Is it time to ditch Windows Mobile?
Windows Mobile 6.5 is rumored to offer cosmetic upgrades, not major feature changes.
(Credit: Mobilemag.com)For all the talk there's been about Microsoft's big Vista problem, much less has been made of its smaller operating system, Windows Mobile, which has some major problems of its own. Truth be told, I'm a longtime Windows Mobile user and I have to say it's been a frustrating ride. There are things I really like about the OS--and things I find really irritating. However, the frustration stems from the fact that every time I think it's really going to turn a corner, Windows Mobile continues to disappoint. And I'm seriously considering giving up on it.
Take my current situation. I own a Sprint Mogul. Like with all cell phones--and smartphones for that matter--I was smitten with it when I first got it. It was a nice upgrade over the PPC-6700--not only in terms of design, but it performed better all around. Alas, with time, it's experienced its share of problems, even with a couple of firmware upgrades that gave it faster data speeds from Sprint's newest 3G network (Rev A), added GPS, and fixed a few bugs. I need a new battery, the keyboard doesn't work as well as it used to, the phone freezes a fair amount, and when I touch icons or open fields on the touch screen, it often takes a few taps to get the reaction I want. (Some people refer to this as the Windows Mobile "delay" syndrome).
I've been tempted to migrate to the Mogul's successor, the HTC Touch Pro, but I'd be looking at spending about $300 on that new model with a couple of rebates thrown in, one of which is of the mail-in variety (I hate those). Of course, to get those discounts I'd have to sign a new two-year contract, which wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if I didn't know that by the time my contract was up--in June--Sprint would be offering the Palm Pre, AT&T would probably have a new rev of the iPhone, and at least one (if not more) new Google Android phone should be available. I also like the looks of Nokia's N97. Why should I use up my potential discounts when the offerings will be look better a few months from now?
Even though it isn't saying it, I think Microsoft knows it's got a challenging situation brewing--which is why you're starting to hear the company talk a lot more about Widows Mobile. In the middle of February, to bridge the gap between version 6.1 and 7.0 of the OS, we'll see 6.5, and Microsoft execs are starting to allude to new features and fresh starts. Meanwhile, of course, Google, Apple, Blackberry, and Nokia (Symbian) will continue to upgrade their mobile operating systems.
The biggest problem for Windows Mobile has always been that it's bloated and runs too slowly. It's just a beat or two (well, maybe more) behind the iPhone OS in terms of zippiness and it probably doesn't help that HTC throws its own carrier-centric, custom user interface on top of the OS. The integration of multimedia applications has been woeful: the mobile version of Windows Media (which includes video and music playback) is simply pathetic and neither the Touch Pro or Mogul have standard headphone jacks. True, Windows Mobile has always been more geared to business and corporate professionals, but now that the iPhone offers Microsoft Exchange support, more of those types are migrating to the Apple camp.
On the plus side, the Mogul and Touch Pro have some things in their favor. Both models have memory card slots (you can swap cards in and out), removable batteries, and most importantly for me, they can be used as wireless modems for your laptop via a Bluetooth or USB connection. The voice-based turn-by-turn GPS on the Touch Pro is nice (so long as you can get a Sprint PCS connection) and the Mogul and Touch Pro shoot video and have stereo Bluetooth--features currently missing on the iPhone. I also prefer a physical keyboard to the iPhone's virtual keyboard. And finally, Sprint's all-you-can-eat data plan is significantly less expensive than AT&T's iPhone data plan. Much has been made about the cost of ownership of the iPhone compared with other phones, and there's no doubt I'd be saving money in the long run with a Sprint smartphone, whatever it is.
