Windows Phone 7 Makes Windows Mobile 6.5 (Windows Mobile Classic) a Lame Duck
Microsoft and Apple do things differently from each other, and that’s the appeal of both tech titans. Most of these calculated departures yield differences on the magnitude of apples and oranges, with neither company coming out the clear winner (not better, just different). But Microsoft’s handling of the hype machine driving the Windows Mobile 7 platform may be one area where Apple clearly got it right.
Apple’s favorite move is the surprise reveal. They like to spring the next big thing on you when you least expect it during their iconic keynote presentations. The effect is almost always seismic, with the premiered product going from virtually nonexistent to must-have within a span of a few hours.
Microsoft, on the other hand, has chosen to hype the hell out of its Windows 7 Phone starting last month, even though the Antichrist Device to Apple’s Jesus Phone won’t hit the shelves until the holiday season. That brings up some important questions for retailers, consumers and developers:
- Can Microsoft sustain the hype for that long?
- How, exactly, will Windows Phone 7 change the game? (More details, please.)
- And most importantly, what will happen to Windows Mobile 6.5?
Microsoft has an answer for that last one – but hardly anyone is happy with it. Windows 7 Phones will have strict hardware requirements – such as dedicated Home, Search and Back buttons – and won’t be backwards compatible with WiMo 6.x apps. Plus, Microsoft, which has historically let manufacturers and cell phone companies skin, tweak and transform the user interface of Windows Mobile phones, is expected to be a bit less flexible regarding the look and feel and functionality of the Windows Mobile 7 interface. Essentially, this means that today’s Windows Mobile phones will not be able to be upgraded to Windows Mobile 7. Microsoft said that they’ll still continue to support WiMo 6.x and are planing to rebrand it as Windows Mobile Classic, but the message is clear: even the most state-of-the-art Windows Mobile phones available today are already dinosaurs. T-minus 8 months until they’re obsolete and all the developers jump ship for the next evolution.
This plays upon the biggest fear of tech consumers: that they’ll plunk down $200+ and sign a 2-year contract for the latest, greatest gadget only for the next big thing to come out a few weeks later. And with Microsoft spilling the beans about Windows Mobile 7, they’ve guaranteed that exactly that will happen. In fact, Skype has already abandoned its Windows Mobile app in anticipation of its “impending death” and started working on its Windows Phone 7 version.
But there’s still something to be said about today’s Windows Mobile phones. It’s hard to imagine that a stunning, feature-packed phone like the LG eXpo will suddenly be irrelevant come Christmas 2010. And the staying power of phones running Windows Mobile 6.1 even after Windows Mobile 6.5 came out (such as the HTC Touch Pro2) is a testament to the fact that there is more to a phone than having the latest, greatest OS.
So, what do you think? Would you buy a Windows Mobile phone now, even with Windows Phone 7 on the horizon? Take our poll and let us know your thoughts.
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Tags: Cell Phones, windows mobile