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Earlier this week we told you guys that Windows Mobile 6.5 was going to stick around after Windows Phone 7 hits the masses. It would even take on a new name — Windows Phone Classic. With everyone sticking around and playing nice at this party, you’d think that maybe current WinMo 6.5 handsets might get a little Windows Phone 7 love. Sorry to burst your bubble.
Microsoft Mobile Communications Business Director Aaron Woodman told CNET Asia, “I don’t know if any Windows Mobile 6.5 device today meets those specifications.” It sounds like your average Microsoft move: if you want the new software, you’ll also have to get new hardware because your old junk just isn’t gonna cut it, baby.
The new handsets are getting primo parts such as Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor (no Tegra, sorry). WinPho 7, being a fresh OS and more intensive than its predecessors, will undoubtedly need hardware resources that most 6.5 devices just don’t have, but don’t fret. Unlike everyone staying on Windows XP when Vista came out, upgrading to WinPho 7 out of WinMo 6.5 is definitely a move in the right direction. WinMo 6.5 is going to stick around for enterprise and developing countries, so unless you’re tied to the OS for those reasons, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind ditching your current 6.5 handset for a shiny new WinPho 7 device when it comes out.
Q&A: Microsoft on Windows Phone 7 Series
CNET Asia
BARCELONA--You didn't hear? Microsoft has at long last announced the Windows Phone 7 Series at Mobile World Congress. Forget whatever impressions you have of the current Windows Mobile operating system as the new 7 Series is unlike anything we've seen. The user interface has been completely reworked to feature live tiles, panoramic screens and enhanced gaming and music experiences. Microsoft knew it had to deliver something with pow at the annual mobile tradeshow, and it did deliver. While the first devices aren't expected until the year-end holiday season, there's still a lot to know about the new software.
The new Windows Phone 7 Series interface looks nothing like its predecessors'.
We sat down with the director of Mobile Communications Business, Aaron Woodman, the general manager for Asia in the Mobile Communications Business, Natasha Kwan, and the head of Mobile Services, Manish Ladha, to discuss everything, from the software to hardware and services.
Windows Phone 7 Series
What is the Windows Phone 7 Series and is there a particular significance with the number 7 or the new naming convention? Do you think the new name will confuse users?
Woodman: There were four big pieces of news yesterday [Monday]. The biggest was Windows Phone 7 Series and all the changes in the product around smart designs, integrated experiences and the Windows Phone hubs. The second was we brought Xbox Live and Zune to Windows Phone for the first time and we will take that internationally. The third was about a specific set of partners, mobile operators and OEMs that have committed to be early launch partners. The last piece of news was on the Q4 holiday time frame launch in time for the seasonal push.
We started changing the brand strategy with Windows Mobile (WM) 6.5. We announced the new brand as Windows Phone and the OS will remain consistent in terms of naming structure, which is Windows Mobile 6.5. That actually was significant for us because it was really the first time we wanted to market software directly to consumers. So we started Windows Phone and we really shipped two products--MyPhone and Windows Marketplace--which helped us start to have a direct relationship with the customer. That was a big step because prior to that, we simply shipped the operating system, while the OEMs and mobile operators had a relationship with the customer. So WM6.5 was a very small incremental step to start that process.
Windows Phone 7 Series is us front center trying to interact with the customers to solve their needs and ultimately taking accountability. I don't think it's confusing. I think it's a change. There are a lot of changes and this is just one of many. In terms of 7, there is no particular significance around 7. There is particular emphasis on Series knowing that we're going to have a selection of phones running a single version of the product.
What took Microsoft so long to publicly announce Windows Phone 7 Series?
Aaron Woodman: I don't know whether I would say it took us so long to announce it. We started to see a pretty significant change in the market place three or four years ago and that was driven by three things. The first was customer expectations. Customers have changed pretty dramatically over the last few years. If you looked at the prices of phones and data plans in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was the businesses that could afford those. There wasn't a lot of end-consumers out there and usage of the product.
The second was technology--what was fundamentally possible on the device and at what price points. We started to see processors, chipsets and price points of data plans come down pretty dramatically. The third was competition. There are two types of competitors. Vertical competitors are people who have the ability to achieve quality entirely because they have the software and can achieve economies of scale to drive down component prices. And also people integrating data.
These three things came together at a time which brought a lot of emphasis on how we had to change to be competitive. That change started over two years ago with a shift in leadership. The result was a strategy behind the 7 Series. There are not a lot of companies that have the ability to step back from what I would argue was a successful strategy in the mobile phone space. Today, we still sell a ton of phones.
So I don't feel late with it. I always wished I had more innovations sooner, but I think we definitely stepped back, took our time and were willing to make some pretty dramatic changes.
Dramatic it is, since the interface is unlike anything we've seen before. But how do you intend to keep up with the competition since the first devices on the new OS aren't expected until Q4 2010?
