MWC is a few weeks away – it starts on February 15 – and we’re expecting to see a new version of Windows Mobile, version 7, to be launched with hardware soon to follow. We’ve heard some rumors about potential improvements over the current 6.x codebase, but a developer has told us that this new version is so distant from the old WinMo that it is almost unrecognizable. The worst part? It is completely non-backwards compatible, meaning all WinMo apps are about go extinct.
First, WinMo 7 is essentially a copy of the Zune HD’s kernel. It comes in one screen size and will work best on OLED devices. Microsoft will give official specs to hardware makers and force them to comply or else refuse them access to the OS. This includes a regimented screen and RAM size as well as a minimum processor speed.
If you haven’t guessed, Microsoft is about to get all Apple up in this piece.
The UI looks just like the Zune HD’s with some phone controls built-in. The HD has defined the interface and the use case here, so expect a capacitive multi-touch screen with plenty of media controls.
Now for the nuts and bolts: WinMo 7 has no background processing and will use an Apple-like notification service. There is no system resource access and no threaded processes. In fact, there is no customization at all.
WinMo 7 will not run 6.x code. End of story. It is based on Silverlight and .Net. Everything save a few basic programs will not work under WinMo 7. There is no expectation that this will be a “business device” and the focus is currently on games including some XBox Live functionality for gaming and messaging. There will be a Microsoft App store with an easy approval process.
There is no visual voicemail, probably for patent reasons. As for developers, they’re kind of pissed. As far as we can tell they’re not quite sure they want to take the steps necessary to move over to the new platform. This is a Hail Mary pass and could mean huge changes in the WinMo ecosystem. This could also mean Zune sync software for the Mac, something that we expected when pigs flew.
Special thanks to our fearless tipster.
Game set match – Google wins.
MSFT is late to the party with a closed system and developers are back-logged porting from iPhone to Android where there are handsets today.
The X-box integration is a nice differentiator for them but they need to win over the operators, the handset makers and then the developer community quickly or its going to be a 2 horse race with MSFT watching from the sideline.
I think this is the right direction for MS. From what I’ve seen the Zune HD’s UI is impressive, and you can’t expect them to drag the *ancient* Windows Mobile architecture forward at the cost of being a viable competitor to iPhone and Android. It’s felt like a two-horse race for some time already.
As for tight specs & no customization, it’s going to take nothing less to try and give Apple a run for it’s money. I played with a Nexus One the other day and was still a little aghast at how far they have to go before it’s even as tight & responsive as the iPhone.
I think @dcurtis said it best:
“If you ever feel the iPhone is too constrictive on the UI, just pick up an Android phone for 30 seconds.”
It’s a relief that somebody at MS seems to get this and has been given the mandate to introduce a new era.
Well said. The thing most revealed by this post is that techcrunch does not know tech. Try as they might, their anti microsoft analysis proves the point that they should blog about something other than tech, try lawnmowing biggs.
why is google less scary than msft to you?
IMHO google is a spyware company and I won’t touch their products or spyware services.
but android is opensource, so google cant spy at android users.
Google opens the source of of chrome too. When you install it, did you see all these tricks? Google seems to be a rising evil to me.
Android is opensource, but that doesn’t mean the build you have on your phone is. They could’ve customized it and add so many nasty things in there.
Google is the wolf dresses as a sheep, and we love it because they do things very well and convenient.
Read: The internet is becoming the googlenet
http://www.gubatron.com/blog/2009/12/14/the-internet-is-becoming-the-googlenet/
>”2 horse race”
So does that mean Blackberry is going away? You really know your stuff.
I don’t think anybody really considers RIM to be a serious competitor to Google or Apple, do you?
You don’t realize what market share Blackberry actually has, do you? Or how tiny a piece of the pie Android has?
When it comes to enterprise, yep.
They aren’t a serious competitor in the consumer space. Business-wise, they have it locked up for the moment.
all i want is to stop having to pay the blackberry extortion fees! why is cellular service so damn expensive??
Steve, you might want to look at RIM’s consumer to corporate subscription ratio before making utterly fucking stupid statements like that.
