Comments on: Is Windows Mobile Broken, or is it Alive and Well?

By: Steve Laser

Steve Laser — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:25:03 +0000

Thanks to all who commented. The purpose of articles like this is to spur a debate that will help inform all who read and or participate. As always, I welcome comments that both agree and disagree with my premise. Debating is fun and helps educate. If I wrote articles that everyone agreed with, such as, “Water is good for you”, or “The iPod is a great personal music player”, then what would anyone learn from that?

By: JNGold

JNGold — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:01:29 +0000

Well put Patrick! That’s coming from someone experienced with both platforms.

Has anyone mentioned that Apple has blown away MS and OEM’s with regards to getting updates and fixes out to the customer? Nevermind that Apple has been much more proactive in pushing fixes out than MS has, but also that updating the iPhone is perhaps the easiest process I have experienced in my 8 years of using mobile devices. I have updated my wife’s iPhone each time an update was offered by Apple and it was seamless. Compare that to the pain and suffering of updating a typical WM device. Anyone experience the 10 page update process needed to update the original Blackjack to WM6? Or how about having to re-apply all the hacks (which are absolutely needed in some form or another to make a WM device actually “usable” in the “real world”), and application each time an update is pushed out.

Apple is not perfect. Of course WM provides more “raw” functionality out of the box than the iPhone. However, the iPhone has brought more people in the world of using smartphones as evidenced by its sales overtaking WM in the USA in the span of MONTHS. Apple is being very careful about opening up the iPhone to any tom, dick, or harry developer as evidenced by Apple’s wanting to implement some form of certification process similar to Nokia’s s60 platform.

By: patrickj

patrickj — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 02:51:38 +0000

Steve – I often enjoy your writing, but have to disagree with you on a lot of what you’ve set out here.
I think this is a rambling post, with some hugely flawed arguments, and several places where you appear to disagree with yourself in the space of a paragraph. In no particular order, things I would question:
Reason Number 1 is ‘The Internet’ – hmmm, is the internet a unique feature of Windows Mobile? Think maybe you wanted to title that web browsers or something – although your argument is very weak anyway, in that you say that most users dislike ‘Pocket Windows Explorer’ (wrong name there too) and go off looking for other alternative browsers. I don’t see how you can grade that as a plus point for WinMo in that case. The fact that you choose another browser is covered by your customization points – so I’d say even your own writing in that section adds up to zero points for the OS.
You suggest that providing a better browser would add cost and bloat to the OS. Why? And how do you come to that conclusion? MS devotes development resources to providing PIE – how do we automatically assume that making it less crappy will cost more and bloat the OS – that’s not any sort of given.
In Reason Number 2, you first state that the iPhone is not customizable, and then say you don’t know how to customize it. OK, which one then? You can customize the iPhone’s look and home screen and many people do. This is *not* supported by Apple, but then again how ’supported’ are you really when you customize a WinMo device? If you add skins and customize to your heart’s content with iLauncher or other 3rd party apps, do you think MS or your carrier will support you if your device then becomes unstable? They won’t – they’ll advise you to remove 3rd party software and hard reset your device. Not really very different to customizing the iPhone in that respect.
In your 3rd party apps section you tell us that:
“Seriously, there’s nothing wrong with alternatives like the iPhone, Symbian stuff or Palm crap, but I like choice and I like cost effectiveness. ”
So, there’s nothing wrong with Palm, but you just labeled it as crap??? Also, as far as I’m aware both Palm and Symbian are entirely open platforms, offer plenty of 3rd party apps, and many that are just as ‘cost-effective’ as Windows Mobile.
Finger Friendly Apps is another reason listed – but again you appear to defeat your own argument in that section, since you point out that this is an area that is only starting to be developed in Windows Mobile apps, not one that the OS could be said to excel in by any stretch.
Reason Number 5 is Bluetooth – a bit like ‘the internet’ this one – Bluetooth is not unique to Windows Mobile and I don’t really know what point , if any, you have in that section.
Reason 6 is Swiss Army Knife factor, which may well be a good one for Windows Mobile, but you mainly talk about how it is not very easy to make a phone call to a contact in the OS – not sure how that does in backing up your argument.
Reason 7 is Utilities – mainly to fix annoying quirks in the OS judging by your section text – again, not exactly a strong sales pitch – ‘There are lots of great utilities out there to fix the really annoying things in WinMob’ doesn’t sound great as a slogan.
And then Active Sync – well, please – if that is considered a strength than God help us.
I do believe Windows Mobile is alive and well, not sure anyone would argue with that. It may not be leading the way in the Mobile OS field though, and I can certainly say your 9 reasons wouldn’t have me thinking it is …

By: cgavula

cgavula — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:20:57 +0000

You start by saying that you’re not an MS apologist, but then you spend the entire post “explaining” what a hard job MS has. I’m sorry, but that is the very definition being an apologist!

