Microsoft Deals Killer Blow To Windows Mobile: WM7 Delayed, Again!

[Guest Alex (nedge2k)]

Seriously, MS, do you even care about WM anymore?

It's no secret that in the world of high-end mobile devices, those powered by Windows Mobile get severely overlooked by the majority of people out there. This, in no small part, is due to Microsoft's seeming unwillingness to drag the ageing OS into the present day. WM7 is Microsoft's last, best hope at getting more people using "Windows Phones" but instead of concentrating on bringing it to market, they're wasting time on WM6.5/6.5.x, which mostly, is nothing more than a rip-off of HTC's work.

So, why the rant? Well, Digitimes are reporting that WM7 has now been pushed back to Q4 2010! Will the platform even survive that long? I've been a user and fan of WM since the original SPV back in late 2002 but WM6.5 isn't impressing anyone and MS should really be concentrating on WM7 before the likes of Android pushes it out of the market.

Microsoft to adopt dual-platform strategy to compete with Android and iPhone, say handset makers

[Guest penguin]

lol MS what the hell are they playing at?

They seriously need to get with it & do something before it's game over for them & the platform (in the mobile market that is)

[Guest blackhorse]

Ive already jumped ship to android, fed up of microsoft been idiots!!

If it wasnt for some very tallented chefs on here and XDA id of left MS behind a LONG time ago

[Guest markdotpeters5]

Lol. I haven't posted on Modaco for a looong time, but I just had to say props for that picture. Very funny :D

[Guest l3v5y]

WM6.5.X is actually very good (and in it, most of the interesting stuff is actually HTC copying MS :D, HTCMagnifier for example is just MS Magnifier made prettier). When WM6.5.1 RTMs, it will be bloody fantastic.

[Guest deadphill]

I agree with Nedge.

MS have been so crap for so long, HTC's efforts are basically papering the massive cracks left in Windows Mobile. What once was a wicked OS miles ahead of its time, other manafacturers have realised that a good running OS, combined with a good user experience and hype that lives up to its name is what sells phones and have rushed ahead now, leaving WM in the dust.

MS have done nothing amazing to even get close. It once was a good way to get corporate email but anyone these days seems to be able to get exchange. So the last playing card in Office has now been let out to Nokia, I would say that Windows Mobile should be read its last rights.

This is of course unless WM 7 is so good it overtakes what is already out there, but the problem then is that it needs decent hardware to take advantage of any advancement. And also by which time it could be too late!

So in the meantime, I have got bored of being served up the same old tripe everytime I get a new WM phone. I now have an iPhone 3Gs and am loving it, because it just works! I have had a WM phone since 2003.

I still take an interest in all of this but the facts are fast becoming clear. WM as it stands is yesterdays news. iPhone OS, Android and even Palm OS are going to drive forward the mobile space for the forseeable future.

Even Winmoweek has now been "rebranded"!!!

Cheers

Phill

[Guest rav1patel]

Got fed up of waiting and moved to Android and it's light years ahead. It would take something truly amazing for me to move back now. I stuck with it for so long but in the end I realised that while my C500 blew me away back in the day, there's barely been any advance over the past 5 years.

[Guest Syphon Filter]

Completely agree with nedge and phil.

I've been a WinMo user since the heady days of the SPV E200 and to be honest little has changed. Were it not for HTC hardware quality and software innovations WinMo would probably have sunk without a trace.

[Guest atrius]

I'm disgusted by this... the OS is more important to joe bloggs than most of the hardware. It's why the iPhone sells so well, and why android is making headway. WinMo devices are severly held back by the OS.

[Guest arirang]

for what it's worth, i just cant justify forking over $300+ for the noted phones. my omnia i910 cost $99.00. thanks to the uber-geeks and chefs for porting the best features of other phones/OSs, WM 6.5 is a chameleon! you'd think i was talking about linux; however, compared to the other smartphone OSs, it ironically is more robust and open.

smartphones are reaching the same technical wall as other CPU-based devices--heat dissipation and energy consumption. if you cant go more than a couple days of normal usage as a phone and PPC without charging, then you're not mobile. none of the other OS address this, and are equally crippled because of it.

as i've commented in another forum, if you want a lean ROM, a feature-packed ROM, a super finger-friendly ROM, or a RAM-sipping ROM, there's a WM 6.5-based kitchen for it.

[Guest Alex (nedge2k)]

Yeah but unfortunately ROM kitchens can't fix core problems with the OS and the WM business strategy as a whole...

[Guest NuShrike]

I'm amazed anybody would give HTC any credit for keeping WM alive.

If anything, they've dug the hole deeper by sticking to the inferior Qualcomm hardware for the last 3 generations (HTCClassAction.org) whilst many have decried what a step backwards it's been from the XScale days. Sure, HTC is trying out slicker UI, but it's not letting anybody have access to it, nor any of their sluggish, non-standard hardware. WM doesn't need the fragmentation that HTC created just as DOS didn't need the fragmentation between DR DOS vs MS DOS vs PC DOS, etc ...

Only Samsung has actually been implementing real hardware improvements (as per the latest OpenGL ES 2.0 devices), real hardware-accelerated devices (hence the Divx certification in the Omnia line), and also giving back to developers with SDKs (Innovator) for access to all of their hardware in the unified-platform fashion that only Apple has been providing. Samsung is showing how end-to-end optimized their devices are versus the rest. This is all something MS should be spearheading!

Edited August 20, 2009 by NuShrike

[Guest timeline]

I like my phone with software I control (so no iPhone), with software (so no Android) but I'm not buying another phone with WM6.x on it (that will be obsolete immediately)

One day maybe Android will have the software range of WM. One day WM7 may be released. One day I may win the lotto.