Blackberry won’t go away overnight but the economics are going to make it difficult for them. There is still a service fee for Blackberry where Anroid has the opportunity to share revenue back to the operator. I think the economics are going to make it hard for Blackberry and MSFT over time. The race is far from over but I’m betting on Google & Apple right now
It is very hard to say that Google will win. Do you remember that Google f*cked Motorolla with Nexus One? Do you think any serious hardware venders dare to rely on Android in the future? Microsoft have the clean history of not compete in the Hardware market.
*facepalms* I think your forgetting Microsoft’s PlayforSure, basically Windows for MP3 players. Once they made the Zune, in order to compete with Apple, they shot themselves in the foot.
The thing about Google’s Andriod, I personally believe, is that because it is Open Source it can manipulated into whatever the OEMs want. Anyway, even if it doesn’t succeed in the phone market, doesn’t mean Google is out of the game. Android is already on a TV, and most tablets at CES.
No backwards compatibility, no customization, no background processes… You’ve got to hand it to Microsoft: When they decide to p*ss people off, they go all the way. :)
(If this is all true.)
So – in the spring of 2011 (?), when those shiny WM7 phones come out, there’ll be about a bazillion apps for the iPhone (which will then be 4G, probably with a faster processor and a refined UI) and a range of really interesting Android 2.x devices – but we’ll throw all of those away because, because… tell me again, why?
Ah, comic relief.
You are looking at it all wrong. WinMobile6.x suck big floppy donkey dick. It was made by douche bags for douche bags. It is horrible.
So you and the other Mac/Google mobile OS users are not going to use the new WinMobile OS? So fucking what? You sure as hell aren’t using WinMo 6.x.
Hell, if Linux was ported as an mobile OS it would get more market share than MSFT without help from Google/Android.
So MSFT is going for a niche market to bide their time and hopefully not lose the current 6.x users.
The limitations of the new OS will only be temporary.
Did you even read the article or David’s post who you are replying to?
How is MS not lose the current 6.x users when WinMo7 isnt even backward compatible?
So you’ve not heard of OpenMoko the Linux Open Source Phone? It’s not exactly beating Microsoft in market share there!
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/07/04/openmoko-opensource.html
Erm I don’t see OpenMoko (Linux Phone) beating Microsoft in market share, do you?
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/07/04/openmoko-opensource.html
A phone built around Silverlight has millions of developers and apps already and waiting this is a game changer if Microsoft can pull it off.
A game changer? Riiiiight.
Steve wake up. Msft is constantly competitive, and constantly reworking their tech. If you don’t think that they can come from nowhere and dominate a market, then you are an idiot. Just ask eric schmitt, they kicked his ass when he was at Novell and he went from dominating the server market to zero in the blink of an eye.
These “expert” guys seem to seem to think different:
http://bit.ly/50FRzP
And frankly, their scenario sounds slightly more beleivable to me, especialy given the fact that they base their-wild-rumour-posting on more than one source.
They say there will be TWO itterations of WM7. One for business people and one for “media” purposes (which will launch much later).
So, if any of what was said here is true, my guess is it may only be true for the MEDIA itteration, and that the business version will keep some of the WM strongholdes, such as multitasking and backward compatibility.
Microsoft have made some stupid decisions in the past, but i don’t believe they’re THAT stupid. They (still) have a good user base among the business community and i seriously doubt they’d through all that away for some game+music platform with a phone bolted on it, which they havn’t even tried to market yet.
Anyway, if some of this is true, that would mean that WM7 is not one OS but two. I’d say that would be a smart move from MSFT, since that Apple aproach of “one size fits all” would probably bring their growth to a halt sometime soon, and the over fragmentation that Android faces might also prove problematic.
If there’s any force in the market that can currantly pull two mobile OS’s, that would be MSFT.
PS, Palm tried that “no backward compatibility” trick, and were seriously f**ked. MSFT would be blind to not see that.
Bullshit. Developers will write for platforms where they can make money. Since they now have an opportunity to rewrite an entire platform’s worth of apps what do you think’s going to happen considering, for example, that the paid app sector – games aside – in the iPhone is saturated?
“Dvelopers will write for platforms where they can make money.”
So then you think Apple wins.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/01/apple-responsible-for-994-of-mobile-app-sales-in-2009.ars
At the moment, yes.
