer of next year. Seeing as how Microsoft is continuing to be incredibly tight lipped on the subject it is only logical to assume Windows Mobile 7 is still nowhere ready for the limelight.

The good news is that since Microsoft is taking so long to announce anything and it has been so many years since we have had a real update to the operating system - homescreen plugins don’t count - there is a good chance that Windows Mobile 7 will be the mythical merging of platforms that we have heard about in the past. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long to find out.

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  #2  
Old 09-23-2008, 06:34 PM
Paragon
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I'm not so sure this delay is all that significant. Personally I don't see the future of Windows Mobile resting on Microsoft's hands as much as I see it resting with OEMs such as HTC. It is the OEMs who are making all the advancements in the UI of the devices they develop. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Microsoft completely merge their Windows Mobile team with the CE team and offer an OS with a basic GUI and the manufactures then continue to develop their own interfaces as they are beginning to do now. Let's face it, up till a couple of years ago one Windows Mobile device wasn't much different from another with the same OS and GUI...very boring. NOw we are seeing lots of different UI's, giving the platform a lot more variety.

Dave
 
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  #3  
Old 09-23-2008, 06:59 PM
stevew
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As much as I'd like to see it, I don't think Microsoft is going to "WOW" us with WM7. Sure they'll make PIE respectable and maybe one or two other conversation worthy improvements but I'm not expecting much more.

With Microsofts past WM development why should we?
 
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Old 09-23-2008, 07:48 PM
Janak Parekh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paragon View Post
NOw we are seeing lots of different UI's, giving the platform a lot more variety.
... and platform fragmentation, which I'm not convinced is a good thing. It's one step forward, two steps back.

--janak
 
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  #5  
Old 09-23-2008, 08:29 PM
alese
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I hope the rumor turns out to be wrong. If they will need another year to get WM7 out then it would be better to just stop the development now and leave the mobile space to others - a year from now WM will be just another Palm - no one will care anymore...

And after all, what incredible stuff could they possibly be doing to take this long, Apple and Google both developed and released their systems from scratch and Microsoft needs 4 years to do the real upgrade of their already existing OS, that is actually just an UI built on top of an allready released OS...
 
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  #6  
Old 09-23-2008, 10:12 PM
Pony99CA
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Default WM 7 Release Dates

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rocco Augusto View Post
At the moment I wouldn't consider this anything more than an Internet rumor since we never had a set date from Microsoft to begin with, but to be completely honest I really didn't expect to see Windows Mobile 7 hit the mainstream the latter half of 2009.
While Microsoft may not have stated an official date (maybe they're finally listening after Vista), didn't HTC say there would be a WM 7 device in early 2009? While they aren't Microsoft, they're the company who will actually be creating the device, which gives them fairly high credibility, I think.

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Old 09-23-2008, 10:26 PM
peterawest
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Hmmm....

Windows 7 is planned to replace Windows Vista (maybe in 2009)...

Windows Mobile 7 is planned to replace 6.x (maybe in 2009)...

Maybe they're trying to tie the two together!

Ha! Ha!
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  #8  
Old 09-24-2008, 12:50 AM
nmcclana
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Maybe it's about OEM's. Especially when it comes to the form factor. But there are some very core problems to WM6 that can't be blamed / solved by OEM's.

Competition has really demonstrated the flaws of WM. Look at the media player for WM - WMP is a total joke. The HTC version is a step up, but are missing basic features like 'VIDEO'. OS upgrades & patches come out like once a year, or just never. Very few WM devices feature video acceleration, so most games are quite basic. I can't actually 'turn my phone off'. The list goes on.

I guess the only thing that upsets me is how MSFT takes a lot of time and effort building an ecosystem - Developers, OEM's, websites like this one, software vendors, etc, and proceeds to leave them hanging.

It does seem that the 'pre-phone' mobile Os'es have had a painful transition, doesn't it?
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  #9  
Old 09-24-2008, 03:20 AM
bnycastro
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For me, Microsoft delaying WM7 to mid 2009 would be acceptable provided they IMPROVE / FIX existing features first and add NEW STUFF later.
--
1. Internet Explorer Mobile
2. Media Player - add podcast support [also on the desktop version please!] and make it more efficient it just chows down on RAM like there's no tomorrow.
3. MMS - it's 2008 and MMS is still not native to the mobile OS?
4. Windows Update - either use it or scrap it...
5. Lock down resolutions and help authors/developers write apps that are compatible across ALL the resolutions. Here is my suggestion.
scrap 176x220
scrap 240x240
min 240x320 [for wm std/classic/pro]
scrap 320x320
mid 480x640 [for wm classic/pro]
scrap 480x800
max 960x1280 [for wm classic/pro/wince etc etc]
6. Merge WM std and pro.
7. Office Mobile - add ability to create and edit PowerPoint files improve Word, Excel and OneNote
--
Basically MS should fix the core of their OS, yes 3rd party apps are available but the basic Messaging, Browsing, Multimedia on each device should be solid out of the box. This is crucial for new users to become returning users and hopefully long time users of the platform.
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  #10  
Old 09-24-2008, 07:20 AM
Rocco Augusto
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Janak Parekh View Post
... and platform fragmentation, which I'm not convinced is a good thing. It's one step forward, two steps back.

--janak
This is how I feel as well. Manufactures should have to create brand spanking new UI's to make the operating system exciting again. This is something that Microsoft should address with the next release and was hinted at for Photon.

I don't thinking of the long wait, but I'm a little excited for the next version of Windows if they really do go through with merging the platforms.
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