Woodman: I think we have a very unique perspective on the business. What we've seen is that most of our competition focuses on just bringing applications to the forefront. They use a very classic design language that we pioneered with a lot of our work on the desktop. Our perspective puts us into a different place because we focus much more on the customer end of the tasks and the ability to complete what you want to do. We fully expect apps to participate in that new design language. That perspective, I would argue, is quite unique to the marketplace today, and that's what results in such a different look and feel of the product. And then we brought some differentiation that I would argue most phone or phone software providers simply don't have. Xbox Live is a social game backbone with a community of over 23 million. That's not something Nokia and Apple has. They need to have a partner to do that and that makes it more difficult to do deep integration.
I would also argue that the search engine and data behind that allows us to do a very unique implementation of things like maps, search and results. If you look at the competition, there is only one provider which has that same product and that's Google. If you look at the music space, we have the PC desktop software and the ability to think about the rich integration between the PC and the phone, and the only one that kind of does that today is Apple. If you start to add these pieces together, you can identify unique competitors like MyPhone, MobileMe and Ovi. As a whole , there are very few people who have these assets. What I can say about our competitors is that they are very respectful and have great products, but I feel very good about my ability to differentiate both in the short and long term.
Why would anyone want to buy a 7 Series device over an iPhone, Android, Nokia or a BlackBerry?
Woodman: I think there are two reasons, and probably the biggest reason is that people will be drawn to the design. I really do think that's the case when you start focusing on things like the task rather than the applications. I think people will be drawn to the fact that they are able to see their information quickly, easily and in a readable fashion. Also, we thought about the design in terms of the motion and transitions where you see things fly in and out in a very dynamic fashion.
The second thing people will be drawn to is the idea of taking the most common tasks and bringing them together. People are a great example where today you really get fragmented in the people experience. And we start to see some people do some very, very lightweight integration of social networking. We think we are going to deliver that in a way that is going to be quite unique.
What operating system does Windows Phone 7 Series run on? Is there a name for it?
Woodman: There's product brand and product line. The brand is Windows Phone and Windows Phone 7 Series is the product line. The OS will be Windows Phone OS 7.
Are the codes different from the current CE codes?
Woodman: Yes, all the software was revisited when we built Windows Phone 7 Series. Nobody felt like an incremental change was going to get us to a point where we felt we would be competitive over the next several years. Across the board, I don't think anyone felt restrained to stay inside our current development model. We'll come back again and talk about that at MIX (a Microsoft Web design/development event) in March.
How can manufacturers differentiate their products?
Aaron Woodman: You'll see mobile operators and OEMs bring differentiation into the software experience through unique access to some tools. That said, you won't see any user experience on top of Windows Phone 7 Series. You won't see any skinning and those sort of things. There is so much fragmentation where the ecosystem is kind of butting heads against the same innovation. You won't see any opportunity for any OEM or third-party app developer to take over the user experience.
Hardware
What has Microsoft done since the acquisition of Danger? Are there any developments on that front and what are the company's plans for Danger?
Woodman: What I will tell you is that the number one thing we got from Danger is really about people and their expertise in the mobile phone space. You'll see a lot of benefits here as we start to think about how to structure hardware and work with hardware partners.
Can you give a straight answer on whether Microsoft will release a consumer phone line?
Woodman: Just answer this straight? [Exasperated laughter] The answer is, I don't really know. And the reason I don't know is we have mobile as a strategy as a company and I will tell you the company is not aggressive in that marketplace. If we felt like there was an opportunity to do something really compelling and different, we would do it. That said, Microsoft has a partner-driven model and we believe in the benefits of partnerships.
What are the hardware specifications Microsoft is laying out for OEMs?
Woodman: We will provide the OS primarily to software developers in March. Every 7 Series device will have a Qualcomm chip. It will be touch-based. There won't be any non-touch, but that's not saying there won't be any keyboard devices, so they will all be touch and capacitive. There is a single aspect ratio. It will have Wi-Fi and GPS and other services which we will talk about soon.
Can the users of the current Windows Mobile software upgrade to the new one when it comes out?
Woodman: I don't know if any Windows Mobile 6.5 device today meets those specifications.
How many 7 Series devices can users expect this year?
Woodman: A billion! No, I don't know. You saw the announcement of the OEMs and it's really up to them in terms of how many devices they release in the different markets.
Windows Mobile 6.x
What happens now to Windows Mobile 6.5, or even 6.5.3? Are you going to completely phase out the current WinMo or will it continue with a different proposition?
Woodman: We don't have a specific timeline for Windows Mobile 6.5. It still has a lot of demand and value for both OEMs and customers today. The reality is that demand will determine the lifespan of Windows Mobile 6.5. So as long as OEMs and customers find value there, we'll continue to support and sell the product.
Are there going to be new devices coming out this year?
Kwan: Yes. When we announced Windows Mobile 6.5 in October last year, we said we will continue to have updates. WM6.5.3 is an update in terms of added feature functionality. In the WM6 platform, there were a lot of legacy applications that were written with the stylus in mind. So we have the magnifier to enhance the touch experience for these apps. We also anticipate 14 new devices out in Asia in the next six months.
Are the target user groups of Windows Mobile 6.5, 6.5.3 and Windows Phone 7 Series different?