Although Ars Technica’s article has some of the most LOL assumptions going in terms of numbers Apple is the Daddy just now.
But that’s 2009, it’s now 2010 and everyone has an app store. Trouble is – and if you were paying attention – Apple’s is now saturated.
iPhone won’t saturate anytime soon. Both the iPod and iPhone continue to outsell the Microsoft equivalent and have for years now.
Uh…apps, chief, not units.
Is this a joke? Is the mentioned developer a trusted source? I don´t believe that Microsoft would go so far as removing the compatibility with the previous version. What about the partner companies that spent years of development? I hope that Microsoft regrets this choice as soon as possible, otherwise, Android will take the lead and a new monopoly will be born.
No, no joke. But it will make me laugh.
I can only laugh at all those companies that were foolish enough to put their applications on Microsoft’s failing Windows Mobile platform. Now all those apps won’t run on the new OS.
All those rugged device makers, who went to WinMo instead of Android. You’re all on the sinking ship too.
Now you have a turning point. Rewrite for WinMo7, or just get out of the WinMo debacle and rewrite for Android.
I can only laugh at peopel like you who assume that Windows Mobile 7 will be anyway like Windows Mobile 6.
That’s the point of the rewrite, you clown.
I can only laugh at people like you that think Microsoft has the ability to compete anymore. They epitomize the old and stagnant business.
Steve, you really are clueless.
First of all we have whiny little bitches like you who say that MS should rewrite the OS then when they do you complain about it.
MS have already demonstrated they can produce a realistic competitor to the iPod Touch with the Zune HD which has been well received across the board. If MS have rewritten the OS and can couple it to Zune HD like hardware then they’re going to have a very attractive proposition so how can you say they’re stagnant? But you do, mainly because you’re clueless.
As a final point, if MS are stagnant how come Windows 7 kicks the shit out of Snow Leopard – and hey, that’s not my opinion, that’s the opinion of the major review sites?
Come back when you have a clue, chief.
They have a long history of dumping old tech and moving on. When you develop for Windows, you get used to moving to their latest big thing, only to see it be discarded when something more shiny comes along.
Besides, in this case what are they losing? Many old apps that (with the phones) had the sex appeal of aunt Edna with her curlers in. Rather refocus on Apple et al with something that might compare.
huh? MS has a history of dumping old tech, when did this happen???
The biggest issue with all Microsoft OSs is that they are so damn backward compatable with an almost unimaginable number of hardware configurations, this is why its so easy to say Apple is better because they have very little backward compatability.
I can run apps from my old WM 2002 device, thats 8 years guys lets see if in 8 years time on whatever new apple product is out there you can run current apple software.
My bet, either emulation will be installed on WM7 to run older software or an much more likely, 2 OSs will be produced, MS are not stupid, they have market share BECAUSE of its current software base
perhaps this is just pure fantasy on my part but couldn’t the in app virtualisation work for bringing win mo 6.X apps over to work on the win mo 7.
i mean the hardware are well spec at 1 ghz (assuming that’s true) which may be enough horsepower to do some virtualisation…
It seems that just about all current Windows Mobile phones are obsolete. Wouldn’t you say?
There’s no point going out to purchase a Windows Mobile phone now, when the 6.x series that is currently being sold in stores, is the end of the line. The end of the platform, before it gets axed.
Even if Microsoft does give WinMo 6.x a grace period, and lets it continue for a little bit, it will be a completely dead platform, as new handset buyers go with Seven.
So that’s it. Windows Mobile 6.x phones with stylus pens… your days are numbered.
I agree with you. Why would I buy a phone whose OS will be obsolete in a few months?
But I think MSFT is looking on the future and it would feel like they are doing a reset of things. If they continue with their current codebase, they’ll be left to dust by iPhone and Android.
Well actually, they’re eating dust now. right?
@ria -
Last finanical quarter,
There were ~20 million Blackberries sold in the States… Unknown amount worldwide
There were 9.5 million iPhones sold in the States… ~11 million worldwide.
There were 7.5 million Windows Phones sold in the States… ~30 million worldwide.
There were 22,000 Nexus phones sold…
Now if the WM phones are “eating iPhone/Android” dust… what are Blackberries doing to the iPhone/Androids??
Where did you get those numbers from?