I'm trying to hang on, but it's tough. It's the little stuff that bugs me. For instance, it took four tries to sync the phone with my desktop PC (using the Mobile connectivity software built into Vista) and the integration between PC and phone is still archaic and lame compared to what you get with the iPhone. While it's nice that you can run multiple applications at the same time on a Windows Mobile device, the OS still doesn't seem to manage its resources well and gets bogged down. (I'm always closing out applications that keep running unnecessarily in the background.) Software/firmware upgrades are few and far between and I lost any desire to add new software packages to the phone because it was hard to find them and they cost too much. I envy all the free and cheap applications you can download to the iPhone from Apple's much-lauded App Store. It also hurts when your 70-year-old father taunts you with his new iPhone, saying how great it is. (No parent should achieve tech superiority--not in my family anyway.)
Microsoft is vowing to fix a lot of the things that irk me. The multimedia features will certainly be improved and a rumored app store, SkyMarket, is in the works along with Xbox 360 and Zune integration. In a recent article by CNET's Ina Fried, Andy Lees, the Senior Vice President of Microsoft's Mobile Communication Business unit, says some interesting things about the future of Windows Mobile, the mistakes the company has made, and how a new strategy implemented a year ago will pay dividends over the next 18 months. Lees talks about how next year's phones will be incredibly powerful, feature "dual-core processors, super-fast data connections, and graphics power rivaling that of the original Xbox."
On paper, at least, that all sounds exciting. But I have a feeling that Windows Mobile 6.5 will be just another tiny incremental improvement that just won't cut it. Can I hold out for Windows Mobile 7? If it turns up in June, maybe. If not, it's probably sayonara--or, as they say in Redmond, goodbye.
As always, feel free to comment. Will the iPhone, Android, and Palm Pre bury Windows Mobile? Or will Microsoft deliver on its promise to build a superior mobile OS?
Disclaimer: I was able to play around with a review sample of the HTC Touch Pro, but Sprint was unable to temporarily transfer my Sprint number over to the phone so I could use it on a day-to-day basis for a few weeks and really get to know it. So my observations of the phone are somewhat superficial. Feel free to tell me what you think of the phone if you own it.
Hunkered down in New York City, Executive Editor David Carnoy covers the gamut of gadgets and writes his Fully Equipped column, which carries the tag line "The electronics you lust for." He's also the author of "Knife Music," a novel. E-mail David. Follow David on Twitter.
After that I got the Palm Treo 650, which was much more user friendly and intuitive. Granted it was huge, but it did a lot well (I had also switched to a Mac at home so that was part of the reason I got the Palm). However, the Palm OS never improved, and the new phones were boring.
Now I have a Nokia N96, and I like Symbian a lot. It sort of splits the difference between Windows Mobile and Palm. It's generally easy to use and works well with multimedia stuff, like Palm, and it works well as a business device, but can be frustratingly illogical as well, like Windows Mobile. Also, Symbian ran a lot better on my Nokia N82 than it does on the N96. The N96 has been very buggy. Things seem to be better since I downloaded ver. 12 of the software, but the initial release should never have been.
Windows Vista: A bomb from the beginning despite Microsoft bloggers who continue to strain to have us believe is the best thing since sliced bread. It isn't. Even Microsoft's CEO admitted that it was a failure. Their Seinfeld ads, to the tune of at least 10 million dollars, carried the stench of desperation.
Xbox: Yeah. Most users love it. But there aren't enough of them to make it profitable and, being long in the tooth, the light at the end of the tunnel burned out long ago.
Zune: This is the hardest part. Zune owners seem to love what they have. That having been said, there are very few people who own a Zune, and far less who want one. Get rid of it.
Microsoft needs to get back to its roots. It needs to start making an attractive operating system. It needs to not have to fend off competition from people like Apple and Linux.
This is all a hard pill to swallow for Microsoft, but sometimes you have to eat your vegetables.
1.) Vista: Yeah... It's a marketing failure. As an OS, it's realy not that bad. There WERE issues - mainly with drivers - when it first came out. If there was a failure there, it was Microsoft's inability to get hardware vendors to get off their collective duffs and write drivers early enough in the game. By now most of those issues are resolved. Add to that Apple's incessant FUD machine spewing all manner of outright lies about it, and Vista sank pretty fast.