Kwan: The target audience is similar. Internally, we call it the life maximizer, but that's really about the 23-35 age group. We are talking about a group of people who are actually quite settled in what they do. They are confident people. They have a lot of priorities to juggle at work and in personal lives. Yet, they also want their phone to be able to help them obtain information to make their decision.
With Windows Phone 7 Series, we have built the OS from the ground up. We really want to take a lot of accountability in the user experience. We want to ensure that we build greater quality and consistency with the phone and have an integrated experience. For WM6.5, it is going to be the platform where we allow OEM partners to continue to have their unique user interfaces. It is also a platform today where a lot of enterprise business apps are being built. More and more, we are seeing that the phone is critical for a lot of these enterprise apps. That's where WM6.5 continues to hold a lot of strength in a managed enterprise environment.
Services
Will the entire suite of Live services be available on Windows Phone 7 Series?
Ladha: We will continue to provide the existing experience even as we go into the 7 Series. It's not really classified as Windows Live, but within the People Hub, there will be updates coming from Windows Live or Facebook. Essentially, it's getting all your communication in one place.
Will there be Live services specific to 7 Series?
Ladha: Xbox Live and Zune are new to Windows Phone 7 Series. On WM6.5, you have Marketplace and MyPhone, and that will continue on for the 7 Series.
...
...
What kind of gaming experience can users look forward to on the 7 Series devices? And what do developers have to look out for?
Ladha: That's still evolving and we will be discussing that in the next conference. You can see your avatars on your Windows Phones. You will get the same experience as on the Xbox, but this question of which games and to what extent is still being defined.
Assuming I have an Xbox and some games, do I have to repurchase the games to play on the handset?
Ladha: The actual mechanics in terms of which games and the payment process will be disclosed at a later stage.
Which version of the IE browser is it?
Ladha: The IE browser on the 7 Series is not really IE7 or IE8 from the PC but is built specifically for the mobile device. Previously, on WM6.5, we had Pocket IE, so it's an evolution of that. But it also has a lot of elements from the IE7 and IE8 in terms of the experience.
What is the name of this IE browser?
Ladha: We are not disclosing that right now.
It was said during the press conference that every 7 Series device is a Zune. Does that mean there won't be anymore dedicated Zune media players?
Ladha: We won't be commenting on that right now. Each and every 7 Series device will have the entire Zune experience in terms of playback and user interface currently available on the Zune HD.
What's the portfolio of Live services?
Ladha: Hotmail, Messenger and Photos are the more popular ones. There's also Spaces, but it's not that prominent. SkyDrive is a very popular service on the PC. However, we have a similar service which is called MyPhone.
It seems there's some duplication of services. Does Microsoft plan to combine them moving forward?
Ladha: I won't call it duplication of features. It's just that on the phone, there is no Windows Live SkyDrive for mobile. Instead, it's MyPhone. So it's ultimately performing the same actions.
my opinion
just microsoft's illusions for forcing people to buying new crapgadgets just for playing with new os.
Sina™ said:
my opinion
microsoft's illusions for forcing people to buying new crapgadgets just for playing with new os.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and that will only work with the help of those users who wana change from iphone or symbian and move to winmo7. i doubt power users of android and winmo 6.5.x will prefer much of this new limited environment of winmo7.
with what they think they r providing will be gr8 for end user. i can assure that winmo7 is gonna fall like vista.
winmo 5-6.5.x has never been a sexy OS. it only worked cause most of its users know its power of customization. thats the reason winmo has been living for soo long. without that i doubt they'll b able to sustain much. i may be turned out wrong but this is what i strongly feel.
that's a good news.
microsoft will fail again & people will switch to android or iphone.
but what if xda devs fail to port android to wm 6.xx devices?
Sina™ said:
that's a good news.
microsoft will fail again & people will switch to android or iphone.
but what if xda devs fail to port android to wm 6.xx devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i doubt xda will fail at portin androind. sooner or later they will. like they have done for hd and tp2.
That's right, WP7 might not for power user ... if and only if it is quite limited in terms of customization / tweaking, just like iPhone.
But, it is early to tell that WP7 will fail.
Why?
Because power user is much more limited in terms of numbers compared to regular users.
And dont forget people JUMPING platform from iPhone, Nokia, BB, Android, others to WP7 ... just to try something new or they think it is more attractive.
You cannot rule that out.
Mr. Makk said:
and that will only work with the help of those users who wana change from iphone or symbian and move to winmo7. i doubt power users of android and winmo 6.5.x will prefer much of this new limited environment of winmo7.
with what they think they r providing will be gr8 for end user. i can assure that winmo7 is gonna fall like vista.
winmo 5-6.5.x has never been a sexy OS. it only worked cause most of its users know its power of customization. thats the reason winmo has been living for soo long. without that i doubt they'll b able to sustain much. i may be turned out wrong but this is what i strongly feel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Buying a phone should not be enforcement.
I feel sorry for you if you were forced to buy a phone / gadget
There are choices as you said, iPhone, Android, Nokia, upcoming MeeGo or even Bada OS.