All Writers Want you to believe there is competition between Apple And Google and ignore any other OS ..
They put Google head to head with Apple and not mentioning RIM in any way ..
and the static means a lot of things for most of people who sells more, OS the best ..
Don’t believe What you read till you see the fact ..
Yeah, even if you are right, you clearly quoted “nexus phones” not “android phones”
Do you pull your data from the nether end?
Or what are you smoking?
I’m just curious.
Arsene, these figures are freely available from Gartner and IDC. Look them up.
The one GTRoberts has missed – and I appreciate why since it’s the US he’s focusing on – is Symbian which is in turn grinding RIM’s face into the dust.
@Katrina P
If WM7 lacks multitasking, I’ll stay with WM6.5.
So no, WM6.5 phones are not obsolete.
They’re obsolete to anyone looking at a new smart phone. You don’t pick the Model-T when there’s modern cars for the same price.
Those modern cars still can’t do what Model-T can.
I’d pick the Model-T until the modern cars are matured enough.
Would we be able to upgrade our current windows 6.0 mobile ( for e.g. htc touch 3g) to windows 7?
No. The hardware couldn’t handle ZphoneOS (er, WM7) requirements.
There is going to be a min spec for WM7, its unsure if HTC HD2 will recieve WM7.
This developer doesn’t sound very reliable. One of the big selling features of windows over mac is the volume and diversity of devices.
Why would they now restrict something like regiment screen size.
I can see them having a minimum, but a restrictive structure? Particularly when Google Andriod has an enormous amount of flexibility.
I do believe the kernal is likely completely new, but again, suspect to see a ‘run as winMo6′ feature for compatibility with previous devices.
Looking forward to seeing what microsoft announces next month. I love my ZuneHD
Ballmer, that you?
Here’s one thought – by being so restrictive with requirements, updates to the OS could be delivered much more quickly and simultaneously. So we won’t see Windows Phones out there running different versions of the OS, and only certain handsets getting upgrades. It happened to WinMo and you can already see it happening to Android.
NOT Backwards compatible? For All 10 good apps? Damn what a shame!!
Steve Jobs? Sergey Brin? Is that you. lol
MPrice, another dunce who’s clearly never actually used winmo.
Its intresting why people post some of the utter garbage that pops in to their brains when they have zero understanding.
I call bunkem on this one.
“No threaded processes” – for a start Silverlight won’t work without threads.
^ this.
So all WinMo 6.x devices now obsolete? Sales will crash.
Sure hope WinMo 7 is nearly ready…
Palm went this exact direction with their dead platform. Seems to be working for them so far.
Nokia’s moving in the same direction to deep six Symbian and go with Maemo.
I don’t see why anyone thought MSFT would keep legacy support in their new platform.
I never trusted Windows phone..they got very sad past with me.
I know one thing: I’m glad I decided to dump all my MSFT a couple years ago.
Microsoft will eventually be added as a property to Sony’s game division, so version 7 is a logical next step.
you have any idea how bad Sony is doing just now?
Actually, this isn’t as stupid an idea as it first sounds.
Microsoft have obviously looked at the vertically-integrated model of Apple and then decided to take a stronger stance with hardware manufacturers and software developers to build a better unified user experience.
For all the words said about how broad and useful WinMo’s ecosystem currently is, it’s still mostly crap, buggy or badly designed. A tighter leash is going to improve brand image beyond just the obvious big chunk of glass and metal that you’ll likely hold in your hand.
RIM has always more or less done it this way, and Google seems to be testing the same waters with Nexus One, so it’s hardly unprecedented.
It could be a risky move in terms of third party support (and anything windows lives or dies by that relationship) but if it works out I think WinMo will be the stronger for it.
“Now for the nuts and bolts: WinMo 7 has no background processing and will use an Apple-like notification service. There is no system resource access and no threaded processes. In fact, there is no customization at all.”
Is this a joke? Seems way off. What does it even mean “no threaded processes”? One thread per process?
The OP is an idiot.
Seriously, I call BS on that story.
A developer telling you anything about WM7? Come on… no developer would be stupid enough to risk his job for a story on some unknown blog.
No multitasking? Yeah, right… I mean, the whole world is complaining about the lack of multitasking on the iPhone, and you seriously belive that Microsoft would copy that ‘feature’?
