Windows Mobile 6.5 Release Date Set - May 11th!

[Rocco Augusto]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2009/04/06/the-road-to-tech-ed-2009.aspx' target='_blank'>http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile...ch-ed-2009.aspx</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Stephanie Ferguson, GM of Business Experiences at Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business is going to deliver the kick off launch presentation of Windows Mobile 6.5 on Monday, May 11th at 1:00PM &ndash; 2:15PM. This TechEd 2009 session focuses on one of the biggest launches in the history of Windows Mobile..."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//zt/auto/1240085646.usr8.png" style="border: 0;" /></p><p>Start marking your calendars everyone! May 11th is not that far down the road and on that date we will finally get a new release to Windows Mobile! Now the real question is - how long do we have to wait to get our hands on some of these new Windows Mobile 6.5 powered handsets?</p>

[Fritzly]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2009/04/06/the-road-to-tech-ed-2009.aspx' target='_blank'>http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile...ch-ed-2009.aspx</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"one of the biggest launches in the history of Windows Mobile..."

Love the Appleish iperbole; they are launching WM 6.5 not WM7.....

"we will finally get a new release to Windows Mobile!

Hardly; we will finally see WM 6.5, in order to get it we will have to wait several months and, at least the vast majority of users, open their wallet.

I really hope WM 7 will change this situation.

[jfreiman]

Has anyone seen or heard of WM 6.5 on a WM Standard device?

Other than IE, I think all the other improvements are UI related and focused on finger accessibility.

-John

[doogald]

Evidently, there was confusion about this "launch" stuff, because that web site you quoted has been changed to remove the word "launch" completeley.

[Rocco Augusto]

Has anyone seen or heard of WM 6.5 on a WM Standard device?

Unfortunately no. My only guess is Microsoft is not putting out WM6.5 Standard screenshots because there is not much visual difference between 6.1 and 6.5, which makes sense seeing as how 6.1 Standard got all the pretty updates last time. :)

[alex_kac]

Its also important to note that the 6.5 launch does not mean 6.5 to users. It means the launch of 6.5 to OEMs. Carriers like AT&T will take 3-6 months to test a handset on their network and OEMs like HTC will take 2-3 months to get the first devices to the carriers. So official 6.5 won't be seen on consumer devices until at least 5 months from now at the earliest.

[griph]

Its also important to note that the 6.5 launch does not mean 6.5 to users. It means the launch of 6.5 to OEMs. Carriers like AT&T will take 3-6 months to test a handset on their network and OEMs like HTC will take 2-3 months to get the first devices to the carriers. So official 6.5 won't be seen on consumer devices until at least 5 months from now at the earliest.

By which time iPhone will have their 3rd gen machines out - and the sand continues to run through WM's virtual fingers - yet more 'too little too late'. We've already seen Nokia's drop in profits go from 1.08 billion to only 1.08 million - whilst Apples' profits continue to grow. Microsoft are way out of the loop on this!

[Gerard]

Indeed, it seems Microsoft is determined not to commit to their ancient promise of easy, direct-to-user OS updates. Wasn't it back when the transition from WM2003SE to WM5 happened, 5 years ago or so, that they said this was on the near horizon? Wasn't it planned for implementation with WM6? Or do I have my history completely wrong? That sort of statement seems rather hard to research on the web... too bad I wasn't taking notes back then to confirm it now. Anyway, my point being that the roadmap seems a bit of a dud. So far I'm hearing nothing to indicate that WM6.5 is going to be something I can buy from Microsoft directly, or from anyone else.

