How Would You Change Windows Mobile 5.0?

[Darius Wey]

<img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20060506-WM5.jpg" /><br /><br />With <a href="http://www.medc2006.com/">MEDC 2006</a> fast approaching, let's wind the clock back to MEDC 2005 and reminisce Bill Gates' <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/may05/05-10WindowsMobile5PR.asp">official announcement of Windows Mobile 5.0</a>. That's right - it's been one whole year since Windows Mobile 5.0 was unveiled, and now many of you own (or at least, have played with) a Windows Mobile 5.0-powered Pocket PC or Smartphone? Whether your experience has been a positive or negative one, there's certainly something about the new version of the platform that you'd love to change. What is it?

[blazingwolf]

Isn't it time for a true close button?

[msafi]

You know the messagebox that is displayed when you receive a call or alarm? Why is the messagebox's bottom hidden or seems to be chopped off? It annoys me so much and I've had WM5.0 since its early release.

I want that box to be complete and show in its entirety, so I can be happy.

Also, messagebox's that contain two or less options (OK and Cancel, Yes and No, etc) should be accessible from softkeys. It's just common sense!!

[ppcinfo]

1) Better graphics for the user interface. For example, allowing the program icons to be defined with more colors. Text and line antialiasing for smoother appearance.
2) A better navigation bar, with more shortcut buttons. The Palm TX has a very nice nav bar-like control that looks good and works very well.
3) A very simple way of switching from Portrait mode to Landscape mode (i.e., using a shortcut button on the nav bar). Having to go to "Start Menu->Settings->Display" take too many taps.
4) A program close and minimize button for applications.
5) Better looking controls (e.g., dropdown lists, buttons, date pickers, etc.)
6) Better handling of the "Compaction thread" used by the OS, which appears to be causing slowness on some WM 5 OS devices.
7) Event alarms that WORK.
8 ) An OS setting that will turn off a device after so many minutes (to save on battery power). The current OS seems to have this, but it doesn't always work.
9) A more robust Pocket-Outlook API so that developers can have hooks into displaying standard input screens, etc.

I understand that there may be some 3rd-party apps that can do some of the above, but it would be nice if it was all contained in the OS.

ppcinfo

[robert_biggs]

(1) An alarm system that works RELIABLY!!! I mean seriously, you had it working in PPC2002. What did you do, MS, to screw it up so badly? My X5 was 100% reliable with alarms until it was upgraded to WM2003. My X51v with WM5 suffers the same problem.

(2) A FREAKING CLOSE BUTTON!!! Why does the PPC team at MS refuse to listen to its user base? I have yet to hear one user say, "Gee, I really like how my PPC minimizes my programs instead of closing them." Get a clue Microsoft. :roll:


Of course many have requested these issues be addressed for the past three or so years, so I doubt Microsoft will listen now.

[patrol7]

How about an ActiveSync that works........I had been pretty happy with 3.8, then I got a Treo 700w and had to upgrade to 4.x. What a step back, no wireless, it will not reliably sync to more that one computer without dropping the partnership and then duplicating calendar and contact entries. I would go back to PPC 2K3 SE in a heartbeat to get away from AS 4.x

[ctmagnus]

Put a 400MHz processor in the iMate JAMin, and WM5 couldn't be better. ;)

[wiz]

Faster internal flash memory. Damn, even Sandisk cards are faster.

[twpd]

Throw it away and start again. All PPC o/s's or Windows Mobile (whatever you prefer to call it) seem to suffer long term problem whether it be missing close buttons or poor event/alarm handling.

Psion had this licked years ago in the early 1990's - why can't MS get it right many years later? :roll:

[Eugenia]

1. A real close button. I can't live without vBar, but unfortunately vBar has problems on my PDA phone with WM5 (works better on Win2003/SE).
2. Real VGA image support for IE.
3. Native video call support.
4. Less memory utilization. WM2003 was able to run on as little as 16 MBs of RAM, WM5 requires 48 MBs as minimum (on a pda phone).
5. A more robust Today plugin system that doesn't screw up the system so much when a buggy Today plugin is loaded.
6. uPnP support (Nokia has that on its latest handsets).
7. Better Bluetooth UI and more Bluetooth profiles (A2DP is still buggy on AKU2 -- some stereo headsets don't work also as handsfree even if they have this ability).
8. Force some OEMs to create hardware buttons next to the D-PAD for "Start" and "Close app". And maybe a real "Hold" slider too.
9. A better File Manager (I have to use Total Commander currently which has its own share of problems).
10. An RSS reader that doesn't suck (like the buggy pRSSreader does).
11. Able to turn on/off bluetooth and IrDA from the networking icon in the menu bar, as I currently can for WiFi and EDGE/GPRS.
12. Ability to view the battery load on the menu bar without having to hack the registry to enable it.
13. Create an API to standardize the hangup/answer buttons so the VoIP guys can use them on their apps (e.g. Skype, SJPhone etc)
14. Fix the damn WMV support on ARM CPUs. It's slow as hell. Running a QVGA WMV video on a 200 Mhz CPU (that many phones use) is close to impossible currently (with either WMP or TCPMP), while MP4 and DivX run without a problem.
15. Ability to assign applications to "long press" buttons.
16. Ability to lock the PDA using its soft-lock function but only come ON again if you press the power button. This is a must-have if the device does not have a hardware lock button and you need to listen to music with the display staying OFF guaranteed.
17. Ability to assign a second language to the keyboard. I need Greek for example so I had to get Resco Keyboard.
18. Set the backlight when the device is on Power. This feature was removed from my pda-phone's WM5.
19. Add a backup application as it used to exist in the past.
20. Ability to format cards from inside the WM5 OS. You see, there is a bug with 2 GB miniSDs on the current WM5 AKU2 when are formatted via XP (the OS can see all 2 GBs but can only use 1 GB). I had to get the StorageTools utility to format it from inside my phone in order for WM5 to behave.

[Shaun Stuart]

Speed - WM2003 is faster than every WM5 device I have had. The HTC wizard has superb battery life but its the slowest ppc I have owned - the 02 Atom is slightly better but they don't compare with the xda 2 or even the imate jam for speed.

Screen Size - this may be a manufacturer issue but I would like to see a ppc with a longer screen. The o2 atom is a great size for a ppc phone but the screen is to small. If you could remove the front
buttons ( convert it to a slide type phone or have a virtual dpad) you could increase the screen size by 30%

Shortcuts for today screen - you should be able to add these anywhere (apps, web pages, files and contacts) on the today screen without needing 3rd party software.

Outlook PIM - needs a serious upgrade in line with pocket informant

Clock - change this app, or at least the UI it is terrible.

PIE - needs tab browsing and the ability to open up multiple pages within a folder simultaneously.

Speech to text feature for note taking.

Finally - microsoft need to create or port at least one really great game and install it as standard to really show off the PPCs potential as a gaming device

[Eugenia]

>Speed - WM2003 is faster than every WM5 device I have had.

This is normal, because WM5 does not run from the RAM anymore. PalmOS had to go through this transition as well, and of course it does make things a bit slower loading from the flash. But the fact that you don't lose your data anymore if your battery dies or discharges, is a major plus and a welcoming feature.

> The HTC wizard has superb battery life but its the slowest ppc I have owned

Again, this is extremely natural (I own the exact same phone, a QTek 9100). The Wizard platform uses a slow 195 Mhz TI CPU. It's not Microsoft's fault if HTC screwed up on this and chose a slow CPU: http://tuxtops.com/node/749 (this is my review of the HTC Wizard where I explain its CPU problems)

>- the 02 Atom is slightly better but they don't compare with the xda 2 or even the imate jam for speed.

The O2 Atom has a 416 Mhz CPU, plus, read above on why WM5 is slower.

>Screen Size - this may be a manufacturer issue but I would like to see a ppc with a longer screen.
> The o2 atom is a great size for a ppc phone but the screen is to small.

the O2 has a 2.7" screen when all other ppc phones are using a 2.8". I believe that Wizard's screen is perfect for what it is at 2.8". PDA's screens at 3.5" is too big and don't forget that they offer the exact same resolution. You gain nothing if the screen is bigger, it's the resolution that matters. I have discussed the QVGA issue here and why the 2.8" is the perfect size for a QVGA screen: http://eugenia.blogsome.com/2006/04/18/the-qvga-factor/

[griph]

There can be no good excuse now why Microsoft cannot include a proper Close/Exit menu item/button! And I hope those who are on the PocketPC O/S beta testing teams scream it load and clear until someone does it!
Or perhaps we need to form the EBLF - Exit Button Liberation Front and start some real positive action!

