Is WM6 roadkill now?

[dougsyo]

With the spectre of WM7 on the horizon, and its complete reboot of the WM franchise, is WM6 roadkill now?

For example, that Skype for WM6 has been discontinued:
http://www.wmexperts.com/skype-discontinued-windows-mobile

That Adobe is passing on Flash for WM6, waiting for WM7:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/adobe-taking-a-pass-on-flash-10-1-for-winmo-6-5-will-go-straigh/

I'm still happy with my Tilt2, but given that WM7 appears to be an emasculated iphone-wannabe platform, I'll probably look at other platforms down the road (Android anyone?)

Doug

 

[Badger#WP]

For example, that Skype for WM6 has been discontinued:
http://www.wmexperts.com/skype-discontinued-windows-mobile
Doug

This is not completely true. They signed a contract with Verizon and I'm sure is being forced to halt software to other users other then Verizon. Wouldn't be anything new for this company. If you know how to navigate around you can still find the download on their site it's just the option to download has been redirected to that page disclaiming it has been pulled for all WinMo users.

 

[dougsyo]

Yah, it's probably still out there, and there's fring as another option. I wasn't aware of the Verizon deal, as I'm an ATT user.

Here's another take on it:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/mobile-gadgeteer/?p=2569

If you look at the company?s statement about providing an improved mobile experience, I couldn?t agree more. However, I found nothing wrong with the Windows Mobile version. ...
I?m sure they?ll make one for Windows Mobile 7 Series, since that?s going to provide a nicer UI, but Skype is now making a decision to completely alienate users of older Windows Mobile devices.

Doug

 

[dougsyo]

Another interesting article on this line ...

http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/26/confirmed-windows-mobile-6-5-to-become-windows-phone-starter-ed/

... it looks like Windows Mobile 6.5 will live on as the basis of Windows Phone Starter Edition. We'd already heard some whispers to that effect, but now it's been confirmed by ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, who got some answers about the stripped-down mobile OS directly from Redmond. It's obviously designed to be a cheaper alternative for developing and emerging markets, much like Windows 7 Starter on the desktop...

... P.S.- Just to be clear here, it appears that the family will be Windows Phone 7 Series, and then potentially two WinMo 6.5 products: Windows Phone Classic and Windows Phone Starter Edition.

Doug

 

[dougsyo]

Will Microsoft's Iphone envy punt away the enterprise?

The talk about Windows Phone 7 revolved around multitasking, code, app availability and how software will be sold and closing the iPhone and Android gaps. However, IT types were left to ask: What about us?

Microsoft gave an answer and it goes something like this: Windows Phone 7 isn?t for you. It?s for consumers. We may come around to you later.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=31946

Doug

 

[kraski]

I'm a little late in responding to this, but here are some comments I made on a Treo oriented site:

Right now, I'm solidly in the WM camp. There are a lot of reasons why WM is more attractive than the other choices.

1) I won't buy an iPhone because of Steve Jobs'/Apple's attitude. It may be a great phone. But I rebel against anything that says "do it my way or you're doing it wrong".

2) Right now, anything Palm has three strikes against it, in my book:

a) Palm got rid of PalmOS, saying they were still going to strongly support WM in the Treo Pro & future devices. Almost immediately, they brought out WebOS/Pre & said they were no longer supporting WM. I have trust issues with any company that lies that easily or is that fickle (you can choose which).

b) the Pre & the Pixi don't impress me compared to other choices. They'd have to come out with something a lot better than presently existing WebOS phones.

c) Palm's decisions have made them a much weaker company, financially. Which makes one wonder if they'll be bright enough to come out with a much better WebOS phone & on a wider range of carriers. And, even if they do, based on previous choices, will they be around long enough to support anything?

3) Yes, the Nexus one & Android are really nice. But even with my experience with linux on the PC, not as easy to customize. And not as forgiving, from what I understand, if you decide you want to undo adding something to the phone's desktop. And, while Android is at version 2.1, most phones are still running 1.6 or earlier with no carrier efforts to update what's out there or hasn't been sold yet. Even though there's less of a hardware issue in doing so than WM hardware mixing with WM 7. That lack of updating is sad, since each update has added features & functionality that users miss out on.

4) While Symbian is mature, has lots of apps & custmizability, it still is bless flexible in those respects than WM.

5) WM 6.1 & 6.5 can do most of what each of the others can. There are apps to make WM look & act like any of the other OSes, without losing the features that haven't made it into the other OSes yet -- if you really want your phone to work differently than the stock version of WM. Except for iPhone's massive selection of apps (to some degree multiple duplicates of the same stuff), WM still has the best selection of mature, useful apps.

I'll now get off my soapbox.