By: edge777

edge777 — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:44:48 +0000

TMAN, I am glad there are guys like you who have tried every device, have the experience, and can provide a truly un-biased opinion (you’re still using both). The author of this post claims he is un-biased, but the anti-iPhone comments abound throughout.

I still go my first post. Microsoft will once again try to jack all the ingenuity that Apple has brought to the table. One problem… they tried that with Vista (nuff said).

By: dyastrab

dyastrab — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:33:53 +0000

Agree with your article. My brother bought his iPhone at the same time I bought my Verizon XV6800. The iPhone is cooler and more user friendly, but after a few months, the polish has worn off and he wishes he could do more with it. WM might never be as stable as a closed operating system, but ultimately it’s more capable.

By: JNGold

JNGold — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 16:08:58 +0000

People put the iPhone in the drawer? Have you been under a rock? Do you know that the iPhone has surpassed WM phones in terms of sales in the US? If people were putting them “in the drawer”, how then does the iPhone surpass WM in terms of internet usage and Google hits?

LOL! While I continue to use a WM device, it should be noted that Apple has surpassed WM in many ways in getting the devices out to the consumers and making tech easy to use to the point they want to use it. How long did it take? A handful of months?

By: TMAN

TMAN — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 15:42:32 +0000

I switched from Windows Mobile to the iPhone and am finally in Heaven. Is it perfect? No, but it works every single time I turn it on. I rebutted the iPhone once just to see how to do it and never since. I have had it for about 2 months.

I am no noob either. I got into PDAs in the early 90’s starting with a Casio BOSS and owning almost every significant PDA since then. Apple Newton 2100, Velo 1, Compaq iPaqs galore, Treo 600, Casio E series, HTC 6700, HTC Advantage, etc. None have given me a user experience that was trully a joy to use and worked 100% of the time.

One area that blows my mind is seamless WiFi to Edge switching. My Advantage sometimes will not connect to my WiFi network at home or at work. The iPhone finds it and connects with out my intervention. The experience is amazing. The keyboard is the beat I have used. With the auto correction I really type faster than I did on the 6700 and Treo 650.

I still use my Advantage as a business phone. But I use the iPhone for business email using Visto. The email on the iPhone is by far the best I have ever used.

I could go on and on but the fact of the matter is that we all have a choice. There are those of us who are tired of being an IT guy and use Macs and the iPhones.

Typed on an iPhone in Play del Carmen.

By: Yannick Desjardins

Yannick Desjardins — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 15:32:39 +0000

Great article, I am not saying WM6 is not without its faults, in fact it has many, but this comment: “Heck, if we wanted a company to dictate what software we can and cannot use, we could buy an iPhone!” is exactly why I can’t bring myself to buy anything from Apple.

By: Jack Cook

Jack Cook — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 15:30:54 +0000

This was an EXCELLENT commentary Steve.

As time has moved on from the initial introduction of the iPhone, I find it absolutely amazing at the number of folks that have put it in the drawer and have gone back to Windows Mobile. Why?

In the final analysis, Windows Mobile gets the job done, 3rd party developers have created incredible applications that enhance your experience and probably most importantly, YOU are in control rather than being controlled!

By: MSfromtheOC

MSfromtheOC — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 15:24:30 +0000

I have to reject the premise of this post. MS does NOT have to provide an OS to all these devices (smart phones, PDAs, and PDA phones). They don’t have to provide hooks for 3rd party developers. There is no law saying that what Microsoft provides has to be all things to all people. The difference between Apple and Microsoft is that Apple is focused on managing the customer experience, therefore it provides a limited number of products and solutions to meet specific needs. Microsoft has CHOSEN to be all things to all people and is now reaping what they have sown…
Apple, Blackberry and Nokia are winning the phone wars
Apple owns the personal media player market
Apple’s growth rate in computer sales dwarfs Microsoft’s at the high end of the market. Meanwhile, eeePCs and other Linux devices are coming in and taking share in the lower end of the personal computer marketplace.
Adobe still owns the graphics software market

By: edge777

edge777 — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 08:03:22 +0000

I have an HTC with WM6, but plan on getting an iPhone. Why? Everything about my software is mediocre. Worse, it’s slow and un-reliable. I’ve missed calls due to a lock-up, and had to embarrisngly wait to enter in calendar or conatct information due to a soft reset. Ah, you may be thinking I’m a noob or have overloaded my device. Neither is true.

I’m not gonna dis WM6 as much as you biasedly did the iPhone. Ultimately it’s a choice. I moved to a Mac about 4 months ago and wonder why I didn’t do it sooner. It’s a dream compared to Windows.

Oh ya, the iPhone. All it’s apps come out of the box working awesome (but, you said it right: Windows=no innovation, Apple=cutting edge). My guess WM7 will look oddly like an iPhone (but will crash, lol). And, unless you’ve been under a rock, there are many 3rd party iPhone apps, and Apple is releasing their iPhone SDK this week.

WM dying? No. But, it must improve greatly, and will never compete with a device that comes out of the box working perfectly.