[Shaun Stuart]

Eugenia - I do understand why WM5 is slower and have always appreciated the advantages of persistent storage and longer battery life - the point I am making is that the trade off on speed is too much. Yes you are right some of this is down to different processors being used and this is not always the fault of the OS. But even if you take this in to consideration - compare the Imate Jam and the 02 atom or even the HTC universal, WM2003 using a similar or slower processor is still much faster than WM5. I am sure that Microsoft are working on trying to speed things up for the next release.

I dont agree with you regarding screen size - i want a device with a longer screen but not one any wider than the Atom - so that when I use it in landscape mode - the area for web browsing, document viewing and watching movies is improved without making the device any bigger.

[bnycastro]

1) A working alarm across all kinds of devices
2) Make switching between folders in the Inbox controllable via the dpad and softkeys.
3) Improve WMP10 navigation so that it is also fully controllable via the dpad and softkeys.

[j.moghisi]

Integrated SIP SoftPhone....... That would be awesome


Oh, and option to have either battery or time or both in taskbar at top

Not forgetting, option to not have Recently Used Programs in start menu, or at least have the 'old' style!!

[Gator5000e]

Ability to display Notes on the Today screen, like Tasks or even Agenda appointments;

[whydidnt]

Lot's of great suggestions already. For me:

1. Better one-handed support. Still too many screen elements require me to grab the stylus and touch the screen. Is it time for an on-screen cursor, such as the Ipaq 4700 offered win WM2003SE? Click once to bring it up, navigate, then click and it goes away?

2. True VGA support - Why not allow the entire OS, including fonts, screen elements, icons etc. to run in a non-pixel doubled environment. Give users the choice to run in eye-killing tiny, or space wasting pixel doubled environment.

3. Better Memory Management - this includes a true close button, but also the OS has to better release memory when programs are closed and no longer in use. We should not see a steady loss of resources as we use the device throughout the day.

4. Address the speed issue - these are supposed to be portable instant on devices - I want to turn it on, launch and use a program instantly. I understand the decision to use NVRAM to store data and avoid loss in the event the battery drains, but why can't the OS and data also be copied to real RAM and have everything execute from there? Only when data changes does it need to be copied back to Flash, and then it can happen in the background.

[yawanag]

ISN'T THE PURPOSE OF AN UPGRADE TO RESPOND TO THE USERS' REQUEST?

I am in agreement with everybody here. I haven't had my MDA two months yet and I am spending most of my time searching for a clock to display the "date and time" in the toolbar. I haven't been able to activate Microsoft Reader yet. I hate Windows Media Player.

I don't see why I have to hunt for 3rd party apps to do what Microsoft should have done. I've already spent tons of dollars to get my 2003 to do everything I wanted it to do. Now most of the apps are not WM5 Compatible.

I'm sure most of us wouldn't mind upgrading to the latest toy every other year, or so, if we got our money's worth.

[gmusser]

I second the call for better WMP navigation.

Another thing that really drives me nuts is the way Messaging handles triggers. You can be typing away on an email when the device receives a trigger and takes you to the inbox receiving mail. (In WM2003, you also lost the message you were working on; at least WM5 saves it.) Message downloads should occur in the background.

George

[alzayani]

1. True and full Unicode support (including complex scripts, RTL (right to left) languages and East Asian languages support).
2. Close Button!! :evil:
3. Remove “active ActiveSync” and make date exchanging as easy as mobiles
4. Make “every thing” work using hardware buttons.

[wmtop]

How about being able to set input methods based on orientation.

Preferred SIP for Portrait. Different preferred SIP for Landscape.

[[email protected]]

I would like to have my PPC work like a smartphone and have hardware buttons for the new WM5 2 menu buttons. I would also like to have dpad work with all applications so I can work one handed with a stylus as much as possible.

[griph]

I haven't had my MDA two months yet and I am spending most of my time searching for a clock to display the "date and time" in the toolbar. I haven't been able to activate Microsoft Reader yet.
You can do this with a Registry Editor (e.g. Resco Explorer) and a free tweak available from http://www.pocketpctweaks.com/pocketpc_tweaks/show_date_time_title_bar or get Tweaks2k2 - shareware and available from a PocketGear/Handango near you. Wisbar Advance 2 will also allow this - but if you are using a PPC with an OMAP processor you might not want the hit on performance!
No - I haven't been able to activate my Reader on WM5 either - I've installed the latest version of Reader on my Qtek9100, and tried several times to activate it in the normal way - only to be told I am using out dated software! :roll: WTF? I've never had this problem with any other variants of PPC!

[jutae]

Trash it!

[saham]

I'm an Iranian journalist and my Axim X51 is very useful for me.but there is just a problem.Winter Mobile 5 doesn't support any unicode and I don't think that this is a very big problem for Microsoft to make the IE Unicodable!If this happens then I can connect to Internet everywhere and browse Farsi websites.

[JwY]

wm5 is fine to me, but i would like to see improvements on the reliability of alarms
that and native support for mass storage when you don't active sync (and maybe faster transfer speeds)
the rest i don't care so much about because i can get third party or registry edits

[Skoobouy]

Make it work with Axim x50v's. :) Oh yeah, and the close button too.

[galt]

Most of my concerns regarding WM5 have been listed, but I'l copy/paste from a few posts that hit some key issues:

"Make switching between folders in the Inbox controllable via the dpad and softkeys.

Improve WMP10 navigation so that it is also fully controllable via the dpad and softkeys.

Better one-handed support.

Better Memory Management - this includes a true close button, but also the OS has to better release memory when programs are closed and no longer in use. We should not see a steady loss of resources as we use the device throughout the day.

Address the speed issue - these are supposed to be portable instant on devices"

I'd like to see them fix the issue where you can only send a v-card through MMS (instead of via email), and provide better keyboard integration (still have to poke at the screen way to often). Also we should be able to start typing a name on the keyboard from within the phone app and have it suggest a phone number to call based on the names in your contact database WITHOUT having to go into the contacts option.

Edit - to steal from the post above " and native support for mass storage", also native USB host so we can plug in our 30-60 GB digital audio players to our WM 5 devices and use that storage to stream/copy over music, movies and other files.

[daS]

1) Get rid of the "soft key" menus on PPC devices (or at least move them to the far left and right of the screen - leaving room for other functions on the bottom row of the screen.) Taking up what used to be a status bar, menu, and icon row for two functions is a waste of very precious screen real estate and requires more key stokes to do anything (with the exception of a single function.)

2) Allow the user to select the phone screen that appears when calls are in progress. I often need to enter DTMF codes and I hate that the keypad is replaced with a few (useless to me) buttons for no apparent reason.

3) Provide "keyboard macros" or configurable menus. I use "call forwarding" VERY often. But changing this setting is buried too deep in the menus. I want to get access to this function quickly.

4) If the emphasis and direction for Windows Mobile is going to be for mobile phones, then make the phone MUCH more robust. Make the phone hardware buttons have hardware interrupt capabilities so that the phone always works.

5) VGA support in PocketIE.

6) Add F1-F12, CTRL, ALT, ESC, etc keys to the hardware and SIP keyboards (via a "function" shift key if needed) so that terminal emulators can be used for complete remote PC control. Now that we have VGA devices, the need for a full PC keyboard is much greater.

7) Provide a means for entering the "time zone" of the location where a calendar entry will occur in order to "fix" the time zone "bug". 8)

[myuser]

Atrue close button and the ability to truely shut off the device!

[crispeto]

I 'd love to see a simple word processor compatible with word for the WM 5 for Smartphones.

[bvkeen]

2) A better navigation bar, with more shortcut buttons. The Palm TX has a very nice nav bar-like control that looks good and works very well.
6) Better handling of the "Compaction thread" used by the OS, which appears to be causing slowness on some WM 5 OS devices.
7) Event alarms that WORK.

ppcinfo

AMEN.

[WorksForTurkeys]

Most everything has already been noted, but I would like my "New" soft button back. I see no purpose for hard coding the "Phone" soft key and eliminating the "New" feature when the device already has dedicated hard buttons for the phone.

