Microsoft Windows Mobile 7.0 To Arrive In Q4 2010
Windows Mobile 6.5 is not the best operating system a Smartphone could possibly run on. In fact, it may be the worst mobile operating system designed for smartphones. I won’t even begin to tell you all the things that are wrong with it. But the question that keeps popping in my mind (as well as numerous other smartphone users) is how come Microsoft cannot improve their mobile OS up to a level that it’s at least not as annoying as it is at the moment. It’s not like they don’t have the manpower or the resources…
Microsoft Windows Mobile 7 is supposed to be the WinMo version that will make you forget all the things that went wrong with previous Windows Mobile version. Too bad that it just got delayed until late 2010. With Android getting constant improvements, and iPhone OS preparing for the 4.0 version, chances are Windows Mobile 7 will arrive too late to make a notable, positive impact. Maybe Win Mobile 7 will prove me wrong, but we have a whole year before it gets the chance.
- Stuck To 6.5 For Another Year
- THIS POST WAS WRITTEN BY:
- Mihai Andrici
I think the discussions need to turn to what will people do, who bought a Windows Phone, when the platform is axed?
What are the ramifications for the discontinuation of Windows Mobile? No more software updates? No more software? No more support? An expensive brick?
Please enlighten me what problems you see in Windows Mobile 6.5.3. I know of some problems but let me test you since you apparently went out of the way to criticize it. I own an iPod Touch too. So I know both the platforms. Let me see whether you really have some points or not.
For a start, the first issue is not what phone platforms are nice or not. It’s about what platforms will survive. I don’t believe Windows Mobile will survive, and that alone is enough to avoid a Windows Mobile handset.
But if you want to talk platform specifics, the number #1 problem with Windows Mobile is its old fashioned interface. It was designed in the Pocket PC days, and intended to be used with a stylus pen. The new era phones like iPhone and Android are designed for multi-touch.
Most Windows Mobile handsets come with a stylus pen. I have the phone from HTC that has a capacitive multi-touch screen (the only WinMo phone that does not come with a stylus), but I found this really difficult to use. HTC created its own multi-touch interface and put it on top of Windows Mobile. The front interface is fine, but the rest of the OS doesn’t recognise multi-touch, which is disconcerting. I found it difficult to use with the finger (iPhone and Android work beautifully with the finger). The problem got even worse when installing Windows Mobile applications, most of which were designed for a stylus. If you’re going to use legacy Windows Mobile apps, then you need a stylus to operate them. I feel silly on the train trying to hit the tiny icons with the corner of my finger nail. It’s ridiculous. I ended up having to purchase the optional stylus pen.
Anyway, I’ve been pondering what the ramifications are for the Windows Mobile phone user, when the platform is discontinued. I feel sure I’ll be left with a useless brick. All I can say is my next phone is going to be an Android phone.
Oh, and regarding WinMo version 6.5.3: I haven’t used that update, I didn’t know it was out yet (I don’t think it is). But Microsoft has said that the full multi-touch interface won’t come until version 7, which has now been delayed another year. That’s just incomprehensible. They will have trouble selling any Windows Mobile phones between now and then. Meanwhile, a multitude of new Android phones will be on the market.