Sina™ said:
my opinion
just microsoft's illusions for forcing people to buying new crapgadgets just for playing with new os.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont want new gadgets every year, i want strong 3rd party support like iphone.
We've read the news stories and blogs on the different "chassis" that will be offered with WP7S, but the latest from MIX10, suggests that Microsoft is sinking themselves without another option for techies and business users. I understand the attempt to imitate the iPhone; it's a get-rich quick scheme and opens the market for a lot more people buying Windows Phones. But if all the eggs are in that basket, it won't survive. If you've got the normal population on hand, overall, WP7S will lose. Techies and business users CHOSE Windows Mobile for its capabilities. If you don't cater to them (and MIX10 sounds like you don't), then what do you have that will sell?
I just think that Microsoft is smarter than this and perhaps I, myself, am getting a little ahead of the game. Yes, the news from MIX10 is terribly disappointing and sad, but is this just a PIECE of the pie? Will there be other versions within this so-called "series" that allow copy and paste, multitasking, file exploration, registry editing, etc.?
Please, someone help me from falling into a Windows Depression.
i think there originaly was some talk about there going to be two versions of WM7. a media Edition and a business Edition..
Let's not forget Pink also... which is another piece of puzzle that I don't think we understand. Supposedly, that is also running Win CE...
i am more interested in the business version(windows mobile classic) which is going to be continuation of winmo 6.x.
Hey Guys,
just starting a new threat to look for info and ideas about the next subject:
I am going to get a new phone in the next few months. Probable looking for an HTC with WP7.
I dont know if I will like it and I am wondering if these new phones could be flashed back to WM6.5.
Of course I would be willing to help with all kinds of WP7 ideas an tests, even though I am not a developper myself.
So, the statement for the new threat:
--Would it be possible/worhty to make 6.5 roms for WP7 hardware?--
Possible, sure. Likely, no. WM6.5 is, for most intents and purposes, dead. Highly unlikely that anyone puts in the time and effort needed to hack the bootloader, etc of specific devices in order to backport the old OS.
Sander101077 said:
Hey Guys,
just starting a new threat to look for info and ideas about the next subject:
I am going to get a new phone in the next few months. Probable looking for an HTC with WP7.
I dont know if I will like it and I am wondering if these new phones could be flashed back to WM6.5.
Of course I would be willing to help with all kinds of WP7 ideas an tests, even though I am not a developper myself.
So, the statement for the new threat:
--Would it be possible/worhty to make 6.5 roms for WP7 hardware?--
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think u can buy a 6.5phone now
If you're looking for backwards compatibility Windows Embedded Handheld 7 (based on WM6.x) is scheduled for the second half of 2011.
I've been following the conversations backstage and I don't think WM6.5 is dead at all. WP7 has a lot of shortcomings when it comes to business use. No copy/paste, less customization, etc. In fact, it is a dumb smartphone which is more geared for the iphone type consumer...those who would gladly trade endless customization and features for simplicity. Those who look at phones as fashion accessories and toys rather than something designed to get work done more efficiently. Sadly, the market for this is much much larger than the market for serious smart devices. Steve Jobs figured this out which is why the iphone is such a big hit, but most of us here have been looking at these folks going "wow, you can copy/paste now? Neat. I've been doing that for years!".
I had a list at one point which detailed all the things that WP7 does NOT do that 6.5 does and I can tell you that enterprise customers will not accept WP7 as a replacement to WM6.x. Many large companies out here are Microsoft partners with exchange servers, sharepoint, Office suitefor all employees and as a matter of IT support, they only support Windows Mobile so that their IT departments only have to manage MS products. If hey were to cut off SM6.x entirely while rolling out WP7, purchasing departments across the country would make a huge shift to blackberry. I'm certain that this is why RIM decided to go forward with plans for a new OS and why HP purchased Palm with their WebOS. They are both counting on MS doing this.
However, through conversations with various insiders at MS, it appears these fears are unfounded. Windows 6.5 is expected to continue being developed even into next year with possible future upgrades to the OS itself. WP7 will not support skins such as the HTC Sense interface, and because of the business users with business devices - particularly full qwerty devices like the Treo, Glisten, etc - they do expect to continue development.
I have heard rumors that there is actually a long development cycle planned for WM which involves the next iteration of Windows Mobile which will be renamed Windows 7 Professional. This would be in line with MS and their way of doing things and matches up nicely with Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7. I don't know how much of this part is true and how much is just rumors floating around backstage, but it makes a lot of sense.
kfreels said:
I've been following the conversations backstage and I don't think WM6.5 is dead at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
..not dead....dying. The next iteration of 'WM' is BASED on 6.5.x and then in 2011 a version (based on WP7) with XNA and silverlight support is due.
Here's some info on the next 'WM' release....~note...this is not a 'WP' release so doesn't fall under the 'Windows Phone' umbrella, it's a new version of Windows Mobile - Embedded and it;s backwards compatible.
http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/press-releases/microsoft-outlines-commitment-future-enterprise-handheld-devices
..also mentioned here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=6917106&posted=1#post6917106
Moving to General .