[CorporateJay]

What were they thinking when they did not:
1-cascade the Start menu
2-make sure the notifications worked properly
3-allow applications to close instead of minimize
4-give us the ability to toggle between applications

This is just the list I would expect Microsoft to fix, although all of these issues existed before WM5. BTW, doesn't XP do these things?

I will leave the rest of my extremely long wish list to our fine software developers and hardware providers.

[unxmully]

Most everything has already been noted, but I would like my "New" soft button back. I see no purpose for hard coding the "Phone" soft key and eliminating the "New" feature when the device already has dedicated hard buttons for the phone.


Echo the new button. No sooner had I got used to using it on 2003 than they take it away in WM5.

And why does it now take two clicks to send and receive messages in the inbox rather than one?

Those soft buttons really are a step backward. Or perhaps we users are all wrong and Microsofts engineers are right. Yes, that must be it. Like the close button, they're right and we're all wrong. :roll:

[page3]

Throw it away and start again. All PPC o/s's or Windows Mobile (whatever you prefer to call it) seem to suffer long term problem whether it be missing close buttons or poor event/alarm handling.

Psion had this licked years ago in the early 1990's - why can't MS get it right many years later? :roll:What he said.

WM2005 is an absolute disgrace compared to what Psion had last century. Unfortunately, no-one else seems to be doing it any better either, and applications such as TomTom are killer apps (for me). That doesn't change the fact that WM2005 does it wrong in so many ways its untrue. I yearn for the day I can dump my Exec...

[JwY]

Atrue close button and the ability to truely shut off the device!

it probably depends on your device
the wizard can be turned off by holding the power button

personally i like the softkeys

[WorksForTurkeys]

Atrue close button and the ability to truely shut off the device!

it probably depends on your device
the wizard can be turned off by holding the power button

personally i like the softkeys

I don't mind the soft keys, and I think they allow programmers to code for smartphones and PDA phones using the same codebase and UI - I read somewhere that Microsoft's envisioned progression is to the type of touch screen and menus that can be used with a sylus or a d-pad, so smart keys would make sense. I just want them to be user customizable, like the hard buttons, so I can have my "New" features back.

[melsam [MS]]

Thanks to Darius for starting this thread, and all the readers that responded. I just wanted to let you guys know that Microsoft is listening to your feedback. I will compile a list from this thread and circulate it to the appropriate Windows Mobile team members. Your comments are valuable, so please share what is on your mind.

Mel Sampat
Program Manager
Windows Mobile - Microsoft

[popcorn]

I'll vote for the close button option as well. Always have to find a program to handle that one.

Also, the ability to directly dial a phone number that is contained in a Calendar appointment and associated reminder. I hate that I have to cut and paste the phone number from an appointment location field to the phone application. This should work in PPCPE just like it does with the Smartphone Edition. You get a reminder for a meeting -- you click the phone number and it dials the number. Nice and easy.

Thanks for listening.

Mark

[poiuyt]

Although it does not exist by default and existing applications will not take advantage, MS did implement a Close button in WM5. Application developers will have to choose to implement it.

http://blogs.msdn.com/marcpe/archive/2005/05/16/417860.aspx

"Close button: probably the most controversial UI aspect of PPC is the
‘Smart Minimize button’, that’s the little cross in the top right of the
window. On every version of Windows Mobile prior to 5.0, pressing this
button will move the current window to the back of the z-order and not
actually close the application. The thinking behind this descision is
that the device should operate more like a consumer electronic gadget
rather than a general purpose OS – so make it simple but do the right
thing for the user: appear to close the app, but make it really quick to
start up again. Trouble is its often a royal pain in the ass for
developers and power users when they press the X (smart minimize button)
and the app doesn’t close so they haven’t freed up the memory or killed
the app. Windows Mobile 5.0 adds the SHIDIF_CANCELBUTTON flag for
SHInitDialog, and the SHDB_SHOWCANCEL option for SHDoneButton. This
shows a X button top right, when pressed the app *does* close! Horah!"

[macattack]

Two things:

1. For heaven's sake, please add better application control and memory control into the OS. Every individual handheld maker has their own way to manage open applications and memory and every one of them is different! This is a basic OS function and it should have a standardized, OS-level control scheme. It's sad that this has been one of the major, repeated complaints since the days of my old Casio Plam-sized PC.

I know that the OS is supposed to close apps when the available memory gets thin, but it has never really worked well and the device usually bogs down instead.

2. PPC phone edition devices should be easier to use one-handed. The addition of the soft buttons is great, but there is still much more that could be accomplished in many applications via the combination of soft keys and D-pad that currently requires the stylus.

Some people will probably argue that "you should have gotten a smartphone instead," but a stylus is great for things like significant text entry, etc. I just want to do most everything else without pulling out the stylus, and I don't want to try to edit a Word document using the predictive text entry on 9 keys of a number pad.

[JD Silver]

I would like the PPC/Phone Edition to have true one handed operation. Kudos to Palm for their Today apps on the 700W. Like many others have stated, the ability to Close an app should be the user's choice.

Memory model - encouage OEMs to use a combo of NAND/NOR flash such as applied in the Palm 700W. It appears to facilitate faster write operations, speeding up the performance.

Make all buttons user definable.

Beyond that, I find that my WM5 HTC Apache is the best device I've ever had!

[ctmagnus]

7) Provide a means for entering the "time zone" of the location where a calendar entry will occur in order to "fix" the time zone "bug". 8)

Ooh ooh ooh! What he said!

[isajoo]

so basically everyone wants wm2003 back but with a wm5 emblems and version code. but with no memory lose , which i have no need. use auto daily backup and store everything on sd/cf cards.

[alex_kac]

Speed - WM2003 is faster than every WM5 device I have had. The HTC wizard has superb battery life but its the slowest ppc I have owned - the 02 Atom is slightly better but they don't compare with the xda 2 or even the imate jam for speed.


Actually, my Treo 700w is faster than my 4700 WM2003 device. It goes to show its not WM5, but that WM5 requires it be built in a certain way which most of the OEMs are still learning or something.


Outlook PIM - needs a serious upgrade in line with pocket informant


I hope not...

[SteveHoward999]

&lt;Dreaming>
I'd love to see Windows software running on my PDA. I'd even be able to cope with Windows 3/95 support rather than 98/2000/XP in the short term
&lt;/Dreaming>

Expand the power of Office document support.
More advanced graphics support, so Flash video can play at higher frame rates.
Faster native on-screen keyboard, e.g Fitaly or similar.
True VGA support without the need for resorting to SE_VGA etc.

[pocketpcadmirer]

&lt;Dreaming>
I'd love to see Windows software running on my PDA. I'd even be able to cope with Windows 3/95 support rather than 98/2000/XP in the short term
&lt;/Dreaming>

Steve, you are VERY right. I also want this to happen some day(though MS may tell us to use their UMPCs for the accomplishment for that dream(!).

I also want this to happen, but, I dont think MS will ever do this :(

[Gex]

I for one like the way the close button moves apps to the background :(

I hear this is a very hotly argued topic within Microsoft....I don’t know what they will do but I hope they don’t force apps to close by clicking the x or ok... maybe make it close when you hit option x/ok?

Yea, that would be easy to implement right? ...and keep the current behavior at the same time...

[DaViD_BRaNDoN]

Would really appreciate an "real" close button (that closes apps and not minimizing them). An option (like thos of WisBar Lite) to customize each apps behaviour (either minimize or close) on tapping the close button would be a bonus.

[griph]

2. PPC phone edition devices should be easier to use one-handed. The addition of the soft buttons is great, but there is still much more that could be accomplished in many applications via the combination of soft keys and D-pad that currently requires the stylus.

One of our directors has recently been handed a Qtek 9100 - he used to have a Sony Ericsson P910. It is interestting to listen to him - as he is (as many are) a complete novice when it comes to gadgets. His comments:

1. One handed use - why are the phone buttons not big - why the big blank area at the top and buttons that are so small you have to be careful in operating them e.g. have to use thumb tips - he liked D9 button size - but the application on a Q9100 was horribly slow!
2. He's no power user but is seriously complaining about battery life - it doesn't last a day - I understand he has got Pushmail activated - so with the level of emails he receives as a Director .....! Unfortunately with the level of knowledge of the average user - he sees this as a problem with the unit, rather than look for ways to reduce power consumption as I would.
3. He has noted several occasions when the Q9100 'just froze up' and he had to soft reset. Bearing in mind he is running with standard installed apps ONLY He noted 'That never happened on my 910!' This is more to do with the OMAP processor - but it isn't fair just to blame the device manufacturers - MS need to give realistic hardware limitations for using WM5 - not the usual (as in XP min 128mB - which runs like a sloth - personally even 256 aint big enough). WM5 devices should require minimum 300 - 350mHz processors and MS should make that clear to the device manufacturers in BIG BOLD LETTERS.