2.) XBox 360: The XBox (oriignal) has been long retired. But the 360's only a few years old. Not quite so long in the tooth. There are new services popping up for it all the time. It's not quite so dead as you might think.
3.) Zune: Using your logic, Apple should quit making Macs because they're not as popular as Windows boxes.
AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN... Just because you're not the market leader and are late to the game doesn't mean you should abandon all hope and not even try.
4.) Microsoft is doing rather well with it's "roots". Windows 7 (beta 1) is nice. Very slick, faster than Vista, and in many cases, faster than XP. Given they've got a LOT of people working for them, they can afford to have multiple fingers in multiple pies...
They didn't even design DOS, the foundation of their empire; they leased, then purchased it from a smaller company, Seattle Computer Products, when IBM was about to market the first PC and it's deal with Digital Research for CP/M fell through. They then went on to purchase pretty much every important software title they currently own, beginning with Word.
Gates has never been an innovator. His success has always consisted largely of smoke and mirrors, and being in the right place at the right time. What is his reward for this? Becoming the richest man in the world. Yeah, life's fair.
I gotta admit, in terms of intuitive design, Windows Mobile is a joke. But as an excuse to totally geek out and make a gadget your own, it's still top-notch.
http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2005/5/9/technology/10901961&sec=technology
I can't understand the delay. I get a feeling there is some internal lack of direction - split between creating a generic platform that emulates Windows and more of a closed device that emulates Apple.
On top of that, how do you make the most of the 1000s of applications written for Windows CE while still take advantage of the latest hardware and cloud computing.
6.5 looks like a rev of the existing platform. And 7 looks like something different entirely - with a <a ="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Cairo">Windows Cairo<a> like delivery schedule.
I currently use an I-phone and my wife has BB 9000 Bold. My son uses a Neo Freerunner running open-moku. All are on ATT.
I hated the older BB OS I found it to be cumbersome and you had to wade down in menus just like windows to get anything done. Too many steps. The Bold seems to have fixed some of this and the screen is beautiful. The proprietary OS and lack of software options is a negative.
The HTC Advantage was a great device but the WM OS made it a pain to use. I wish there was a stable Linux that could be ported but Open-Moku is just not ready enough for prime time.
The Freerunner is a great programmers platform for working with and my son loves his but it is not a day to day phone and is only straight GSM though it runs as fast as many 3 G phones. It can run Debian Linux as a mini computer and still be a cool phone. Too high maintainance for the non-geek.
The I-phone is OK. I wish it had a better browser. Mobile Safari is clunky and crashes too often. The extra software is not bad but a lot of the apps are just junk. The medical software I really want is not available due to the apple control issues. I am forced because of my phone to continue to have Windows OS on my computer in order to run I-tunes (which I really hate) in order to update and keep my phone current. Except for my phone sync I use Ubuntu.
I loved my Palms both prior to phones and the 650. The OS just worked and was really great for ease of use. It just was too outdated at some point. The 680 was plagued by quality issues which makes me worry about the pre. But I really would like to take a look once a GSM version is available.
My take is that for me future hope is on Palm surviving, being better about QC and moving the medical software I like to use to the new OS. Except for that I would probably go with the Bold as the best overall current device with the Apple a close second.
thanks
Phonegal
I switched to an iPhone and don't regret it one bit. The phone actually works. And, I don't know where you live, but my AT&T bill is about the same price as my old 'Sprint Everything' plan (both with the same phone plan in terms of minutes). The only difference is I have the 5000 text msgs/month instead of unlimited now. The difference over two years is <$50. I'd gladly pay it for a device that works as its supposed to.
There are multiple aspects of this issue that I believe deserve to be discussed independently before merged together:
1. Microsoft is an effective packager of proven technologies. This means that they are generally behind the curve on technology, but when they finally reach parity, they do so with muscle, braun, and interconnectedness that keeps them viable despite the issues and the pain associated with the usability and user experience.
2. Microsoft is much more successful designing technologies for IT managers than individuals. SQL Server, SMS, Exchange, IE, and even WinMo -- they are all corporate IT solutions that have mass appeal to large organizations.
3. The mobile space has converged to two types of phones -- feature phones and smart phones. The problem is, it's more granual than that. The Touch Pro is based on WinMo 6.1 Pro, which is officially a "Pocket PC" operating system. Think about that -- a Pocket PC. If you look at the Touch Pro as a mini PC that is also a phone, that's quite a different device than an iPhone -- which is essentially a digital entertainment and utility gadget that is also a phone. A gadget has a defined purpose and is designed around that purpose. The iPhone shines as a gadget (not to belittle it -- it's a fine gadget!). But you just can't really compare the iPhone to a Touch Pro, because a Touch Pro has the depth, flexibility, openness and structure of a full-on PC. Complete with registry settings, task managers, and the like. It's a full, multi-tasking PC that fits in your pocket. Apple was smart enough to realize that a ton of "average people" don't want or need a PC in their pocket, so they designed a gadget that takes the best bits of a PC, a PDA and a phone and created the super-gadget that is a swiss-army-knife of fun and utility. But for those who really do want a PC in their pocket, the Touch Pro is going to fill that bill, completely.
4. The Touch Pro's TouchFlo3D GUI is a valiant attempt by HTC to add a "gadget layer" on top of the Pocket PC. While most reviewers scoff at this and claim it makes the device even less user-friendly and more confusing, I think it's a wonderful innovation. It allows the Touch Pro/FUZE to have a dual-personality -- it can be a gadget that gives you quick access to most of the things you need on a daily basis: SMS, Email, Web, Weather, Favorite Apps, etc. But when you need power and flexibility, you can easily go right into WinMo and do what you need to do -- be it edit a PowerPoint or Word document, decompress an audio file, or whatever it is you would need a PC to do.
5. Contrary to many reviews I've read, I do not find the base TF3D to be laggy or slow. I find it to be quite snappy, actually. There are times when there is a lag, but it is usually after I've loaded up too many apps in memory. That's normal PC behavior, but it's not good gadget behavior.
In the end, I would like to use a metaphor to describe the difference between the iPhone and the Touch Pro:
The iPhone is desert. It's flavorful, sweet, tasty, and just lovely to experience. The Touch Pro is your dinner -- it's full of protein, it has fiber, it's got veggies and starches, and the like. But how can you compare dinner to desert? You just can't. They serve different purposes, and comparing a steak to ice cream just doesn't make any sense. Yet, mobile phone reviewers do this all the time with WinMo vs. iPhone.
Despite the fact that WinMo should not be thought of as "desert" or a "gadget," it does not excuse for a moment how slow and unresponsive Microsoft has been with the platform. It's essentially unchanged for 4 years. You just can't have those types of product cycles in this day in age. Microsoft needs a whole new development culture if it is to remain competitive.
I predict that WinMo 7 will be a game changer, like Windows 95 was for windows. But unlike 1995, the pace of tech progress is much faster, and it's questionable if the Microsoft culture that grew in the 80s and peaked in the 90s is really up for a revolution in product development design methodology required to turn around new versions at a pace required to remain competitive outside of conservative IT circles.
Jon Deutsch
jon [at] capitalddesign.com
1. granual = granular
2. desert = dessert
Cheers,
Jon Deutsch
jon [at] CapitalDDesign.com
A couple of my friends got one at the time. They were on a waiting list to get the freaking thing. I asked them straight up - "You know we don't have 3G here, right?" They just kinda looked at me all confused. "No" was the standard reply. Ah, shiny metal objects!
My battery lasts about 2 days with moderate usage. This is really great when comparing to other high-power smartphones. I experience no glitches. It does look like a little brick, even though it's quite comfortable to hold, and I don't know what to say about your assertion that it's a POS, as you're certainly entitled to your opinion.
The Pre might save us all... but Sprint is not the right carrier for such a game-changing device. A shame that needed to partner with a 2nd tier provider that's not GSM.