Moreover, WinCE handles multitasking best among all mobile OS, Microsoft would be incredibly stupid not to use that technology.
what he said ^
What a joke – “your fearless tipster” is repeating information available days ago originating from a russian developer’s tweet. It is easy to call bullshit right away just based on the “no customization” business. HTC is winmo’s biggest supporter and they’ve openly said that their Sense UI will be ported to winmo 7.
If anyone is interested these guys actually know what they are talking about:
http://www.wmexperts.com/barcelona-and-wm7-what-we-expect-and-what-we-are-hearing
Very little of this rings true. It doesn’t mesh with Microsoft’s business model (flawed or not flawed) or methods. In fact it sounds like a bunch of crap you’d have to be an apple fanboi to believe.
“If you haven’t guessed, Microsoft is about to get all Apple up in this piece.”
Made me chuckle. I’m with those who say Microsoft is late to the game, but at the same time I really do not think that Windows Mobile is that big of a revenue stream for them. I heard somewhere(engadget podcast, maybe buzz out loud?) that they(Microsoft) was downsizing their win mobile team.
After reading all the comments, I am also starting to question the reliability of this post..
Actually, the canned the original WM7 team and hired a new set for Zune HD and WM7. Not sure if it’s the same number of people, but projects like this usually start with 100+ people, then ramp down to 20ish for support/defect fixing after an original release and eventually moved offshore (probably not with an OS though, but other products get moved off).
I think they’re gonna pull it off pretty damn good. I was quite impressed with the Zune HD and they supposedly pumped that out rather fast.
Being based on .net and silverlight and not backward compatible … it does not seem realistic at all ..
Whether this is accurate or not, it is almost completely the right thing to do. Dump the old architecture, base all the new on Silverlight. Mandate specific hardware in order to ease development. With all the .NET developers out there this concept of WinMo 7 will have thousands of apps in the first few months and almost no one will miss WinMo 6 compatibility. A year later and effectively no one will miss it.
I just don’t think Microsoft has the stones to do this. They hate cutting off backwards compatibility.
I agree with you. There are so many .Net developers that creating apps for this will be a breeze. One of Microsoft’s main problems in the past has been there refusal to move forward, to much backward compatibility. This is a great idea.
Microsoft has no choice but to dump present WinMo and build from scratch. They should be working around the clock on this, and throwing massive resources at it.
They need to move quickly on a credible competing product to Apple and Google, or they will slowly fade into the dust bin of once relevant companies.
So if it wont run 6.xx apps will it run Office Mobile and if they think business users will stick with them in all aspects if they drop businesses in Mind from Windows Mobile it must be absolute zero in hell right now
I have been a supporter of Windows Mobile for years now, the main reasons are the very ones they are removing, that it has a large software library, that I can change/modify/tweak any part of the phone, and that whle I do have the convince of an app store, I am not locked into it and can download and install apps form any source.
This attempt at reviving Windows Mobile is ironically EXACTLY what it will take to get me to abandon ship to Android, if it is actually true.
Honestly, I don’t see how MS can POSSIBLY be this stupid, many say its a smart move and that they need to start over, but seriously, explain to me how locking out 3rd party apps, which many businesses depend on, could possibly be smart idea, even if it means abandoning the idea of starting over? Or removing the ability to configure the phone so it actually works as an embedded device for your business?
If this is true (I highly doubt it) I assure you it will be the stupidest move they have ever done with Windows Mobile and will instantly cause me, and many others, to abandon ship. There is NOTHING smart about this.
Second Danny’s comment. This post rings false. The guys at WMExperts have a much more realistic take.
http://www.wmexperts.com/barcelona-and-wm7-what-we-expect-and-what-we-are-hearing
Wanna to have a look at this W7.
The best I’ve seen up to now is Moemo.
It is a real operating system with real multitasking
Yes, it appears that it will take Microsoft quite a while to try and duplicate the iPhone OS, the new touchscreen paradigm and a modern, mobile phone user experience. Of course, now that it’s been invented, Microsoft will copy it. We can only imagine how many printouts of iPhone screenshots are tacked to developer’s bulletin boards all across the Redmond campus.