On other subjects.

a) I like the soft keys. The one handed operation of WM5 is much better than WM2003SE - I commute to work and often have to stand with one hand hanging onto a strap. I can do much more with WM5 without having to let go to get the stylus out. Please don't dump this!! Or at least add a settings menu whereby the soft keys can be enabled or disabled. By all means improve the Soft Key functionality.
b) All applications should have a Menu Close button - as others have already noted here this is possible with WM5 so SW manufacturers need to include this - Pocket Informant allows for this as a user defined 'Add Close Button' which is good. MS need to ensure the standard applications built in also have close/exit menu buttons.
c) Although I have stopped using SPB Pocket Plus Today Plugin - due to slow processor I still use the other applications and a hard button assigned Alt-Tab has been an absolute boon! It would be nice if Alt Tab was written into WM5 as standard - it is a multi tasking device we are always told.
d) I use magic button so that open applications appear on the top bar regardless of what application I am in. I still do not understand why MS have not integrated this into their code. With smart minimise all these apps build up in the background unseen until the device just freezes, when standard users (like my director) dont understand why!

[captgoodhope]

The storage card view doesn't always refresh when files are changed and it's reinserted into the device. Or is this just my machine?

[xdev]

maybe tap and hold on the X button to "close" it, but just a tap to "smart minimize" ?

[yawanag]

so basically everyone wants wm2003 back
YES! IMHO Windows 98 and WM2003 were the best OS that have ever been!

[SteveHoward999]

so basically everyone wants wm2003 back
YES! IMHO Windows 98 and WM2003 were the best OS that have ever been!

Eek!

Some of us are so glad 98 is about obsolete!

[griph]

YES! IMHO Windows 98 and WM2003 were the best OS that have ever been!
8O 8O 8O Run!!! The luddites are commin'! :)

[griph]

Eek! Some of us are so glad 98 is about obsolete!
"So glad" doesn't quite hit the spot! OK XP eats RAM and disk space - but I do not miss the crash and blue screen of death that signified not just a crashed OS - but lost and/or corrupted CAD files I had been working on. W98 RIP! And don't come back! Ever!

[airconvent]

ok...I do not own a wm5 device but only played with one.
Here are my 2 cents worth:

1. Would be great if they can allow us to select between soft keys and the standard interface. This simplified one hand mobile phone input is not for everyone!

2. Allow users to sync/download their email and newsgroups with outlook express would be nice....I read newsgroups on the desktop but can't do the same with the PPC without some third party software.

3. For WMP10 (not really a wm5 issue), wished they would improve on the playlist and make it easier to save and retrieve. the playlist kept on forgetting itself! and of course, support for the common formats (avi, mpg, mpeg4, mov, etc) would be a step forward! that would allow us to view movies taken by digital cameras (mostly avi or mov formats)

4. For file explorer, allow for creation of shortcuts within the pda

5. Improve the management of folders. i find that after a while, my notes, word documents ended up all over the place and I have to manually move them to the correct folders. each application should have its own designated folder. i.e. Word, Excel and within each of these folders, we can create sub folders for our needs.
also, allow for a "save as " function in notes that gives us control to name the file as we save and select where we want to save it.

6. Allow for word wrap for file listing and contacts listing. Its very irritating when the file name is truncated especially if you have files like ABCD1, ABCD2, ABCD3 and all you see is "ABCD-" .

7. Provide a "trash bin" function for those accidental deletion of data.

8. Built in utility to convert any document to .lit format.

9. The connection wizard.
In making it "automatic" they also made it too complicated!
In PPC2000, for CF modem connection, I use the Dialup networking to create a dialer, key in the numbers, whether dial 9 or not and wallah. done. the email and surfing follows the active connection.
now its one big mess and i still cannot figure out how it works. when I set it up to work for wireless, the CF modem connection failed. can we have the plain and smple dialer dialog back please?

10. Ability to list your appointments in chronological order regardless of day/month/year/type.

Cheers

[Fuchsteufel]

#1 Issue: An OS that actually works as a mobile device OS. This means quick and stable. It doesn't crash or spontaneously reboot several times a week. It doesn't pause for 30 seconds or longer, to swap FLASH data into RAM, or garbage collect, or run a JIT, or anything else that makes tasks like quickly taking a picture, or looking up an address, completely unusable.

Really, MS, it seems like your engineers have nothing but contempt for the user experience. Have you heard people complaining that WM5 seems about twice as slow as WM2003? This is a real issue, and makes what should be fun and useful gadgets an absolute misery to use. Please, if the cost of changing the memory architecture to implement "persistant storage" was a 2-5 x slowdown in common benchmarks...... maybe it wasn't a great idea.

Yes, you can blame HTC for using a 200 MHz proc that clearly is not fast enough to run WM5. But honestly.... you shouldn't have released an OS that requires a 400 MHz proc to run, on a phone! That's faster than PCs when Quake came out! Palm Pilots had fast, usable PIMs on 20 MHz procs. Just make the OS usable, please.

#2: One-handed operation, on *everything*. There's no reason the PPC and Smartphone UIs should not be compatible in the use of the D-Pad. A stylus should be a shortcut, not a requirement, except for things like drawing or certain games of course.

#3 Kind of implied by the above, but please: A *Back* button for PPCs! I *love* the Back button on my Smartphone. It's one of the most useful UI innovations ever. It's the most safe, intuitive, and convenient way to navigate multiple menus and settings, and then get back where I was. This is not the same as an "OK" button.... If I open &amp; look at settings, I want a way to back out of it *without* accidentally confirming a change I might have made.

#4 In line with removing useless differentiations between PPC and Smartphone: Please give the Smartphone built-in PIM capabilities that are roughly equal to the PPC. The extent to which you've crippled them on Smartphone is a crime. Such as: You can't edit your Tasks !! What were you thinking?! A "smart" phone that can't provide a To-Do list, which most "dumb" phones can do just fine. Similarly, no syncing of Notes. Seriously, stop treating Smartphone users like stupid children, just give us the obvious functionality we expect.

#5 Seriously examine the UI, and do *user testing*, so that you can some of the common tasks much less frustrating or inconvenient. Such as: App switching. Backlight control. These things should be accessible with a couple keypresses, not buried 5 levels deep in settings menus.

Guess that's all for now. I take some solace that people from MS are actually monitoring this thread. I really like the capabilities of WM devices, but they are so difficult to use that I'm constantly looking for other options.

[SteveHoward999]

8. Built in utility to convert any document to .lit format.


Hmm - I like this. Would be particularly cool if it could convert Acrobat to .lit. I really do not enjoy using Acrobat reader on PDA.

On a hardware note - VGA/SVGA/XSVGA out as a standard feature would be awesome. Especially if it were wireless.

Imagine, for eg, a native wireless USB feature that can transmit screen information. You'd need a receiver that you could attach either directly to the monitor, or to the monitor cable - or to a projector - , to receive the signal. Add a wireless keyboard. Now you have a PDA that can be quickly attached to a standard monitor for more PC-like functionality wherever a monitor is available.

For security reasons, you want to be able to have control over what monitor can receive your signal, hence the gadget that attaches to the monitor. Obviously it would be nicer if there were no need to physically attach anything, say with bluetooth-like pairing to the monitor, but that would mean you need access to special monitors, rather than any old thing lying around :-)

[daS]

you shouldn't have released an OS that requires a 400 MHz proc to run, on a phone! That's faster than PCs when Quake came out!
Processor speeds are not equivalent to horsepower. The speed listed indicates the clock speed, but different processors do different amounts of "work" in each clock cycle. The Pentium family does MUCH more work in each clock cycle than the XScale does. Thus a 400MHz XScale has FAR less computing power than even a 200MHz PII did.

[Irrsinn]

you shouldn't have released an OS that requires a 400 MHz proc to run, on a phone! That's faster than PCs when Quake came out!
Processor speeds are not equivalent to horsepower. The speed listed indicates the clock speed, but different processors do different amounts of "work" in each clock cycle. The Pentium family does MUCH more work in each clock cycle than the XScale does. Thus a 400MHz XScale has FAR less computing power than even a 200MHz PII did.

