Microsoft's Push Comes to Shove

[Kris Kumar]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=91334&WT.svl=news1_1' target='_blank'>http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=91334&WT.svl=news1_1</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Microsoft Corp. may one day challenge Research In Motion Ltd. for dominance of the mobile email market, but, despite the launch of the first "direct push" email devices, the Windows Mobile operating system isn't up to the task yet, according to analysts. They point to several constraints. For starters, there aren't many push-capable Windows Mobile devices out on the market yet, the upgrade path from older devices isn't at all clear, and enterprises haven't yet had time to test the server and device software fully to ensure that it works well. "The press seems to be giving Microsoft the benefit of the doubt that their release 1.0 of wireless email software will be competitive with the Blackberry in terms of security, manageability, and battery life," says Gartner Inc. analyst Todd Kort. "But I have strong doubts about this." He predicts Microsoft's wireless email problems will be resolved with the next software revision, expected sometime next year, as well as more and better hardware that exploit it more fully."</i><br /><br />Dan Jones, Site Editor for Unstrung, is talking about why the industry analysts, especially Gartner analyst Todd Kort, feel that Microsoft and its email push implementation has a long ways to go before it gains a big market share. I feel that if the Microsoft and its partners had released the compatible devices couple of months in advance, during the RIM court fiasco, Microsoft would have gotten the much needed jump-start. Now that RIM is out of the woods, the enterprises will continue to add RIM licenses. What are your thoughts?

[arikinthecity]

many businesses will reconsider renewing black berry once they see how exchange server with mobile 5 phones can do the same at a reduced cost. this message was created on my cingular 2125 while i was stuck in traffic.

[Mike Temporale]

I agree, this solution should have been out a couple months earlier. It would have made a really nice jump start. However, Microsoft's solution is a better one, and it's cheaper as well. So in the long run, I think Microsoft has the best solution for enterprise and consumers.

[Mike Temporale]

He cited three key weaknesses in the software as it stands:
•Mobile Outlook is still too hard to navigate on a mobile device.
•Windows devices still use too much battery power compared to the Blackberry.
•The security and manageability features in the 1.0 release are inferior to those on the Blackberry.

What? I don't think Mobile Outlook is hard to navigate. Am I missing something?

His second point about BlackBerry's consuming less power may be correct, but they are also limited in what they can do when compared to a Windows Mobile device. I don't think anyone is looking at this as a reason to stay on RIMs solution. At least not anyone seriously comparing the two platforms.

As for the security, all the white papers I have read seem to indicate that they are pretty equal in this regard. In fact, I think the Microsoft solution has a better encryption. Not to mention the fact that your email isn't sent through a third party's servers.

:roll: