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  #1  
Old 12-30-2008, 07:15 PM
Ed Hansberry
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Default Can Windows Mobile Regain User Enthusiasm In 2009?

http://www.ehansberry.com/pages/ppctpolls.html

With the release of the iPhone in 2007, upgraded to 3G in 2008, the release of Google's G1 on the T-Mobile network and Windows Mobile seemingly treading water for a few years, user enthusiasm for the platform seems to have waned recently. RIM isn't sitting still either as both the Blackberry Storm and Bold have given users more than just push email.

We've all seen rumored screen shots and articles on Windows Mobile 6.5 and 7.0, as well as purported integration of Zune bits to replace Windows Media Player on the devices, though no real timelines or confirmations of anything have surfaced. Do you think Microsoft can turn the tide with new releases and regain some of the enthusiasm surrounding their platform they enjoyed in previous years?

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Click here to vote. It is a free poll at my site - a simple yes/no vote. I look forward to additional comments in the forum.

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  #2  
Old 12-30-2008, 07:36 PM
Ed Hansberry
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Note to self. Don't change the poll color as it will erase the previous results.
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  #3  
Old 12-30-2008, 07:56 PM
Damion Chaplin
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I voted 'No', but only because of the wording of the question. Do I think MS can 'recapture' (i.e. win back previously-disgruntled WM users) user enthusiasm? No.

Do I think they have a chance of capturing new customers? Yes, provided they can actually make something that appeals to the mass market.

Do I think they could produce something that would make me go "Sweet!", sure, provided they get their act together.

I was not one of those people that jumped-ship just because Apple or Google released a new fancy OS. WM is still as powerful as ever, even though it may have become a bit stale of late.

Maybe it's my California showing, but I'd much rather dip my stale sourdough (Windows Mobile) into my hot soup (TouchFlo) than eat mouldy white bread (Palm OS), 9-grain bread with no butter (Android) or nothing but sweet, sweet cinnamon roll with no nutrients (OSX iPhone). And who knows, maybe the new batch of sourdough (WM7) won't require dipping it in soup to make it edible.

Did I carry that too far?
 
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  #4  
Old 12-30-2008, 07:58 PM
caywen
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Default 2009 is out for WinMo

I very much doubt Microsoft will even release WinMo7 in 2009. The most that will happen is that they will provide some information and a few more screenshots will leak. But here's a summary of why I think Microsoft has no 2009 game:

- WinMo7 won't be released in 2009
- WinMo 6.5 will mostly be prettified WinMo 6.1, with very little in the way of anything super compelling to get iPhone users to switch back.
- Microsoft will continue to play primadonna and refuse to provide the developers that support them anything useful.
- Apple will release compelling new iPhone products this year (possible iPhone nano, or iPhone 4G).
- Microsoft will continue to lose their luster with HTC and Motorola, who will likely adopt Android more and more to avoid licensing fees while providing users a better experience.
- Palm might ditch WinMo in favor of their Nova OS.

I think in 2010, Microsoft will essentially reboot their mobile strategy, and may find some success in that - IFF WinMo7 can:

- Get rid of all that horrible sluggishness
- Mandate decent 3D acceleration with good baseline features
- Without the game developers, they will go nowhere
- Set a baseline: A powerful GPU more capable than PowerVR MBX, 128MB RAM, 600mhz ARM
- Offer OpenGL alongside DirectX to get iPhone devs to port all their stuff back to WinMo7
- Subset the Win32 API and provide both a consistent C++ and .NET API
- Provide a true AppStore competitor, while giving devs huge incentives for offering their products
 
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  #5  
Old 12-30-2008, 08:07 PM
doogald
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I am one Win Mo customer that will ditch the platform when my contact is up December 15.

Yes, I am counting the days.
 
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  #6  
Old 12-30-2008, 08:28 PM
RogueSpear
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I think that they could recapture enthusiasm in the enterprise market, specifically those who run Microsoft centric operations. But then again they could release a ham sandwich, label it Windows Mobile 7, and still sell millions. If you are using anything other than Exchange and MS Office then it doesn't make too much sense.

That there are some rumblings of Zune integration indicates that someone over there recognizes that WM has lost the consumer market. If you ignore the fact the Zune itself is a complete failure, the fact that they haven't confirmed that it will be integrated, says they don't even care about the consumer market anymore or have pragmatically handed it to Apple and Google.

Microsoft has kind of painted itself into a box. Like I said they should be almost totally successful with MS enterprise customers (who takes the iPhone seriously when it comes to Exchange). But who else will they be a hit with? Doesn't look pretty does it? I used to be a Microsoft evangelist myself, but they never seemed to have heard the old saying "a successful parasite does not kill it's host".
 