I do believe you totally missed the point of a very important issue! :(

Please listen more and justify less. We are the customers after all...

[daS]

Please listen more and justify less. We are your customers after all...
It appears you believe I work for Microsoft, which I do not.

I have my own list of issues with WM5.0 (I listed 7 of them in my post on the 3rd page of this thread). However, while I think that it's very useful to point out changes we consumers would like to see (such as improving the the slow performance) I don't think that it's necessary to be condescending in the way the information here is presented.

Some of these posts assume that the developers are a bunch of idiots that don't care at all about the consumers. I have met a number of them and each has shown to be smart and hard working and caring about the products they produce. However, they are often constrained by other factors such as time to market (look what happened to the PalmOS when they didn't get a new version out in a timely manor) or the requirements of the OEMs and cellular carriers that are Microsoft's actual customers. I have heard some of these developers at Microsoft voice the same frustrations as we have, but sometimes, for reasons we, as consumers do not see, their hands are tied.

Note: For more information on the Microsoft MVP program, see: mvp.support.microsoft.com

[jngold_me]

People really need to stop complaining about the Omap processor. It's getting old and you really sound foolish. I have owned ppc's going back to the Casio EM500 and my KJAM is as functional than any of my past machines including my 2750.

Funny, the 'slow' Omap running WM5 is currently streaming music via a2dp, browsing the net, and able to take phone calls.

If you want a multimedia powerhouse, get yourself a PSP.

[wetsleet]

Amazing how many on the WM5 wish list actually were covered by the venerable Psion:
doesn't crash, self reset, or need resetting
applications do actually close properly
memory is not eaten up - well, almost none
alarms work, and can be set prior to the event (eg alarm 2 days before a birthday)
batteries last for ages and ages
runs on a 36Mhz processor - just think what it would be like on say 200Mhz
the screen actually displays more info (e.g. spreadsheet colums, text rows) than a VGA PPC, and all applications are compatible with the screen size
doesn't need a wireless keyboard, its already got the best keyboard in the business
Seriously, the WM developers could do worse than taking hold of a Psion, and just bringing its feature count up to date with bluetooth, a browser, better Windows synchronisation, oh, and a better screen cable and robust hinges.

[griph]

Amazing how many on the WM5 wish list actually were covered by the venerable Psion:
doesn't crash, self reset, or need resetting.
Hmm - I had a Psion 3, 3a (512 and 2mB),3c and a 5. They did on occasion crash, whereupon on the 3 series it was necessary to 'reinstall' any non standard apps from memory back onto the front screen. I admit that the occasions this occured were much less frequent than MS OS devices, but they did happen, and having to 'reload' the apps was tedious.

I would otherwise agree with your comments and MS could indeed learn a lot from Psions.

[John Blasdell]

1. A real "Close" button. The current memory management scheme sounds good but doesn't work well. MS should have realized this a couple of years ago!

2. There should be an alarm when the expansion card(s) is ejected. This alarm should sound for a minute or two, or until a card is inserted.

3. When an alarm sounds, I can dismiss it or "snooze it" for 5 minutes, 1 hour, or 1 day (Treo 700w). This limitation is as dumb as the lack of a real Close button! The 5 minute option is useless; 15 minutes would be much better. There should be many more options as to Snooze time. Look at DateBook 5 on the Palm.

4. Word Mobile 5 is a step in the right direction, but still lacks features and options. I use Word Mobile more minutes daily than any other app on the device. We could start a whole thread devoted to what features Word Mobile should offer.

5. The apps should see data files in expansion card sub-folders, as with WM2003SE. Having to dump everything into "Storage Card\My Documents" or another root folder is a step in the wrong direction.

[ctmagnus]

I for one like the way the close button moves apps to the background :(

I hear this is a very hotly argued topic within Microsoft....I don’t know what they will do but I hope they don’t force apps to close by clicking the x or ok... maybe make it close when you hit option x/ok?

Yea, that would be easy to implement right? ...and keep the current behavior at the same time...

This is how I have Spb Pocket Plus configured. Tap to minimize, gesture to close.

In my experience, closing an app by setting Pocket Plus to close apps by default takes a slight bit longer each time than closing it by minimizing it then tapping the x on Pocket Plus's running apps menu. That is to say that when I had Pocket Plus set to close apps by default, I would quite often see the spinning circle when I tapped the x to close an app; I don't see that anymore when I minimize them then close them at a later time from Pocket Plus' menu.

[mmidgley]

Windows Mobile Wish List* bluetooth profiles!!!
* screens are small (2.8" up to 4" inclusive): change screen usage to always make use of most pixels possible (example is bigger numeric buttons in phone app for PE)
* configurable "close" button
* activesync done right w/wifi, etc
* app swiching
* one handed operation (USE the softkeys, meaning ALL microsoft installed apps AND all oem installed apps!)
* either reduce OS ram usage, or up the hardware requirement (should be a minimum something like 40MB RAM available after hard reset)
* file explorer that lets you see ALL information about a file (full name, extension, attributes, etc)
* usb host

[Idruna]

It is excruciatingly difficult to develop multithreaded applications for the Pocket PC when you can't get a call stack for a thread making a system call. In a multithreaded app, you are guaranteed to have at least one thread making a system call, and when debugging a deadlock, all of them will be in system calls. You have to go all the way back to EVC 3.0 to get a debugger capable of this most basic of features.

I would like Microsoft to put more pressure on device manufacturers to support USB host. This opens up a wide array of vertical applications, and helps overcome the limit of not having a CF slot for expansion. It would also be nice if you could use USB host and USB slave (ActiveSync) at the same time on the few devices that do have this built-in.

WM 6.0 should use either less RAM, or encourage device manufacturers to support 128MB of RAM. 25MB of available RAM is just not enough to edit images from modern digital cameras.

It should be easier to connect to both a cellular network and a WiFi network at the same time. The WiFi network may be ad-hoc and unable to connect to the internet.

There should be a way of skipping the tap and hold demo when turning on a Pocket PC for the first time, it gets old when you have to configure dozens of them at a time.

If there are any non-phone devices available by the time the next OS is released, it would be very useful for the connection manager to make it easier to connect to common Bluetooth phones. I want to be able to say “Use my phone as a Modem”, select my Phone, and be given instructions on what to do, like what buttons to press to make the phone discoverable. I don’t want to have to enter phone numbers, or dialing strings, the software should be smart enough to know that if I`m using a Verizon 815, that the phone number is #777 and my username is [email protected] etc. The list of supported phones would need to be updatable using an internet connection (WiFi/ActiveSync).

[daS]

I use Word Mobile more minutes daily than any other app on the device. We could start a whole thread devoted to what features Word Mobile should offer.
If you use Word that much, then I would strongly suggest you take a look at TextMaker from SoftMaker: http://www.softmaker.com/english/tmp06_en.htm. It has far more of the features of the desktop version of Word, and has greater compatibility, than Pocket Word.

[theone3]

EASY FIXES

1. Windows Media Player needs a few basic fixes.
-- Allow the use of back/forward dpad buttons to move in/out of library, or at the very least, create a back button softkey. Try to emulate the Zen Micro more closely in this regard.
-- The screen turns back on at the end of every song, after I've asked it to turn off. Why?
-- Provide a greater level of control in BOTH volume interfaces. I understand why you have created a different volume control for Windows Media player, but I currently need to use both volume controls to acheive a good volume. The main volume control should have at least 40 points, while WMP could do with as little as 5.
-- Allow me to USE my ratings to sort all my music.

2. Make sure one handed operation is more seamless. For example, where text is in focus, enable the hardware volume control to be used as a jog-dial.

3. The start menu should emulate the Windows Vista start menu model, not the Windows 2000 start menu model. This includes search, power buttons, my documents, recently used, etc. The thing takes up most of the screen already: Why not make the background translucent and let it take up the full screen?

4. Allow me to use my proxy.pac file to adjust my proxy settings. Allow me to Base 'connections' on SSIDs. Let me choose whether I want to autoconnect to GPRS, or give up. (you wouldn't believe the rates for it on my plan!). There are also too many screens for network options. Consolidate these screens if possible. Perhaps network configuration could also be done through an activesync utility? This would be a boon for admins who arent familiar with the devices.

[SteveHoward999]

2. There should be an alarm when the expansion card(s) is ejected. This alarm should sound for a minute or two, or until a card is inserted.

It had better not! I have all sounds except alarms turned off - you might want your device to bing and pop and peep for the slightest reason, but not everyone does. How about ... there should be an *option* to make some sort of custom alarm on removing a card.

[UCCOFFEE]

1: make it more stable and reliable

2: speed up , from the OS side... thou Micorsoft never do this, they always relies on hardware

3: use button sequence to input password on the protect screen instead of tapping the screen

4: make the hardware button respond to click, dounble click, click and hold, trible click , double click and hold etc in the OS side and customisable . Then 4 buttons can have at least 16 functions already.
(From pocket PC 2002, the hardware buttons response to click and hold, but not customisable, but there are freeware / software that can do it .)

5: free multi - language pack , just like windows 2K/XP ....

6: better calender / task function on the today screen .... I think MS have to buy the company like SpB or WebIS to do that... but If they really creat those functions, they might get sued being monopoly ...

7: better alarm clock , at least have a option to force alarm to ring even the vol is turned off.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All those above are work related!!!!!! If WM is targeting business , all the above is a must!

[Paragon]

Well, we've had about a million good individual ideas for improving Windows Mobile, so I'm going to look at it in a more general way. I see three general issues that are at the root of most complaints and problems with the platform.

First, STABILIY....The OS NEEDS to be rock solid stable. There are far too many freeze ups needing soft resets. It's frustrating enough for long term users who are used to it. For new, and novice, users this must be infuriating at times.

Secondly, Activesync needs to be completely stable and issue free. There is no single issue with mobile devices that causes more problems than Activesync does. Again for new and novice users problems with Activesync can cause many of them to second guess their decision to switch to Windows Mobile.

Thirdly, updates and upgrades. This whole process needs to be rethought and streamlined. We put a man on the moon over 25 years ago, surely there can be a way for MS to issue AKU type updates directly to the end user. This latest AKU2/MSFP update was and still is a total mess. For me it was the final straw. There are many people with WM5.0 devices that still do not have this update. This is unacceptable in this day and age. We hear all the time why it can't be done. There is no CAN'T. Perhaps there are problems and issues, both design and marketing, but they are simply that, difficulties. The time has come to overcome those difficulties and get this job done. Over the years I don't think there has been a more popular reason for people to give up their loyalty to an OEM than over problems getting updates, and upgrades.

Dave

[Stephen Beesley]

...
6. Allow for word wrap for file listing and contacts listing. Its very irritating when the file name is truncated especially if you have files like ABCD1, ABCD2, ABCD3 and all you see is "ABCD-" .


Now this is an idea I like!

[elbowz]

Lets start with the basics:

1. Alarms. Its the most basic thing on any PDA how can it still not be working FFS?
2. Stylus free operation. There are just too many things which can only be done with a stylus, which gets old very quickly on a keyboard device.
3. Memory leaks, plug them. My Universal has 29Mb free after a reset, yet within a couple of days there'll be less than 12Mb even with no programs running.
4. Activesync. I can't believe that anyone would ship a product so unreliable and that after reducing the feature set too. AS 3.x wasn't great, AS 4.x is beyond a joke.

I'd also like to run PIE in hi-res on my VGA screen, the ability to define network settings on a per connection rather than per card basis and WMP10 to work a touch more reliably, but as these are purely personal choices I guess I'd be happy to live without them if the basics can be sorted...

[peterjam28]

How about the realisation that not everyone is right handed.
It's fine using a mouse but with a PPC it's either use the stylus in wrong hand or cover the screen when scrolling.

[bystander]

With such a robust list already assembled, I would only add:

-enable the software to automatically "read" the video hardware signature and display true vga if components are available without additional software AND allow an option to reset to less than true vga if eyesight or preferences dictate.

-re-design the companion ActiveSync software to re-enable WIFI sync with associated desktops in a secure mode

-provide Pocket-Powerpoint with capabilities of minor editing of slides to assist those who travel and present without laptop

Thanks for asking the question and thanks to MS staff for reading and seriously considering each request and not just looking at the tally numbers.

[DarkHelmet]

#1 Issue: An OS that actually works as a mobile device OS. This means quick and stable. It doesn't crash or spontaneously reboot several times a week. It doesn't pause for 30 seconds or longer, to swap FLASH data into RAM, or garbage collect, or run a JIT, or anything else that makes tasks like quickly taking a picture, or looking up an address, completely unusable.

Really, MS, it seems like your engineers have nothing but contempt for the user experience. Have you heard people complaining that WM5 seems about twice as slow as WM2003? This is a real issue, and makes what should be fun and useful gadgets an absolute misery to use. Please, if the cost of changing the memory architecture to implement "persistant storage" was a 2-5 x slowdown in common benchmarks...... maybe it wasn't a great idea.

Yes, you can blame HTC for using a 200 MHz proc that clearly is not fast enough to run WM5. But honestly.... you shouldn't have released an OS that requires a 400 MHz proc to run, on a phone! That's faster than PCs when Quake came out! Palm Pilots had fast, usable PIMs on 20 MHz procs. Just make the OS usable, please.

Oh, and one more thing - the Dell Axim x50v is a great WM2003SE PDA but turns into a major porno gang-suck-fest when WM5 is loaded on it.
Before you move on to WM6 - help the OEMs optimize WM5 to run on those machines they sold the WM5 coasters for.

I am not expecting you guys to make WM6 run on my 2.5 year old Dell Axim x50v - but at least WM5 should run without the aforementioned difficulties.

[CTSLICK]

Blazingwolf: Isn't it time for a true close button?
Ppcinfo: 4) A program close and minimize button for applications.
robert_biggs: (2) A FREAKING CLOSE BUTTON!!!
Eugenia: 1. A real close button.
Griph: There can be no good excuse now why Microsoft cannot include a proper Close/Exit menu item/button!
Alzayani: 2. Close Button!!
Skoobouy: Oh yeah, and the close button too.
Myuser: A true close button
CorporateJay: 3-allow applications to close instead of minimize
Popcorn: I'll vote for the close button option as well.
DaViD_BRaNDoN: Would really appreciate an "real" close button
Xdev: maybe tap and hold on the X button to "close" it
John Blasdell: 1. A real "Close" button.
JoeLevi: 8. Make the X button really close.
Jason Lee: I would like the option to close or minimise apps.

Ummmm....what they said ;)

[abeery]

Windows Mobile platform -- give me a seven inch display with 800x600 resolution like Origami but with the WM5 OS and I'd be happy... Easier to take notes, easier to read books, bible etc, still small enough to carry around. Sort of like the PADD on Star Trek.

[joelevi]

1. Ability to activate Reader.
2. Where did Ink Support in Pocket Word go? It was there in 2003, but gone in WM5.
3. S.P.O.T. integration with a Today Screen component to display the content.
4. Make a standard mini-USB port for sync and charge part of the hardware spec; get rid of proprietary connectors.
5. Tie in video phone capability to built-in phone application.
6. Build SIP functionality into built-in phone applications (i.e., Skype could run natively in the phone app, etc.).
7. Standardize "Wireless" control panels so bluetooth, GSM, GPS, Radio, WiFi, etc. are all on-off-able and configurable from one standard control panel.
8. Make the X button really close. The reason for having it minimize before was because the programs were already in RAM (as was the OS), and "closing" them didn't accomplish anything, since they were still installed in RAM (that was the theory anyway). Now that programs are installed to persistant storage, and must be loaded into RAM, just like on a PC, the old functionality of the close button is no longer appropriate.
9. Build in MS Voice Command so 3rd party apps aren't needed (of course, allow voice command to be "turned off" for those that want a different voice command application).
10. Mandate 3G Wireless with every Phone Edition.
11. Where text is in focus, enable the hardware volume control to be used as a jog-dial.

[Jason Lee]

Over all i am very happy with WM5. So far my k-jam in the only WM device that i have ever owned that just worked out of the box. I have of course installed my favorite apps to make it work better but it worked well by default.
I love the new softkeys. I do not take my stylus out. There could be better support for not having to touch the screen but it is pretty good overall. Mostly with folders in inbox or the drop down folder list in explorer, word, excel, etc. and in the mediaplayer library.

I think more bluetooth profiles need to be supported. I like the microsoft stack. It is way more stable than the widcomm could ever hope to be. But is lacks broad profile support.