I will delete this post with in a week or two, so it doesn't clutter.
kfreels said:
WP7 has a lot of shortcomings when it comes to business use. No copy/paste.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
God, I'm so tired of hearing this. There will be copy&paste, they said it often enough...
I had a list at one point which detailed all the things that WP7 does NOT do that 6.5 does and I can tell you that enterprise customers will not accept WP7 as a replacement to WM6.x. Many large companies out here are Microsoft partners with exchange servers, sharepoint, Office suitefor all employees and as a matter of IT support, they only support Windows Mobile so that their IT departments only have to manage MS products.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All the products you name (Office, Sharepoint, Exchange) are natively supported by WP7. Have you seen ANY WP7 demo video lately?
Can you smell Microsoft getting smarter:
---
Q
Microsoft originally intended to keep WM6 alive as Windows Phone Classic. Will this still be done now that WME has been announced? If yes, for how long?
A: Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile 6.5 will coexist in the market for some time. Windows Mobile provides many advanced enterprise features that large customers rely on in managed environments.
---
More here:
http://tamsppc.tamoggemon.com/2010/07/07/microsofts-frank-prengel-on-windows-mobile/
Old news is old
Why would Microsoft say anything else. If they said they would ditch Windows Mobile entirely to October, people might go out and buy iPhones instead. Can't have that!
Windcape said:
Why would Microsoft say anything else. If they said they would ditch Windows Mobile entirely to October, people might go out and buy iPhones instead. Can't have that!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you know that support for Windows 2000 ends on Tuesday? Microsoft isn't one to leave their enterprise customers hanging. No reason to believe that they aren't being sincere with that promise.
Notice he specifically referenced enterprise, nothing about supporting WM in the consumer space. Seems to me they are now trying to position WM as purely an enterprise OS and are ignoring the (still) millions of non-enterprise owners of WM phones.
Lets not kid ourselves, after WP7 launches you wont see any new consumer WM devices or support, only devices geared for enterprise use like rugged WM devices. Right now they are just marking time, as Windcape said if MS came out and said they are ditching WM in October their sales would plummet even faster than its currently doing.
efjay said:
Notice he specifically referenced enterprise, nothing about supporting WM in the consumer space. Seems to me they are now trying to position WM as purely an enterprise OS and are ignoring the (still) millions of non-enterprise owners of WM phones.
Lets not kid ourselves, after WP7 launches you wont see any new consumer WM devices or support, only devices geared for enterprise use like rugged WM devices. Right now they are just marking time, as Windcape said if MS came out and said they are ditching WM in October their sales would plummet even faster than its currently doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WM has never been positioned as a consumer OS. It's always driven me insane as I'm a "consumer" user but that's the truth. Enterprises have need for more than just ruggedized devices, some use them for general purpose email, etc. Also, WP7 doesn't support chinese, etc so they will continue to launch new devices in those markets. Of course what really matters is the OEMs. You will probably only see a few new devices launched and they will be enterprise focused (stuff like the TP2) since they won't make any money selling consumer WM6 devices with WP7 sitting right there next to it.
The fact is, we non-enterprise WM users are a pretty small minority.
RustyGrom said:
WM has never been positioned as a consumer OS. It's always driven me insane as I'm a "consumer" user but that's the truth. Enterprises have need for more than just ruggedized devices, some use them for general purpose email, etc. Also, WP7 doesn't support chinese, etc so they will continue to launch new devices in those markets. Of course what really matters is the OEMs. You will probably only see a few new devices launched and they will be enterprise focused (stuff like the TP2) since they won't make any money selling consumer WM6 devices with WP7 sitting right there next to it.
The fact is, we non-enterprise WM users are a pretty small minority.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In all the years I have owned a WM device I have never seen it promoted as solely an enterprise OS and NOT being suitable for consumer use, in fact wasnt 6.5 promoted as being suitable for work AND consumer use? Its also hard to believe that the bulk of WM sales are to the enterprise, I doubt very much enterprises put in large orders for devices like the HD2, Diamond, Omnia. And if that really is the case they should stop direct sales of WM devices to consumers, why sell a phone which is advertised with entertainment features like the HD2 was?
efjay said:
In all the years I have owned a WM device I have never seen it promoted as solely an enterprise OS and NOT being suitable for consumer use, in fact wasnt 6.5 promoted as being suitable for work AND consumer use? Its also hard to believe that the bulk of WM sales are to the enterprise, I doubt very much enterprises put in large orders for devices like the HD2, Diamond, Omnia. And if that really is the case they should stop direct sales of WM devices to consumers, why sell a phone which is advertised with entertainment features like the HD2 was?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In more recent times, yes. But 6.5 was just a stop-gap til they could get WP7 into the market. It's still very much targeted at business use. I remember all of the marketing for the Sprint Mogul was solely business oriented. They completely ignored media, etc.
