WM 6.1 Professional is seriously flawed

[Guest bitbank]

I started working with Pocket PC's back in 1996 when they were quite primitive. My first phone was the HTC "Space Needle"; a terrible device compared to today's, but it worked well enough.

For the past few years I've been using non-touchscreen devices as my main phone. My latest is a toss-up between the HTC Juno (T-Mobile Shadow) and HTC Vox. I've gotten quite accustomed to using one hand to navigate and operate everything within Windows Mobile. I just picked up a HTC Touch Dual for software testing and figured I might make it my main phone if it worked well. The attractive part of that device (to me) is the flip up numeric pad similar to my Shadow. I wrongly assumed that I could use it in a similar manner. Unfortunately Microsoft decided to mess things so thoroughly as to make me not want to use the Touch Dual as my main phone. The problem boils down to this:

You are forced to use the stylus to do things that could be done with the keypad/buttons.

When reading emails, I'm used to hitting the back arrow to get back to the inbox after reading a note. When I press the back arrow on WM Pro, it's IGNORED. Instead, I must press a tiny "OK" button in the upper right corner of the window with the stylus. Other programs and settings have the same illogical behavior. I'm forced to use 2 hands to do the things which can be done with 1 hand on a non-touchscreen device. Is there a fix for this? Is Microsoft's Windows Mobile group split in 2 halves that don't talk to each other?

Thoughts?

L.B.

Edited December 5, 2008 by bitbank

[Guest Monolithix]

It's not the WM group split, it's MS and HTC. The PPC interface is designed for use with a stylus, full stop. HTC want their devices to compete with the iPhones, Samsungs and LG touchscreen devices out there which have an interface designed for 1 (fat) finger use, so they slapped their own UI elements over the top of WinMo to hide the majority of what is now seen as fiddly. Unfortunately it does not take much to get back into the raw WM interface and experience the illogical behaviour you've seen!

Microsoft have shown time and time again that Windows Mobile is focused firmly on the enterprise market (read: RIM). However it's hard to see how they are going to retain their market share while keeping the traditional WM interface.

[Guest asrrin29]

I think it has to do with the type of phone you have. I have an HTC Kaiser and it includes many different hardware buttons on the front. both the OK button and the End Call button work for most programs to end them or go back. it also includes two hardware buttons for the software keys present at the bottom of the WM6 interface. I never have a problem with quickly navigating the interface without using a stylus. the only time I do use a stylus is when I am in a non-finger friendly app such as the default outlook or IE.Not to end the programs, as the buttons work for these, but just for scrolling through the lists or long web pages.

Edited December 7, 2008 by asrrin29

[Guest Monolithix]

The Kaiser has a jog wheel as well, remember B)

[Guest asrrin29]

I do use the jog wheel from time to time, but mostly for changing volume. one of the other hardware buttons is the start button which opens the start menu, so it is literally possible to control the entire device without ever using the touch screen, even with fingers.

[Guest Monolithix]

There are still a few oddities. Try changing to a different folder from your inbox without using the touch screen! B)

[Guest asrrin29]

Menu softbutton -> GoTo. this will take you to email, messages, and outlook. I'm not saying it's easy to navigate without the touchscreen, but it's not impossible. Obviously WM6 Pro is designed with a touch screen in mind, but like I said, alot of programs now-a-days are finger freidnly and don't require the stylus.

[Guest Hurgle Durgle]

It all depends on your device. I can hit the OK/X/Task Manager button fine on my Fuze (AT&T OEM Touch Pro) with my thumb, but it took a little bit of learning to find where the sweet spot is. The only things I really have to use a stylus for are really tiny list boxes, which I only see in the control panel.

[Guest new2city]

I normally assign emulation of the ok button to double press of the hang up button and close application to tripple press of the hang up bottom.

[Guest Monolithix]

Menu softbutton -> GoTo. this will take you to email, messages, and outlook. I'm not saying it's easy to navigate without the touchscreen, but it's not impossible. Obviously WM6 Pro is designed with a touch screen in mind, but like I said, alot of programs now-a-days are finger freidnly and don't require the stylus.

Ah good call, I'd missed that! I wasn't trying to catch you out as such, just highlighing the fact you point out yourself, Pro is designed with touchscreen use in mind. The "issue" is MS expect you to use a stylus...