As for RIM’s “20 million Blackberries sold in the States…last financial quarter…”
How many of those were BOGO (Buy One Get One Free) units? Roughly 50%, I’d guess, since RIM has been artificially propping up BB sales for several quarters now with ongoing BOGO campaigns. I’d like to know how many of the 20 million Blackberry phones just “sold” actually were activated for use with new cellular accounts. I’ll bet that number is much lower.
And of course, how many of these units will prove to be compatible with a modern Webkit browser (if RIM ever delivers one).
Finally, there are two types of people in this world. “Word” people and “Visual” people. You can’t deliver a modern, mobile computing and communications experience to visual people if they are stuck with outmoded, half-sized screens and 50 or more physical buttons on a device. Blackberries, with all those buttons and tiny screens, are built for 1990′s era e-mail and text files.
The world is moving on — to texting, photo and movie files. “Visual” people require phones with larger touchscreens and nothing less will do.
Of course, i mean, Microsoft didnt more or less invent the market for PDAs, they havent been at it for a decade or so, its all been a big dream.
Get off you high horse Jobbs, apple took what MS did slapped it on a SINGLE piece of hardware designed by them for the sole purpose of running said apple software, of course its going to work very well for a section of the market it was made that way!!
MS did what they are very good at, making something that works with an almost unlimited hardware combos, yeah its not as flashy just now, yeah its not as quick, but i can go out an choose exactly what hardware suites my needs, you cant, end of story.
This is a good thing, its a brand new OS. WM has been getting old, this is a reboot. MS needed to do this, if they would have kept with the same legacy OS they’ve been running it would have kept them in the rut they’ve been in the past few years. You can’t just put a skin on WM 6.X and make it good. Sure HTC made it look good but it still was WM 6.X, still had its flaws. I’m actually more excited now about WM 7 than I was.
Also MS doesn’t have much to loose. WM phones have been loosing customers to iphone, Android, WebOS, and Blackberry and this is their best bet to gain people. They couldn’t do this with Windows 7 because Windows has billions of people using it, with WM loosing users, this is the right thing for them to do. Sure devs will have to make new apps, but it’ll get done and they’ll hopefully be better than ever. So think of the plus side and forget about what you think the negative side is because its very thin.
This site has completely jumped the shark. I won’t be coming back.
See ya!
This site is crap. No credibility with this one, fucking waste of time, idk why I’m even posting. So last post, everyone else enjoy misleading, idiotic info. See you later!
Citation/Source please!
After reading up on this, I think this is probably bogus.
That said, it’s probably what should happen! Except for the no-multiple-threads part. Apple knows when to scrape off old hardware and software. Microsoft should learn that lesson from them. The next Windows should be a scrape off of the old. Microsoft, do us all a favor, and re-invent the PC in a modern image! No backwards compatibility, just wiz-bang awesomeness with new car smell!
News flash, if anything, the world is learning that backwards compatibility is getting more and more important.
How many Blu-Ray players are there that CANNOT play a DVD?
Almost every console nowadays is backwards compatible with at least one if not more generations of systems.
Shhh, no one mention the PS3 in the UK then :)
maybe they implement something like in Windows 7 the XP mode. Would be great.
on the otherhand there are still maemo, Webos , Ophone and other possibiities. :)
This is just a ridiculous direction for the device to take.
Yes to a better interface. But no background apps? Based on an entertainment device?
They will totally lose the business market, and they will not pick up the casual user either.
I think your wrong. This is the best thing they could have done. Its a reboot of WinMO. They were loosing users like crazy, this was their best bet. If they didn’t go in this direction WinMO would have been finished for sure, now it has a fighting chance.
This is the very move it will take TO finish them, people are loving the HD2, Microsoft HAS indeed let the WinMo GUI stagnate, up to the point where 3rd parties have made their own GUIs that load over it, but this is the exact OPPOSITE of what they need right now, funny how Windows 7 is NOT incompatible with all of my software from Vista or XP huh?
You don’t need to kill everything that people like about your product and lock it down like Apple does to “reboot”, all that will do is make the Apple loyalists STILL not give a damn, and make you lose your CURRENT fanbase for pulling this crap on them.
Win7 is compatable with more software than Vista, if your not able to use a computer then its best to ask.