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  #7  
Old 12-30-2008, 08:34 PM
martin_ayton
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I voted 'no' because I don't believe that MS will release WinMo7 in '09, or at least not early enough in '09 to have a significant impact. I echo the comments about 6.5 above - it is very unlikely to change the game.

I still like WinMo: For all it's faults it still does more of what I want / need it to than any other mobile OS. However, the others are coming up fast and when someone else produces a better tool (for my needs) than MS, I'll jump ship without a backwards glance. You want loyalty? Get a dog...

In the meantime, since I've mentioned 'faults' above, here's my (shortened) list of the ones that I really, really want to see fixed in WinMo7:

1) Having a more open attitude to developers than some other OS manufacturers means that apps will be available which won't play nice with other apps or the specific device. It's inevitable, and it isn't MS's fault. What *is* their fault is how darned difficult it is to cleanly remove potentially troublesome apps, or to hard reset and then restore app-by-app from backups rather than having to clean re-install with the loss of all settings.

1a) OS updates / bug fixes must be more readily available (free or to buy), and easy to install without having to hard-reset and (see above...). Letting carriers dictate this is an old and broken model. It's over, so move on and offer us something better.

2) If MS is going to sell a combined 'phone / PDA (and I'm glad they do), then the 'phone functionality *must* be protected from everything else. If an app starts to misbehave or the registry gets messed up or whatever, the 'phone must continue to work, and work well - even if it's the *only* thing that still works. Oh, and by "'phone" I mean "'phone and related, tightly integrated 'phone features" like bluetooth headset / handsfree profiles.

The rest can (has, and probably should) be dealt with by developers. These, in my view, are the minimum that MS must deliver to even being to 'regain user enthusiasm.'

Happy New Year!
 
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  #8  
Old 12-30-2008, 08:51 PM
JesterMania
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Windows Mobile is definitely slipping for sure with its dated Windows 3.1 look-and-feel - no custom interface can really hide that. In my opinion, the biggest competition to WM is probably Android. At least from what I feel reading around the internet (blogs, news sites, forums, etc.) Android is pretty much set to snatch away the only real advantage WM brings above all other platforms - tons of custom apps. Even Symbian S60 is getting a huge lift with the new S60 5th Edition devices such as the soon-to-be-released N97.

I'm not going to really mention the iPhone as I don't feel that many more people are moving towards this device other than the initial surge. However, I feel (at least here in Canada) that BlackBerry is gaining a far-greater fan base with their Bold and Storm. If they had more custom apps like WM, they would be even more of a threat as well.

If Microsoft doesn't do something drastic in WM7, I can see them really struggling versus Android in 6-months to a year from now. Integration of services is fine but everyone I know has an iPod and not a Zune (although I'm quite sure it's a perfectly great device). They need to concentrate on just redesigning the OS from scratch as no integration is going to save it in its current state. Some may argue that WM is just very customizable (registry, etc.) but 99.5% of the population is not interested in this.
 
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  #9  
Old 12-30-2008, 09:25 PM
efjay
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I voted No but a more important question comes to mind - did WM ever have any user enthusiasm in the first place? The only people who ever seemed to be pro-WM were people who posted on sites like PPCT and visited XDA, the real geeky type of phone user. The average joe was going for feature phones and did not know or even care what OS their phone was running and if you told them they could buy a phone running Windows they would probably have run a mile.

Sadly even today with the iphone and Android being hotly desired platforms I still cant see anyone outside our "community" being enthusiastic about having a phone running Windows, the perceived value is not the same as having an iphone, which is considered the coolest smartphone or an Android phone which is considered the most open platform. What would be the distinctive, appealing feature/s of WM that would inspire genuine enthusiasm? I really dont think MS has the desire or resolve to make WM such an awesome OS that people would really feel they had to have a device running the OS, though they certainly are technically capable of doing so. They just always seem so totally focused on their desktop and enterprise products that their mobile offering is left to limp along, barely keeping up with the competition but not really pushing forward in any way.
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  #10  
Old 12-30-2008, 09:51 PM
jbharman45
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Default Unfortunately, no, I don't think so

I have probably had a Windows CE, Pocket PC, Windows Mobile device for more than 12 or 13 years. Earlier this month, I gave up and threw in the towel. I moved to the Blackberry Storm and have quite enjoyed it. Interestingly enough, my wife decided to move to a Smartphone from a dump phone, and after her research, she decided to purchase on Omnia. Interesting. I can have my cake and eat it too. Boy, I sure am glad I jumped ship! This is the best that WinMo has to offer? I am sick that nothing has changed much at all in nearly 5 years. I give up on Microsoft...
 
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