I was not smearing Sprint as a second-tier provider. Three things baked into that statement:
1. I was reacting to the brand impact/awareness of Sprint vs. AT&T and Verizon. Sprint is not a niche player by any means, but it's not one of the top 2 -- and it's not #1 within its technology sphere (CDMA).
2. Baked into "second tier" for me and many others is the lack of global technology -- GSM. So, in that frame, Verizon is 'second tier' as well! It continues to stun me how/why carriers would invest in proprietary cell phone technology when the world is shrinking, flat, and getting crowded.
3. The real numbers are below. Sprint is #3 overall, and #2 to Verizon, their CDMA competition. Now, it's very fair to argue that Alltel, et al are truly "2nd tier" in terms of their subscriber base. But look at Sprint... yes, their numbers are grouped in the "top tier," yet they only have 78% of the subscribers that Verizon has, and they are losing market share quickly while the competition is gaining. So, on the one hand, they are grouped in the first tier, but in terms of brand value + subscriber trends, they are teetering between the 1st and 2nd tier.
With that teetering, combined with the limitations of CDMA, I -- and many others -- just can't get excited about a device locked into that network.
PS - honestly, and this might be a bias I have, I thought T-Mobile was higher up than Sprint in terms of market share. Again, this could be my bias towards GSM and global footprint. But I really thought before I saw these numbers that Sprint would be far below T-Mobile.
Jon [at] CapitalDDesign.com
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Operator Subsriber Base Net Additions Total Churn Postpaid Churn ARPU Data ARPU Revenues
AT&T Mobility 71.4 million 1.3 million 1.70% 1.20% $50.18 $10.80 $11.8 billion
Verizon Wireless 67.2 million 1.5 million 1.19% 0.93% $51.40 $11.94 $11.7 billion
Sprint Nextel 52.8 million -1 million 2.45% $56 $11.50 $8 billion
T-Mobile USA 30.8 million 981,000 2.60% 1.70% $51 $8.50 $5.19 billion
Alltel Corp. 13.2 million 385,000 1.83% 1.34% $53.64 $7.50 $2.3 billion
U.S. Cellular 6.2 million 80,000 1.40% $52.06 $962.1 million
MetroPCS 4.4 million 452,000 4.00% $42.22 $662 million
Leap Wireless 3.09 million 230,000 3.60% $44.98 $468.4 million
Centennial** 662,700 12,600 2.00% $70 $5.45 $137.8 million
Rural Cellular 790,431 -274 1.80% $77 $167.2 million
The best thing for Microsoft is for them to PERMANENTLY lose market share for their OSs, web browser & office products. Then they will be forced to constantly innovate, like other companies, to gain/retain market share. As a result, consumers & business users will benefit.
But you do have a point. When they're FORCED to do something they do it fast and they do it better. After the Vista debacle, they churned out Windows 7 like greased lightning and did it very well.
And yes I agree about Microsoft gotten to big for themselves scr** you attitude we are the only game in town. yea right think again guys My company bought 4000 new smartphones and guess what NO WINDOWS Got tired of the old response well we fixed it in the next release and when you ask what century will that be. I'm so tired of Microsoft I dumped XP for Linux on my dell laptop. Talk about a speed deamon now.
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by action03
January 29, 2009 8:20 AM PST
- I think that before all you people give up on WinMo, you ought to try the new Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. It is the fastest Windows phone I've ever used and it has the sleekest design of any phone. it is unlocked, which means there is no AT&T or T-Mobile junk already on it. It also has Sony's own Panels Interface, which is sort of like a mini-OS that streamlines Windows itself. The only thing that makes the Xperia unattractive is its price, $800. All I can tell you is that you get what you pay for, and with the Xperia you get the best. Take my word for it, and go try it out at the Sony Style store nearest you.
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by thedementedboy
January 29, 2009 7:11 PM PST
- hey, yeah, before i give up on a crappy, tyrant of a mobile OS, i'm going to go out and buy an $800 phone that uses and OS that I DONT LIKE. and the xperia isnt at some store in the US. you have to buy it online. by far one of the dumbest posts ive read on this site. loser.
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