WM does need a complete refresh and i agree with previous posts that there will be 2 levels to this OS, a multimedia os and a business OS, that or some form of emulation maybe used, afterall if the hardware specs are 1GHz+ with a min amout of RAM theres a bit of room for this to work
I don’t think so. Sure Windows 7 is backwards compatible with a lot of Vista and XP programs thats because its not all that much different. Now if MS was to create a whole new OS that has some really different functionality and is really light, they may have to get rid of compatibility.
The thing about WM6 is it was also very bulky and slow, it needed a high powered 1GHZ processor while other OS’ can use slower ones and work just fine. The new OS will hopefully be lighter and if it does need a high powered processor its because it needs it for game graphics and not to just run the UI.
If its a good OS people will give it a try. In time like Android it will get apps and people will then believe that MS made a good decision in scrapping the old OS. I guess I’m just willing to give MS the benefit of the doubt because they know they need a home run with WM 7.
WM6 is essentially the same as WM5 which runs on old hardware dating back 6 or so years, its not bulky but it has a rugged look about it. i can assure you there are a lot of people using those devices a very large number will have propiority software running on them, any significant change in the OS which leads to that having to be scrapped is a bad idea and will not go down well. Windows 7 is hugely different to xp in such a way thats it like comparing chalk and a laser printer, win 7 and vista is a different story and as much as i liked vista at the time its now an OS id choose to ignore, there is no reason to scrap backward compatability in WM7, win xp programs do work on Win 7, as i said there will either be two designs of the OS or some form of emulation,
I call shenanigans. There’s no way that MS is going to make another “Vista” mistake with WinMo7 by making it non-backward compatible with anything. No way…
This seems like a ‘fanboy’-style tip…
(Above said, I have an Android personal phone and a WinMo v6.5 business phone)
The only choice for MSFT at this point. You have to have a hardware baseline and you have to have an app store. This device will have both of those. Also they will catch up in number of apps available as they have a huge developer community and better development tools.
Now the question is if this enough to beat the iPhone or just be a solid 2nd place. Time will tell, of course Apple is already moving on to strike back in the Tablet wars, as an owner of one of the first Tablets the T1000 from HP power by a Transmeta Processor, I can tell you that it doesn’t matter who is first in the tech game, but who gets it right…
“You have to have a hardware baseline”
You mean like how the iPhone can have different cpus, amount of ram, cellular radios, cameras, or even an absence of GPS?
I would LOVE to be able to make a simple game using XNA.NET and have it run on Xbox Live, and WinMo7.
The benefit is: I already have an audience on XBox Live that can buy the game, WinMo7 is just a bonus.
If this is true I’m dumping WinMo over Android for good…
If they break backwards compatibility they’ll piss a lot of devs and users… crash and burn… RIP WInMo :(
I think for every guy like you that will dump WinMO because it lacks backwards compatibility, there are 3 that will try it now because its now. MS shouldn’t care about people like you, they probably know a lot of their core users are going to be upset, but those users are getting smaller and smaller anyway. I going in this direction will bring new users and be the best bet for WinMO. I could be wrong but WinMO has been doing a downward spiral for a while, MS needs to do something and they are.
In time like every new OS there will be apps made for it.
I could be wrong but WinMO has been doing a downward spiral for a while, MS needs to do something and they are. I’ve heard many people say they need to scrap the old code and go with new, now they are and all I hear are complaints. Either they keep the old code and keep backwards compatibility or they dump it and make a totally new OS and get rid of backwards compatibility. MS gets flack if they try and make a major change or if they don’t. As for me I’m glad they’re taking the leap and I hope it works out for them. I’m looking forward to seeing what WM7 will bring.
“I think for every guy like you that will dump WinMO because it lacks backwards compatibility, there are 3 that will try it now because its now”
Because it’s now? Because its ow WHAT?
And tell me, how many people who have never used a Windows Mobile phone before will actually GIVE A DAMN now?
The ONLY ones who would are the ones who actually even know what an OS is, or even care what OS their phone runs, and those people once they see everything is locked out and the apps available has been cut down from tens of thousands to zero, will NOT be picking Windows Mobile.
“I going in this direction will bring new users and be the best bet for WinMO.”
