Those of you that have been using smartphones and PDAs for some time will no doubt be aware that the Microsoft Windows mobile platform has been around in various flavours for a number of years now.  For many people, the first experience of a handheld device that did more than just make phone calls (the term smartphone was not in use back then) was with devices such as O2’s XDA and HP’s iPAQ and these machines all ran early versions of Microsoft’s mobile OS (e.g. Windows CE, Pocket PC etc.)

Over the ensuing years we’ve seen a proliferation of sexy new handsets with all sorts of clever advancements in the underlying hardware capabilities and Microsoft’s software platform has slowly evolved into today’s Windows Mobile 6.5.

However, as we are all aware, everything changed back in 2007 when the original iPhone was released and it created a new standard for mobile interaction that rather took the world by surprise.  Since then we have seen the emergence of other mobile OS platforms, most notably Google’s Android, so consumers now have some real choice about the kind of mobile experience they buy into.

As a former Windows Mobile 6 user I am all too painfully aware of why many people out there were rather underwhelmed when Windows Mobile 6.5 was finally released last Autumn. It’s probably been said many times before, but that’s not going to stop me reiterating what I personally found so frustrating about using Windows Mobile.

Its greatest strength is that it’s closely related to the Windows we know (and love?) on our desktops i.e. a common interface, familiar terminology, strong MS Office support and (mostly) reliable synchronisation capabilities etc.  On the flipside, its greatest weakness is that it’s closely related to the Windows we know (and hate) on our desktops i.e. an operating system designed for PCs (not mobile devices), an interface that is neither intuitive or easy to navigate on a small screen and (most annoyingly) that suffers from frequent and inexplicable device freezes which require us to “reboot” our phones or occasionally the need to actually remove and reinsert the battery…  frankly, IMHO, it’s pants.

Microsoft originally suggested that Windows Mobile 7 (i.e. the brand new, completely rewritten OS that would address all the issues and put them firmly back in the game) would be released in 2009. That did not happen and in its place Windows Mobile 6.5 (”an interim release”) hit the streets in October 2009.  Suffice to say that despite some cosmetic improvements not much had really changed and Windows Mobile 7 was still a distant dream.

Which brings me to the point of this blog – it appears that “Windows Phone 7” (yes, believe it or not that’s what it’s now officially called) will probably be launched in October.  After waiting literally years for Microsoft’s brand new mobile OS (remember, Windows Phone 7 is a totally new platform – not an upgrade of Windows Mobile 6.x) users are fully justified in expecting great things, so I thought it timely to see what the early indications are.

This comprehensive review from Engadget is mainly positive and genuinely seems to like some of the new concepts in the brand new “Metro” UI.  On the other hand, there are those who are clearly not convinced judging by the rather extreme verdict found in this Infoworld article.  Taking the middle ground, I think it’s fair to say that as far as PC World is concerned, the jury is out.

So, what we have is a broad spectrum of opinion, enthusiasm from some quarters and a healthy degree of scepticism from others.  For my part, I hope that Windows Phone 7 is a huge leap forward for Microsoft. I hope that it addresses all of the issues that have dogged the Windows Mobile 6.x platform for years and I dare to wonder if on this occasion they have succeeded in introducing a truly innovative new approach to mobile interaction to complement the current market leaders. Only time will tell.

However, I have a nagging feeling that it may not actually matter how good (or bad) Windows Phone 7 finally proves to be.  It has taken so long to reach this point that it’s probably irrelevant and simply a case of too little too late.  In the last quarter of 2009 Microsoft lost 20 per cent of its users to other smartphone platforms (mainly Android) and the fact that there will be no upgrade path from Windows Mobile 6.5 to Windows Phone 7 does not bode well for its future.

Watch this space…

Peter Skinner

July 23rd 2010