[Guest atrius]

as i've commented in another forum, if you want a lean ROM, a feature-packed ROM, a super finger-friendly ROM, or a RAM-sipping ROM, there's a WM 6.5-based kitchen for it.

And if you're willing to void warranty.

I have an Orange touch diamond. If i want my insurance/warranty to be valid, I can only use orange roms. Which stopped a looooooooooong time ago. I can't even remove touchflo as it's built in, so ading other UIs starts eating into that limited rom space.

@timeline, android market has really quite a lot of good free apps. The mrs has a Hero, and there isn't anything I haven't been able to get for it that I feel I need. In fact, just becasuse its there and browsable, I've probably downloaded more apps for the hero in a month than I have for all my winmo devices over 6 years.

[Guest shantul]

For Heaven's sake! This is going to push a lot of people away from WinMo. I've got a contract renewal coming up end of the year and if there are a couple more snazzier Android devices on the market by then, WinMo is definitely out for me. :D

[Guest argh]

And if you're willing to void warranty.

I have an Orange touch diamond. If i want my insurance/warranty to be valid, I can only use orange roms. Which stopped a looooooooooong time ago. I can't even remove touchflo as it's built in, so ading other UIs starts eating into that limited rom space.

@timeline, android market has really quite a lot of good free apps. The mrs has a Hero, and there isn't anything I haven't been able to get for it that I feel I need. In fact, just becasuse its there and browsable, I've probably downloaded more apps for the hero in a month than I have for all my winmo devices over 6 years.

While technically true, I claimed on Orange insurance with a non-Orange SPL, after just flashing an Orange ROM back on to it (the issue was a hardware fault, by the way, completely unrelated to ROM flashing).

Alternatively, if you to need to claim on your insurance, perhaps it's because your phone is so broken that nobody could tell what ROM was on it before? Maybe a car ran over it.

[Guest arirang]

While technically true, I claimed on Orange insurance with a non-Orange SPL, after just flashing an Orange ROM back on to it (the issue was a hardware fault, by the way, completely unrelated to ROM flashing).

Alternatively, if you to need to claim on your insurance, perhaps it's because your phone is so broken that nobody could tell what ROM was on it before? Maybe a car ran over it.

ASAIK, switching phone's OEM img is a breach [ie--Omnia's leaked CC20] but NOT changing the PDA img [from 6.1->.6.5]

[Guest ratcom]

Its all getting very sad now.... I feel like I've been told my best mates dying, I honestly feel that sad! I loved all my windows phones over the years but I believe this is the final nail in the coffin. Does anyone really think manufacturers are going to keep making handsets that dont sell as well with each new release. One day we will all look back over the last 6 years and ask WHY did it all go wrong.

And remember that this story as been told before .......

Atari

Betamax

to name a few...........................

Goodnight old friend, sleep tight :D

Edited August 20, 2009 by ratcom

[Guest Alex (nedge2k)]

Its all getting very sad now.... I feel like I've been told my best mates dying, I honestly feel that sad! I loved all my windows phones over the years but I believe this is the final nail in the coffin. Does anyone really think manufacturers are going to keep making handsets that dont sell as well with each new release. One day we will all look back over the last 6 years and ask WHY did it all go wrong.

And remember that this story as been told before .......

Atari

Betamax

to name a few...........................

Goodnight old friend, sleep tight :D

Know how you feel :angry:

[Guest awarner (MVP)]

What I find interesting is that most of the comments are from respected long time members.

I just hope this is a blip in the WM development, but due to the nature of the OS being sold to manufacturers compaired to Apple selling one device, there has never been a great deal of direct advertising to push the wheels of progression faster.

There are still too many people in the marketing world of mobile devices that think WM devices are a business orientated device. Maybe true once, but that was about 9 years go. The SPV broke the mold and made the average phone user want more unfortunately at that time our voices were not heard by the networks or manufacturers.

[Guest Syphon Filter]

I'm really surprised by some of the negative comments about HTC. In my opinion they've been making the most desirable WinMo hardware out there for many many years.

I understand (to a degree) the angst of using slower than available CPUs etc...but I'm guessing there was a trade off for something else (battery life etc, though that could be argued as I'm sure many of you have to charge your devices every night!!!).

Sure, HTC is trying out slicker UI, but it's not letting anybody have access to it, nor any of their sluggish, non-standard hardware. WM doesn't need the fragmentation that HTC created just as DOS didn't need the fragmentation between DR DOS vs MS DOS vs PC DOS, etc ...

I'm confused by this comment...HTC have probably spent considerable time and money developing their UI (be it Sense or Manila), why do they need to give others access to it?

Also when you talke about "non-standard hardware" what do you mean? Is there such a thing as a "standard" WinMo platform? MS are in the business of selling an OS, they dont dictate to the nth degree the hardware that it should be run on, if they did...how would their business model be any different to that of the iPhone? They would just be better off making the hardware themselves...but the point is that we have a choice of hardware platforms, be they from HTC, Samsung, Acer, whoever...that all run WinMo...

Colour me confused...

[Guest Syphon Filter]

What I find interesting is that most of the comments are from respected long time members.

That just says it all really though does it not?

WinMo as an operatiing system/platform is not enticing new users...it's only us guys who have been using it since the early days that it's kept hold of, maybe picking up a few people here and there.

IMO WinMo 6.5 is going to be a waste of time give what I have seen of it and used. WinMo 7 will also be a waste of time if it arrives too late or ends up being not being the ground up rewrite that has been rumoured. WinMo 7 could, if MS are not careful, end up being the Vista of the mobile world.

Edited August 21, 2009 by Syphon Filter