Microsoft's Plan to Save Windows Mobile

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Arthur

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Paul Thurrott has some interesting things to say on his SuperSite:

Microsoft's Plan to Save Windows Mobile

One of the biggest stories of the past year has been Microsoft's fading fortunes in the smart phone market. Since mid-2007, Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS has failed to keep up with more innovative devices from Apple, RIM, Palm and Google, and has lost both mindshare and marketshare. The release of Windows Mobile 6.5 in late 2009 was met with scorn by reviewers and analysts, and many called for Microsoft to get out of the smartphone market for good or perhaps poach technology from a competitor such as Palm.

But Microsoft has a plan to save Windows Mobile. And it just may work.

... more
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Interesting article...
and I am intrigued by WinMo 6.5 and WinMo 7..
 
Good luck to Microsoft, they are very far behind iPhone OS, WebOS, and Android and will have to not only match it, but surpass it.

They have neglected to innovate in their mobile OS for too long.
 
Well this is news to me, I thought MS didn't care about WinMo
 
MS have shown an ability to make leap and bounds in their software when challenged... so I do look forward to seeing what WinMo 7 brings to the table.
 
Well, to the people who got stuck with windoze mobile 6.5 get refunded?
No?
I did not think so.

This company sells an incomplete product, admits to that fact but charges full price for it, and then happily embarks on an upgrade, while expecting to find a market out there once they have completed the work.

Incredible.
 
I'd be willing to go as far as saying the only reason Android is remotely grabbing market is because WinMobile has literally stood still since PocketPC days. People want something new and fresh and at least moved with the times. Not that Android is bad or anything, but i think if MS put the same amount effort into WinMo than Google did into Android, WinMo would've been superior (based on the legacy factor etc).
 
WinMo 7 will only ship by the end of 2010. By that time MS won't be able to save WinMo, they will have to resurrect it...
 
On TheRegister MS is predicting that Linux based phones will fail.
The president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division Robbie Bach, who presided over last year's drop in Windows Mobile's market share, said Linux will fall below the quality bar needed to succeed in mobile handsets.

He added Linux operating systems "won't get the scale that they need," saying that it's Microsoft's job on Windows Mobile to make sure we get that scale."

Bach, talking to Wall Street analysts, also painted the forthcoming Windows Mobile 7.0 as something that will "move the bar forward" not in an evolutionary way "but it's something that feels, looks, acts and performs completely different."
Click to expand...
 
Nod said:
On TheRegister MS is predicting that Linux based phones will fail.
Click to expand...

Well we'll see, but the fact that Linux based phones ARE NOT CHEAPER than a WinMo/Apple phone tells me quickly that IF Microsoft actually releases a revamped OS that is on par with what Android can do it is most likely to do better than Android. Especially if the integration [between mobile/PC/laptop] and the application factors comes into play . The ability to develop on WinMobile vs. ability to develop apps on Android will certainly become a big thing.

Problem with Linux in general is , it is not unified, everyone just "ploeter" into whatever direction they feel like (always the issue with open source stuff) . So it's sometimes impossible to develop for such a platform, it's a moving target. Hardcore techies are fine with this, but the average user is not. This is what Windows generally have going for them [on the PC] , and the Xp->Vista problem is not far different from hopping between Linux distributions (i.e. one moment your drivers work, then it doesn't, now the app work, now it doesn't, now you need special versions and the dev did not make one yet...).

I'm sure if Win7-mobile can retain all the previous application support + integration + easy app development PLUS get an interface that is the equivalent of the Iphone/Android it'll kick whatever Linux OS-flavor is out there hard. You have to keep in mind that unlike in the PC world, we don't really pay for the mobile-OS separately..so the whole "it's free, it's open source" agenda don't really fly on mobiles.

Android quality apps are not mysteriously going to be "free" either (i believe you already pay of them) , and we'll again be at a "Outlook vs. Thunderbird" scenario. As free as Thunderbird is , it's not even remotely in the same league as Outlook (used to its full capacity) .

Hardware companies will have to release "vanilla" phones where i can choose what to put on there before i'd say Linux will get an advantage.
 
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