I would like the option to close or minimise apps. by either tap and hold or tap and slide vs tap. I would like to have the choice. Even the [_] and [X] buttons from XP would be nice. :)

I would like the ability to have the date and time displayed in the top bar all the time. I did it with the TBOpt = 3 hack in the past but with AKU2 it doesn't work well anymore. I miss seeing the date up there especially when managing my finances. It would be nice if it were actually an option again like in Wince 2.11.

Of course more stability is always good. WM5 is the most stable WM os ever. It is great. but it will still crash or lock from time to time. Mostly due to OEM apps or third party stuff. I don't think any of the core MS apps have crashed on me. The OEM camera app has locked the device a few times. Oh, and my pictures and video app refuses to rotate pictures to the left when viewing the slideshow... it worked in the beginning and also for a short time after the camera app crashed... it doesn't matter what i set it to, it always rotates the slideshow to the right which is upsidedown from my slideout keyboard. :)

but looking back this is the best os so far. I hope it continues to improve. The wm2003se to wm5 change felt much like going from win 98 to winxp for me. It was a very welcome change. Like the mobile OS is finally maturing. :)

[Hugh Nano]

Make it work with Axim x50v's. :) Oh yeah, and the close button too.

While this is technically off-topic, since the dysfunctional x50v upgrade is Dell's fault, not Microsoft's, I have to second this! After paying $50 for the "upgrade", I found it so slow and buggy that I had to downgrade back to 2003 again! Dell, are you listening? I want my money back! No... Correction. I want my x50v upgrade to actually work!

[Gex]

Two way push...

When I have read or deleted an email from my inbox mark it as read or deleted in Exchange Server/Outlook right away... not when the next email comes in.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

4. For file explorer, allow for creation of shortcuts within the pda


Isn't this already available?

[Jason Lee]

4. For file explorer, allow for creation of shortcuts within the pda


Isn't this already available?

As I read through this I noted about 6 or 7 things that people requested be added or changes that are already there.
/sigh

[warren.kemplin]

Provide for a repeating alarm for voice messages and missed calls. Have it repeat at intervals until the user acknowledges it.

[bnycastro]

As I read through this I noted about 6 or 7 things that people requested be added or changes that are already there.
/sighMaybe someone 'in-the-know' can summarize this thread and let the readers know which things are already solved/available in WM5.0 :)

[Darius Wey]

Maybe someone 'in-the-know' can summarize this thread and let the readers know which things are already solved/available in WM5.0 :)

I'll get around to it when I have a spare weekend. :)

On the whole, it's great to see so many of you chiming in and sharing your thoughts, and to see that Microsoft is using this thread as feedback.

[Rob Alexander]

so basically everyone wants wm2003 back but with a wm5 emblems and version code. but with no memory lose , which i have no need. use auto daily backup and store everything on sd/cf cards.

I went back to WM2003 because it just works better. But then, I'm one of those people who wants a separate cell phone and PDA so it's probably not surprising that I like a PDA OS that actually works over one that tries to be all things to all people. Currently, if you had identical devices at the same price, one running WM2003 and the other running WM5, I'd pick up the one running WM2003. One of the things I've always hated about updates to CE devices of various names is how MS always takes out really useful features when it 'upgrades' the OS. You can never get the new features without losing some of the best of the old ones.

[Rob Alexander]

]Thanks to Darius for starting this thread, and all the readers that responded. I just wanted to let you guys know that Microsoft is listening to your feedback. I will compile a list from this thread and circulate it to the appropriate Windows Mobile team members. Your comments are valuable, so please share what is on your mind.

Mel Sampat
Program Manager
Windows Mobile - Microsoft

Mel, no offense but until you give us a real close button, it's really hard to believe that you guys are actually listening to our feedback. We don't care what your vision is for WM; we are the users and we've told you over and over for years that we want a real close button. Since you continue, version after version, to refuse to make it an option, it's really hard to accept your assurance that you're listening. Actions speak louder than words; if you really care what we think, then just give us our stupid close button. Until then, you'll have to excuse some of us if we think we're just wasting our time with threads like this.

[ajg23]

I have some strong and specific ideas that I'd be glad to share (I've done UI work and have extensive experience with handhelds)...but only if you are still collecting ideas to submit to microsoft.

Honestly, I also feel rather hopeless about changes coming from MS. There are SOOOOO MANY things that are still wrong with the OS after 9+ years, many of which would have been easy to fix...

A

[Darius Wey]

I have some strong and specific ideas that I'd be glad to share (I've done UI work and have extensive experience with handhelds)...but only if you are still collecting ideas to submit to microsoft.

Keep the ideas flowing. The more, the merrier. :)

[bhoopty]

How about adding the functionality for repeating notifications for items like text messaging...i get alot of text messages from systems at the office when a problem is detected...at night the device only sounds the alarm once...that isn't enough to wake me up...i can hack the registry and make the repeat feature available...but it still doesn't work even if checked...

[phmurphy]

I haven't really tested a WM5 device, but anything that eats up the very limited screen space bugs me. I use ArcPAD and use other map software and I want every bit of the screen I can get. I hear that the softkeys are not optional. It should be possible to toggle them off or on.

Patrick

[Phillip Dyson]

I have to admit that I'm a bit skeptical about whether our feedback will ever materialize.
But here goes...

2-way category filtering on synchronization.
More customization in sound profiles.

[Trip]

How about the realisation that not everyone is right handed.
It's fine using a mouse but with a PPC it's either use the stylus in wrong hand or cover the screen when scrolling.

Funny, I always thought they focused on having ambidextrous pocket PCs a little too much because the D-Pad so often is in the center of the device. I'd prefer one slightly more to the left myself.

I can see how the scroll bars on the right side would be a pain though.

[ziggurat29]

I think that all OEM bundled and even standard ones like Pocket Word, Excel, etc, should not be burned into the OS ROM. Rather they should be user-installable.

Since we have Persistent Store, there's less of a benefit of burning them into ROM, except for perhaps XIP, which I think is a very minor benefit to begin with.

By making only the OS be burned into ROM, then much more space is available to persistent store, and the space otherwise occupied by the bundled apps whose functionality I replace with 3rd party software then becomes available for other purposes.

[desertrat_blog]

ISN'T THE PURPOSE OF AN UPGRADE TO RESPOND TO THE USERS' REQUEST?

That's a novel thought. I always thought it was a way to extort more money from the users.

[desertrat_blog]

Throw it away and start again. All PPC o/s's or Windows Mobile (whatever you prefer to call it) seem to suffer long term problem whether it be missing close buttons or poor event/alarm handling.

Psion had this licked years ago in the early 1990's - why can't MS get it right many years later? :roll:
Absolutely agree.

It is pathetic that after spending so many years, and dog knows how much money (both in "developing" wince and in bribing the hardware manufacturers), MS still hasn't got a useable OS.

In contrast my Zaurus runs a "more or less" standard Linux kernel, and standard Linux desktop applications, on hardware that it is relatively modest compared to some of the newer ppcs.

Right now I have the following running on my Zaurus:

Abiword - a full featured word processor
Mozilla - that's the full Mozilla Suite, not the minimo that poor ppc people are still waiting for
Apache+PHP - the most popular webserver
MySQL - the server, not just the client
Sylpheed Claws - fast, mail/news client
Gaim - a multi-protocol IM client

[sapibobo]

Are microsoft people really read this thread?

Well then these are from me :

A. ALARMS THAT REALLY WORKS

I can't imagine having AN ORGANIZER that keep failing to remind me appointment and schedule.
I red many similar complain about this non-functional alarm, I started to assumed that Microsoft engineers either stupid or being ignorant.

B. ACTIVESYNC : GIVE US 'DEVICE OVERWRITES DESKTOP' OPTION.

My WM device is my primary contact management tool that become THE FIRST BEING UPDATED if my PIM changed. That the reason why I keep bring it with me. I think Microsoft engineers do not think this way. Updating my WM will creates conflict in AS without apparent reason and give me FAMOUS choices to 'combine, desktop overwrites WM, etc'. I need 'device overwrites desktop' badly.

C. GIVE 'ALL' YOUR ENGINEERS PDA AND FORCE THEM TO USE AS THEIR DAILY DRIVER.

..... and also incentives to buy best seller programs from Handango. Don't playing with emulators only. Deal with real world scenarios. Okay, this is maybe just my accusation, but by seeing those problems above I can't help thinking that many MS engineers use Nokia as their primary PIM driver. Or maybe those people don't have 'contacts' after all so being the reason of their ignorance.