In what way is breaking everything, locking everything, and pissing off the small fanbase they already have a good idea? What possible benefit is there to do this? And I mean from a technical standpoint, I already described from a business standpoint how its a stupid idea.
“In time like every new OS there will be apps made for it. ”
Tell me, how many apps are there for OpenMoto?
“I could be wrong but WinMO has been doing a downward spiral for a while, MS needs to do something and they are.”
Vista was in a downward spiral and MACOSX gaining, MS’s answer was Windows 7, funny how they didn’t need to kill all compatibility with Vista and XP or lock systems down the way Apple does to do it eh?
Hmm definitely seems like a step in the right direction, Android is definitely the way forward though.
No background processing not even 3 apps. Damned Microsoft there is a limit to stupidity get with the game I say.
I mean what do I need a 1+ Ghz processor if all I can do is use an app at a time… I mean not even hearing music while browsing the web or writting something?
I gotta call BS…
With this move they’ll lose all their crowd: the compnies that use it (I reccon they won’t like having to wait for and buy new versions of all the non-MS soft they run); their power-users and devs (I mean what’s left of them… I see them all going to Droid… Like I will); I think even the casual users won’t like the new imposed limitations ( I reccon there will only lots of similar huge and expensive devices…).
your right but its worth pointing out that what most people associate to the number 1GHz is nothing like the reality you get, CPU architecture is the name of the name,
like many things, its not how fast you do it, its the result at the end that matters
No customization. Does that mean variations in the handset design or specs or customization of the homescreen.
Personalizing my WinMo homescreen is something I’ve always done and will continue to do. If that is gone, then I may consider an Android phone for my next upgrade.
Homescreen customization is a major “feature” for this customer.
I cannot POSSIBLY fathom why some people would be FOR this crap, there are people arguing how MS should do this and its a great idea and that users don’t care…….
Yeah, theyy don’t care, that’s why people have been bitching about the iPhone not having customization or multitasking for years and tens of thousands are jailbraking theirs every day.
Backwards compatibility is not important….. yeah, that is why every Blu-Ray player can also play DVDs, almost every gaming console nowadays is backwards compatible with at least ONE if not more previous generation of systems, and why Windows 7 has compatibility and XP modes?
If anything, the need for backwards compatibility is GROWING, not shrinking, so is the need for customization (my phone 3g anyone?) and multitasking. The people who can’t see this clearly just are eagerly waiting the next new object that is shiny put in front of their eyes while bleating “baaaaaah”, damn sheep.
If it really does run Silverlight then it will have a lot of developer support from day 1. Writing for WinMo sucked but Silverlight is really good and it means I can write the same app for mobile as well as Mac, PC and Linux. Neither Apple nor Google support that today.
I still expect Microsoft to screw this up though.
Backwards compatibility doesn’t matter on a mobile device…it only matters on things you have built an library around such as games, CD’s, DVDs. If this runs on Zune compatible software, you take your music, photos and videos with you. Apps will be developed for it and it will be allright. This has the potential to be revolutionary, so I’m not worried about looking backward. Let’s get on with it.
Are you trying to say that Windows Mobile does NOT have tens of thousands of apps available for it?
From my point of view android is in the challenger position. Google has to pick up speed in order to get a relevant footprint on the market otherwise, if the fail it will strengthen the Window mobile segment for business and the iPhone segment for everyday users and apple fans.
At the moment the nexus does not seem to be a real competitor to windows mobile to me…
the problem with Android is the same problem Linux has, and thats every geek in the world thinks they are able to make a better OS and as time goes on you end up with 10 main stream versions of the OS that are all slightly different, which the software developers have to design software for, thats a lot of programing for a company on a budget. Dont go giving me any crap about it all being the same because its not otherwise you wouldnt have multiple builds for different OSs
MS sitting on the sidelines letting Apple and G fight it out atm is good strategy. Learn from their mistakes and jump into the market with new and improved Win7 after the dust settles. There’s too many unknowns in the market at the moment. I wouldn’t count MS out of it at all.
Right on cue, looks like some developers are already porting iPhone apps to Silverlight http://www.orktane.com/Blog/post/2010/01/23/iPhone-Sudoku-in-Silverlight-using-MVVM.aspx
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