So yes, those devices were targeted at consumers but that wasn't Microsoft doing it. Even look at the ad campaign for WM6.5... it was all about taking office apps with you on the go. Yea, that's exactly what consumers care most about. WM has always been enterprise/business 1st, everyone else 2nd. So not solely for enterprise but that was the clear priority.
But getting back to the original point... MS will continue to support WM as it is today for the next few years at least. Will the OEMs make new devices? Probably in foreign markets and some business focused devices in Europe and the US. But pretty much any device that most people will want to use will be WP7. Once WP7 picks up more enterprise capabilities, I would expect it to shift.
RustyGrom said:
Did you know that support for Windows 2000 ends on Tuesday? Microsoft isn't one to leave their enterprise customers hanging. No reason to believe that they aren't being sincere with that promise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Microsoft released 3 new version of their server-OS product line (Server 2003, 2008, 2008 R2).
I think t's fair to call the support after ten years. I don't think Windows Mobile 1.0 is supported either today!
efjay said:
Lets not kid ourselves, after WP7 launches you wont see any new consumer WM devices or support, only devices geared for enterprise use like rugged WM devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most probably we wouldn't see great new WM devices regardless of what MS thought about it.
Windcape said:
Microsoft released 3 new version of their server-OS product line (Server 2003, 2008, 2008 R2).
I think t's fair to call the support after ten years. I don't think Windows Mobile 1.0 is supported either today!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's my point. There's no reason to believe MS will abandon WM6 anytime soon based off their past history.
" Microsoft Germany: WM 6.5 is here to stay"
Yes... it will stay in a coffin
41:10 into this interview, Brandon Watson confirms no more work being done on WM 6.5:
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/vi...-mobility-partner-panel-q-and-a/qm237zm9?from
Hi,
what more work should they do?
IMHO, the OS is fine as it is. All it needs is adjusting to new hardware, which anyways is the job of the licensee...
Windcape said:
Microsoft released 3 new version of their server-OS product line (Server 2003, 2008, 2008 R2).
I think t's fair to call the support after ten years. I don't think Windows Mobile 1.0 is supported either today!
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A lot of Android and Iphone fanboys simply are yet to realize how deep Microsoft is with enterprise customers and the excellent job they have done at continuing support for legacy systems. Android has already left their early adopters eating sawdust and the system is less than 3 years old. I'm unsure on if the original Iphone was given a viable update to the new Iphone OS4 so I can't comment, but I'm pretty sure they are going to have issues in the future as the hardware demands grow for the Iphone. I think it is awesome that Microsoft is creating a brand new platform that will kick ass while still having a viable system in place for the legacy phones that are out there.
RustyGrom said:
Did you know that support for Windows 2000 ends on Tuesday? Microsoft isn't one to leave their enterprise customers hanging. No reason to believe that they aren't being sincere with that promise.
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If your a large volume customer (5,000+ units, I think, I forget the exact number), you can still get support for Windows 2000. If your willing to pay for it....Pay is the key word. NT4 is still supported if you PAY for it.
Most who were on NT 4 or 2000, moved to XP anyway...if not on 7 (most skipped over vista)
Microsoft abandoning WM for WP?
Are Microsoft completley abandoning Windows Mobile for Windows Phone?
It seems to me that this would be a stupid idea since Windows Mobile is a basically a Mobile OS rather then a Mobile Phone OS.
Wouldn't it be much more logical to have 2 branches, ie a Mobile and Phone?
TheATHEiST said:
Are Microsoft completley abandoning Windows Mobile for Windows Phone?
It seems to me that this would be a stupid idea since Windows Mobile is a basically a Mobile OS rather then a Mobile Phone OS.
Wouldn't it be much more logical to have 2 branches, ie a Mobile and Phone?
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i would agree. 2 are better than one. it would also be better competition towards apple n android. lets go WM.
I doubt it. MS will continue to support WM6.X for a while yet. Now 3rd party support is another story...
No they learned this back in their parrallel solution days. When they had Windows 98/ME running in parrallel with Windows NT & 2000. They decided it was better to integrate both and offer a more robust & easier to use OS in Windows XP.
The same goes for this...they just have to learn how to integrate advanced features + Ease of use into a mobile OS.
But in the shortterm they are running Windows Embedded compact for busiess and wp7 is more consumer driven.
On January 10, 2011, Microsoft announced Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5, the last windows mobile family product. since then it stopped supporting it's best mobile product
examples are closing market, not publishing fresh bing and skype, threatening us it will stop support on live messenger, stopping microsoft facebook app, iexplorer, fully stopping donations do third party software publishers. It is determined to kill this great product.
If microsoft had decided to evolve wm 6.5.5 to windows mobile 7 keeping backwards compatibility, i am sure it could keep windows mobile's big market share. instead of this it decided to create a monster mobile os (windows phone) totally closed, hardware dependent, non customizable. Google was smart enough to keep or adopt wm nice features and dominate with android
Microsoft is fool enough to expect after what it did to wm users (abandoning them), people to trust it again and buy it's new products (windows phone)
So i am opening a petition to show microsoft that wm users are still many and that we demand support, at least on the above products i mentioned.