Where is the problem with that? Well, for starters how about the way that 'cooked' WM6.5 installers have been showing up for a number of Windows Mobile models in the past few weeks. Many users have reported these installations to be stable, full-featured, really very nice to use. Is Microsoft trying yet again to use that old argument that the specs of the newest OS iteration require new, improved hardware to run? Nice try. An HTC Touch Elfin has pretty standard memory in terms of ROM space and RAM. And with a mere 200MHz CPU, it's one of the WORST for running anything challenging, right? Wrong. WM6.5 runs perfectly on the phone, like it was born there. Of course that's partly owing to a great 'cook' doing a lot of customization to enrich the installation with freewares and tweaks, but the bulk of the work was Microsoft's of course.

I bought my HTC Touch Elfin, branded from Rogers but unlocked by the previous owner, via a Craigslist ad. I have no potential upgrade path for this hardware, so even if Rogers were to offer WM6.5, I don't qualify. So far as they're concerned, I am still using the Motorola v220 I got with my account. When I spoke with them once about my old Atom, they came pretty close to hanging up on me, saying that devices they don't sell directly to the customer do not qualify for any support whatsoever. So, here's my upgrade path:
http://www.luthier.ca/other/forum/wm6.5_now.png
If Microsoft or some legitimate reseller comes along some day and offers WM6.5 or WM7 for a fee, I'll buy it in a flash. Until then, it's running just fine and waiting to be paid for. A PayPal link perhaps, Microsoft, please? Get off your silly horse with this new hardware nonsense, and give users what they want to buy from you! And yeah, I know, this sort of talk isn't appropriate... just getting somewhat fed up with the sheer slowness of the Redmond beast after all these years as an avid Pocket PC user.

[racerx_]

i dunno.. i've been a Windows Mobile user for years.. and after looking at and trying out the 6.5 betas i really don't know what all the hype is about. Microsoft just puts their attention on the weirdest things.. I mean the honeycomb is all new looking and funky.. but honestly, not really that functional for power users..

why don't they focus on developing solutions that make the platform actually better? like how about adding support for multiple calendars in pocket outlook? i mean seriously this is basic stuff that could improve functionality for their users

[oldan]

If Microsoft or some legitimate reseller comes along some day and offers WM6.5 or WM7 for a fee, I'll buy it in a flash. Until then, it's running just fine and waiting to be paid for.
I agree. In the mean time, I'm doing fine with my http://www.ppcgeeks.com 6.5 cooked rom on a Touch Diamond. I'm going to try the same thing on a Touch Vogue just to see if it works.

Personally, 6.5 is just to tide me over until I can get a fully functional Android ROM running on either of those phones.

-- Oldan

[Gerard]

I don't quite agree on the point about these WM6.5 updates not being functional. Sure, a lot of the motivation is undoubtedly about jumping on the iPhone bandwagon, using big thumb-friendly buttons which look pretty. Hey, the market has spoken in terms of iPhone popularity, so why wouldn't Microsoft adopt at least some elements of such a move? But on the positive side, I actually find poking at these menu items a lot faster than with the traditional Start > Programs > (sub-folders) menu system. I can arrange things a bit (though why I cannot get the items into alphabetical order is a bit beyond imagining - it seems they've locked users into the Settings > Menus paradigm with this OS version, something I've not even touched in over 8 years as it messes things up royally) in terms of sub-folders for categories, and it's all very easy for one-handed use of a smaller screened phone.

I never have need of separation for PIM apps, but of course understand that this would be great for a lot of users who like to keep business and personal lists separate. And it doesn't seem that such things should be all that difficult for Microsoft to implement... except that they have trouble enough with simple synchronization as it is! I refuse to create any more Activesync partnerships, as the bloody thing has cost me too much time over the years. I've started using GMail contacts as a simple, extra backup for that data. And while Google does no better job of it (duplicates and failure to update after even one change happen almost every synch), at least it's something off-site I could fall back upon in an emergency. So I just delete all my contacts there every once in a while, then re-synch and all my contacts dump to their server without a glitch. So in this department, I'd suggest Microsoft focus on actually making PIM synching PERFECT before doing anything more advanced with those databases. From my experiences, it seems very unlikely they are capable of even that humble accomplishment.