Apologize if I post harshly. Don't get me wrong, I really like my WM device. But those problems above are basic issues that have to be resolved in high priority and THOSE ARE OLD PROBLEMS!

Again, are MS really listening?

[desertrat_blog]

Amazing how many on the WM5 wish list actually were covered by the venerable Psion:
doesn't crash, self reset, or need resetting

Epoc's stability is legendary. My Psion 3s (3, 3a, 3c) have never crashed in the 3-4 years that I've used them, whilst my Psion 5s (5, MX218) have only crashed 3 times in about 6 years.


applications do actually close properly

It's so obvious that it's embarrassing to request that as a feature. As always MS thinks it knows best.


the screen actually displays more info (e.g. spreadsheet colums, text rows) than a VGA PPC, and all applications are compatible with the screen size

Not to mention that the bundled apps are far more powerful than the wince ones. A real word processor, a real spreadsheet, printing (via IR too!)


Seriously, the WM developers could do worse than taking hold of a Psion, and just bringing its feature count up to date with bluetooth, a browser, better Windows synchronisation, oh, and a better screen cable and robust hinges.
Sadly Psion have sold their souls to the devil and now their machines run (or maybe crawl) wince.

[desertrat_blog]

First, STABILIY....The OS NEEDS to be rock solid stable. There are far too many freeze ups needing soft resets.

The aim of wince was to bring the windows experience to a handheld. So in that respect it's a resounding success.


It's frustrating enough for long term users who are used to it. For new, and novice, users this must be infuriating at times.

Makes windows users feel right at home :)

[stsanford]

Changes I'd love to see in WM5 / Active Sync 4.3...

Active Sync:

1. Bring Back WiFi Sync. Security be damned, we all know why they removed this. Same reason they

don't offer Mobile Information Server. To push people into installing and using Exchange.

2. Create an add-on server service that allows for synchronization / push mail, group scheduling for

anyone using any standard IMAP server.

3. ActiveSync that shows the status of conduits the way 3.x did

4. Activesync that lets you change conduit settings when the device is NOT connected.

5. ActiveSync backup / restore that works as easily as Palm:
If you have a major crash, or you have a PDA failure and have to buy a replacement, knowing
that simply obtaining a new device and placing it in the cradle is all that is necessary
to get all of your data, apps and settings back is great peace of mind. Maybe something
along the lines of: "You have inserted a new device, would you like to move all of your
settings from "OLDDeviceName" onto this device?" Wait 25 minutes and you're set.

On the PDA / WM OS side:

1. Close button to repeat just about everyone else.

2. A task bar along the top / bottom that really does something. Shows running programs ala WISBar

and one that you can tap and hold to get a task manager applet.

3. Some sort of video out so that you can use your PDA to do presentations. right now, I don't know

of a single device with even an adapter that would allow you to plug into S-Video or VGA to use an

external display.

4. Faster Boot times. I have a pretty fast WM5 device (ETEN M600) and the boot time is agonizingly

slow.

5. Who's bright idea was it at Microsoft to remove Access / database sync handling on the PDA?

6. Ditto with the fact that Pocket Money doesn't work on WM5. What the????? I've read don't hold your

breath, 2007 is probably the soonest. That's unacceptable.

7. Phone Edition: Phone Applet changes and takes away the keypad. Make this an option.

8. Hyperlink all phone numbers in e-mails and calendar appointments. (Contact notes would be nice

too) Similar to what SmartPhones do.

9. Phone applet has too many steps for things like Past (to paste in a note, because #8 isn't

done..) or selecting Mute. Seems like there are MORE steps in that specific applet.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

3. Some sort of video out so that you can use your PDA to do presentations. right now, I don't know of a single device with even an adapter that would allow you to plug into S-Video or VGA to use an external display.

Dell Axim x51v?

[stsanford]

Sorry, specifically, in a Phone Edition model.

[Stephen Beesley]

Windows Mobile platform -- give me a seven inch display with 800x600 resolution like Origami but with the WM5 OS and I'd be happy... Easier to take notes, easier to read books, bible etc, still small enough to carry around. Sort of like the PADD on Star Trek.

Now I like the sound of that...!

[ajg23]

don't have a lot of time to compile specifics right now (studying for step 3 of medical boards…!), but thought what i just wrote on another board is telling :

"if ppc users aren't spending years trying to make alarms work they're spending yrs trying to prevent their devices from being unstable on power-up/wakeup :( "

(I continued):
"ex: even on this grand new wm5 device [ppc 6700], if any os file dialog is open (eg, notepad's, pocket word's…)--even if i have it set to show files in only ONE folder--on turning on the device there's a wait/animated color wheel for about 15 sec. Presumably this is waiting for the sd card to power up, despite my making sure to buy an SD card w/excellent specs and spending hours messing with hacks (adjusting PNPUnloadDelay, PNPWaitIODelay…). I wonder what non-technical users switching from Palm think of this…"

The user has to be thinking about such basic &amp; ubiquitous problems all the time while using these devices--one can't just use the PDA! These kinds of things are so fundamental and distracting that one tends to forget about things like...


the deficiencies in the UI that were never fixed. When they put the menus on the bottom it appeared they were THINKING about how people used the devices and I was very ENCOURAGED...but that turned out to be the only real innovation in the mobile UI I've seen in years...[br]why are we still struggling to hit the tiny "ok" button in the upper right (which is protected by the edge of the casing, making it even harder to hit), even now that the "softkeys" are appropriately permitting all other form-level operations at the bottom of the screen? Why is the left-right widget for scrolling horizontally through tabs still impossible to use without a stylus (can't hit the right arrow b/c the edge of the screen plus the size of the arrow won't let you)? Why does it take 3 dozen taps (and intermittent waits) to connect to the Sprint dialup?
[b]the deficiencies in the newer software showing still no progress in mobile UI thinking. The dialog to create a "speed dial" entry on my 6700 looks like something I would have done done in computer camp when I was 13 years old, and is about as easy to use.
ongoing and protean problems with synchronizing To say nothing of the stability and unreliability, why still the inability to synchronize notes on storage media (MobSync has done it for years)?
oh yeah: more storage card/stability stuff: i still can't run any program off the card w/o it crashing on power-on and can't even use a program from main memory which accesses the card (read: all medical software!) w/o it being messed up on power-up (at least since I'm running the executable off main memory I can terminate the executable...). (I know there are technical issues and expectations of developers about checking power states, but this is a big stability problem that causes much data loss and fixing it should be a big priority)
not to mention the insane Storage Card file system scheme wherein we suffered for years with the name of every program's folder being listed as "categories" for our notes, contacts, etc...And now to be given a half-fixed, half-broken change in which FINALLY programs install by default to \Storage Card\Program Files\ but the open dialog still shows only folders one deep from the ROOT of the card--so any folder system we try to set up within \Storage Card\My Documents\ is inaccessible!
which recalls that Penguin (at PocketMax.net) put out a fix for the 2003 Alarm wakeup problem, but it's broken again in WM5! I'm among the WM5 users sadly continuing to report problems with WM5 devices despite revisions to AlarmToday (which allowed ALL 3rd-party alarms to work reliably before WM5--functionality which MS never provided!).
and just to touch on the ongoing problems in basic PIM functionality such as the daylight savings quagmire I've been dealing with since returning to PPC: Windows mobile actually changed all the appt times on my device by an hour, and the only way I could make the PPC have the correct "clock" time and not change my appointment times was to tell it I'm in Indiana and misadjust the clock--and NOW whenever I sync with the desktop the clock is changed to the wrong time again so I have to remember to reset the PPC clock (with many taps) after every sync...


There's so much more but I have to study. I think sapibobo's idea is right on: Microsoft engineers should use these as their daily devices and experience them in the...er...plastic, not just on an emulator. How could they live with such problems on their everyday devices? Or at least live with knowing there are people who are using their devices who aren't high-tech enough to be able to work around these infuriating problems?

&lt;/vent> :)

A

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Written with MessagEase on a tablet--please ignore strange erRors [like that one]!

[Jason Lee]

so many of these complaints demonstrate a huge lack if knowledge and user error. WM5 is, so far the best windows mobile to date. I know there are still little bugs and issues but some make it sound like the end of the world.

[Phillip Dyson]

I would like to see html email support in ActiveSync and ExchangeSync. Atleast an option.