Please vote here
http://www.ipetition...tion/wmsupport/
Have a look at the following article from the UK's Computing Magazine.
http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/feat...r-windows-as-hillarys-blinds-opts-for-android
It more or less sums it up, when a dedicated user of WM 6.5 handsets, decides to ditch the lot in favour of Android because of the uncertainty involved in WM and Windows Phone, and the incompatibility between them. These devices are far more than phones. They are line of business hand held order terminals that allow the sales representative to produce an on the spot quote for a client. They have become essential tools of the business.
Microsoft, in its attempt to try and follow the Apple model, has alienated countless users. If it involves a Herculean effort to port an application from Windows Mobile 5/6 to Windows Phone 7/8, it is probably not much harder to port it to a completely different platform.
Hillarys was probably not the first company to do this, and I am certain it won't be the last.
See http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2415482
Any SW that pulls contents online or relying on online backend support will likely cease to work. And, if the provider is Microsoft, you are rest assured that it will happen sooner that other 3rd-party providers.
Its indeed sad that Microsoft alienated WM users
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you think Microsoft harmed its customers by stopping support to windows mobile (most of users were businessmen/women). The company harmed itself. i am sure if gates was still the boss he will never get this kind of stupid decision. New CEO seems to get money from google to lead all the company's mobile customers to android. They doing their best about this. Stop one app after another. They think they lead us to windows phone this, but in fact they are leading us to android.
Windows mobile was fully customizable, platform independent, with thousands of apps, mature, tested fast
Windows phone is non customizable (i hate stupid home screen tiles), platform dependent (qualcomm only), with very few apps (fewer for business use), less tested and less beloved.
Android was very smart and covered Microsoft's stupidity, by cloning windows mobile best features (customizable, platform independent, with thousands of apps, now mature, now tested)
Android is the new windows mobile. It is replacing windows mobile (and windows CE) on all portable devices i know. Microsoft shot it's base clients and killed herself. i am never going to buy windows phone as long as they want to keep their OS locked. Most wm lovers too. Once traitor (of customers) all time traitor (in near future MS will betray WP7 and WP8 users for another stupid idea).
if i was MS CEO i would have fired the person had the idea about abandoning wm and start from zero point with Windows Phone on his form. If was CEO's idea he should resign and admit his failure on the stockholders.
It maybe that Windows RT, the ARM Windows 8 OS for tablets, could be going the same way.
Since its launch, all other manufacturers of the devices have pulled out due to disappointing sales. The last to pull its products was Dell, now leaving Microsoft as the sole supplier of the devices in a dwindling share of the market.
Somehow, it all sounds vaguely familiar.
stephj said:
It maybe that Windows RT, the ARM Windows 8 OS for tablets, could be going the same way.
Since its launch, all other manufacturers of the devices have pulled out due to disappointing sales. The last to pull its products was Dell, now leaving Microsoft as the sole supplier of the devices in a dwindling share of the market.
Somehow, it all sounds vaguely familiar.
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Same to me
But Windows Mobile was loads better
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spkraul said:
On January 10, 2011, Microsoft announced Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5, the last windows mobile family product. since then it stopped supporting it's best mobile product
examples are closing market, not publishing fresh bing and skype, threatening us it will stop support on live messenger, stopping microsoft facebook app, iexplorer, fully stopping donations do third party software publishers. It is determined to kill this great product.
If microsoft had decided to evolve wm 6.5.5 to windows mobile 7 keeping backwards compatibility, i am sure it could keep windows mobile's big market share. instead of this it decided to create a monster mobile os (windows phone) totally closed, hardware dependent, non customizable. Google was smart enough to keep or adopt wm nice features and dominate with android
Microsoft is fool enough to expect after what it did to wm users (abandoning them), people to trust it again and buy it's new products (windows phone)
So i am opening a petition to show microsoft that wm users are still many and that we demand support, at least on the above products i mentioned.
Please vote here
http://www.ipetition...tion/wmsupport/
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Click to collapse
Good idea! W.M. has a lot of qualities.
I'm sign the petition but I think I will make a better one on another site. (There will be other reasons for more recipients)
Windows Mobile rocked, and so did my HTC Touch Pro 2!
Actually, I think that was part of MS's motivation to not make WP7 backward compatible with WM - to force people to get new handsets.
If WP7 *was* backward compatible with WM, I'd probably still be using my Touch Pro 2 today (over 4 years after I originally purchased it)!!!
Win Mobile 6.1 is best!
Windows mobile ah yes, this is the best operating system for advanced users. Before winmo I have been using nokia phones such as 3310 and 3510i and it was always too simple and not costumizable, I always wanted to get a device, that is more advaced, costumizable and professional and you know more like desktop computer. I found out that that device is pocket pc. I didn't even mind if it didn't have phone, taking another device for phone stuff, was/is not problem fpr me was never as I prefer dumb phone for actual phone functionality anyway.
So I got this budget pda ipaq rz1710 in 2005 oh yeah its still working and is somewhere), mastered winmo quickly(something majority of users could't do). Even through that PPC had very limited ram and no bt or wifi I loved it, I played games, listened to music, watched full movies, installed programs like pocket plus, mbutton and many that costumize UI. I especially enjoyed customzing it and I still do it on both desktop windows and windows mobile.
In 2007 when first iphone came out, I couldn't give two ****s about this overhyped phone with locked down os, which has kids gui (like all smartphones do today), was/is locked down and not costumizable at all. Instead Iphone I just bought a hx4700 (which I used since and I still do, since its just awesome ppc), love its nice vga screen and the fact it has everything what ipaq rz1700 lacked, such as bt, wifi, cf card, 200% faster cpu, more ram and 128mb rom which enables me to flash all the custom roms.
The only real flaw is touchpad instead dpad, god I hate that thing, what were they thinking? So yeah I gamed less on this pda, than on rz1700 because of that, but I mastered the touchpad and it isn't that bad after you get used to it, sadly it makes games that use dpad much more challenging as it is nearly unplayable.
So here I'm in 2013, still rocking with my hx4700, love this pda, its one of best ppc ever made, so I bought another one this year, due the fact that the old one got really worn, especially screen. It got worn so much that the protective layer of digitizer started pealing off! Oh and I broke two touchpads during those years, so I got the third one from ipaqrepair.com. Touch pad is not just bad its also the least durable part of the pda. Quality of hx4700 is amazing, I caried it every where and the original battery degraded only by 30% of battery life in those years, unlike htc hd2 which had for less than year and battery already barely works now and can die in 20 minutes of use! (probably due the fact I ordered it from china, the phone is original, but the battery is fake, I know that just by the fact I got two batteries with it, which is always a bad sign) I also upgraded the ram to 128mb.
Also I got the htc hd2 and ipaq 214 (2008), both are great, ipaq has nice dpad, awesome battery life, sdhc and wpa2. However compared to its older brother from 2004, the hx4700 its not much of improvement, in 4 years they only managed to go from 64 to 128 mb ram(128mb ram upgrade can be done on hx4700 since 2004!), it had same cpu, same screen and instead of being thiner its actually thicker than hx4700 oh and lets not forget that hx4700 is made of magnesium while ipaq 214 is plastic, but it is not cheap plastic, it does go with the hp quality standards. Even through ipaq 214 isn't that impressive its still a nice vga ppc and its comfortable in hand even through its even bigger than hx4700.
Got a little out of the way, but anyway you can see that I do love windows mobile, I want it come back, but that is unlikely to happen. Microsoft pretty much ditched winmo users in favour of the crappy win phone which is the worst mobile os out there. They went to advanced (and best) to dumb kiddy os, much like the competition, in order to attempt to compete with them, nedless to say they failed. That wasn't enough, they also attempt to bring the todays kiddy smartphone interface to desktop pc, with windows 8 and metro, which also failed. Microsoft just never learns, they should had just stick with winmo to please advanced users and they could still retain bigger marketshare of at least 10% than the laughtable 4% which win phone got now.
Anyway not long ago I finished my custom wm6.1 rom, which includes many modded icons(control panel, taskbar icons, folders, filetype icons,..), lots of must have programs such as pocket plus, quick menu, wk task, resco explorer, pocket music, tcpmp, ramdisk,.. registry tweaks, preconfigured filetypes, settings,...
I can share this rom to anybody interested who has the hx4700.
What did I tell you!
stephj said:
It maybe that Windows RT, the ARM Windows 8 OS for tablets, could be going the same way.
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http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/26/microsoft-kill-windows-rt-larson-green
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/385609/windows-rt-faces-the-axe-microsoft-exec-suggests
I wonder if the guys in the RT forum have heard this yet.
stephj said:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/26/microsoft-kill-windows-rt-larson-green
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/385609/windows-rt-faces-the-axe-microsoft-exec-suggests
I wonder if the guys in the RT forum have heard this yet.
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That's the same game again and again
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I also used WM from version 3 on in so many PDA's I lost count... Then I went to WM Phones... HTC touch diamond, TD2, HD2, et all... But when Windows 7 came out, I couldn't even look at the directory (my wife has one). So Microsoft drove me to Android... Just another example of their unsailsmenship... Yea I know it's not a word... But it's the truth...
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My only phone is still Samsung Omnia i900, which is just perfect. I think i wouldn't use Android as a primary system, so I am going to buy HTC HD2.
the biggest apps windows mobile lack is a translation app (ex google/bing translate) and a more modern internet browser.
zetakey in very fresh (march 2014) but very heavy and makes the phone to stop responding. i hope they can solve it soon. until then ucweb and opera 10 are our only options.
spkraul said:
the biggest apps windows mobile lack is a translation app (ex google/bing translate) and a more modern internet browser.
zetakey in very fresh (march 2014) but very heavy and makes the phone to stop responding. i hope they can solve it soon. until then ucweb and opera 10 are our only options.
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Had tried Zetakey some time back. Pretty heavy and made device unresponsive but it did work, and hey at least it was a plausible way to access HTML5.
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