[Q] WM7 or iPhone dilema - small business owner - Windows Phone 7 General

Hi, sorry if this has already been asked before.
I'm a small business owner and software developer and have been a keen Windows Mobile Developer and have several products which users currently run on WM6 iPaq PDAs.
The cost of WM6 iPAQ PDAs is currently about £240 and as they are probably no longer being manufactured they will soon become like hens teeth(very scarce).
Currently WM7 only supports Managed code with silverlight. All my apps are written using Visual MFC.
Question 1
I need to know if there is even a hint that WM7 may support unmanaged code in the near future? Can anyone tell me this.
If not then I will have to invest in porting all my apps to the iPhone platform. Why? Because then they can run on the iPOD Touch which will cost the user about £160 (My apps don't need to run on a phone)
Question 2
Does anyone know of a device that runs WM7 that is not a phone? (Like iPAQ 114).
Question 3
Does anyone else out there find themselves in my situation?
I look forward to your replies.

What's WM7?

There is no Windows Mobile 7, there's nothing after Windows Mobile 6.
Windows Phone 7 is an entirely new platform that does not support unmanaged code, hence your MFC/c++ programs will not run on it. It only supports c# and silverlight and xda for now, Microsoft hasn't been forth coming on development plans but it's highly unlikely it will support unmanaged code.
You have to rethink your business, maybe look into other platforms if you're in the mobile device software writing business, as you said windows mobile 6 is going the way of the dodo.

Jim Coleman said:
What's WM7?
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This actually made me laugh at work, now everyone knows i'm not working lol.

Get the iPhone, and don't forget MobileMe.
Spare us the trouble...
Who uses PDAs? Those iPaqs ate terrible. Better off getting an iTouch or (gasps!) Palm Pre Plus (ATT or Verizon) if your gonna stoop that low.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

don't knock him for using PDAs, they're still very commonly used in business circles as a lot of programs were written years back.
you have your answers already... at present, they don't support managed code.

PDA Apps will work on Windows Mobile smartphones.
They have close to no use, IMO.
I had an iPAQ (still have it, in the closet). They're obsolete for all practical purposes. Smartphones have replaced them.
Don't waste money on a PDA. A PMP, maybe (though that dubious with WP7 and iPhones out there usurping iTouches and ZuneHDs). A PDA, no.
If you want a great business device, then you can always consider a Blackberry Torch or HTC HD2, or perhaps a Nokia N8. They aren't the latest and/or greatest, but those systems [still] work great for business. If you want to work and play, then I guess you have to look to iOS or WP7.
Android phone capabilities vary by device and manufacturer. I cannot give a great hypothesis on them even though I've owned multiple Android phones.
WP7 will grow into a great business OS, but Microsoft has made consumers the focus for the launch - because smartphones aren't just for business (the way PDAs chiefly were used).

in terms of business use where you have a POS, you do not need to pay the additional $150 to $250 per device for the phone functionality. especially when you have to get a lot of them. businesses use PDAs where need be, and phones where need be.

Windows Phone 7 as far a official Microsoft information goes is not going to support unmanaged code. Deployment-wise you will face the same problem on WP7 as on iOS: everything has to go through the marketplace.
Even though you can program iOS using C++ I guess your porting will still very much result in a rewrite of most of the code. Especially if you made heavy use of MFC classes.
Taking all this into consideration I'd actually suggest you go the Android route as there are several cheap phones available that run Android. Additionally Android supports native code as an option.

i believe iOS is actually objective-C, not C++. So it's a different dinosaur all together... (but still prehistoric at that)

Related

backwords compatible?

Hey Guys,
just starting a new threat to look for info and ideas about the next subject:
I am going to get a new phone in the next few months. Probable looking for an HTC with WP7.
I dont know if I will like it and I am wondering if these new phones could be flashed back to WM6.5.
Of course I would be willing to help with all kinds of WP7 ideas an tests, even though I am not a developper myself.
So, the statement for the new threat:
--Would it be possible/worhty to make 6.5 roms for WP7 hardware?--
Possible, sure. Likely, no. WM6.5 is, for most intents and purposes, dead. Highly unlikely that anyone puts in the time and effort needed to hack the bootloader, etc of specific devices in order to backport the old OS.
Sander101077 said:
Hey Guys,
just starting a new threat to look for info and ideas about the next subject:
I am going to get a new phone in the next few months. Probable looking for an HTC with WP7.
I dont know if I will like it and I am wondering if these new phones could be flashed back to WM6.5.
Of course I would be willing to help with all kinds of WP7 ideas an tests, even though I am not a developper myself.
So, the statement for the new threat:
--Would it be possible/worhty to make 6.5 roms for WP7 hardware?--
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think u can buy a 6.5phone now
If you're looking for backwards compatibility Windows Embedded Handheld 7 (based on WM6.x) is scheduled for the second half of 2011.
I've been following the conversations backstage and I don't think WM6.5 is dead at all. WP7 has a lot of shortcomings when it comes to business use. No copy/paste, less customization, etc. In fact, it is a dumb smartphone which is more geared for the iphone type consumer...those who would gladly trade endless customization and features for simplicity. Those who look at phones as fashion accessories and toys rather than something designed to get work done more efficiently. Sadly, the market for this is much much larger than the market for serious smart devices. Steve Jobs figured this out which is why the iphone is such a big hit, but most of us here have been looking at these folks going "wow, you can copy/paste now? Neat. I've been doing that for years!".
I had a list at one point which detailed all the things that WP7 does NOT do that 6.5 does and I can tell you that enterprise customers will not accept WP7 as a replacement to WM6.x. Many large companies out here are Microsoft partners with exchange servers, sharepoint, Office suitefor all employees and as a matter of IT support, they only support Windows Mobile so that their IT departments only have to manage MS products. If hey were to cut off SM6.x entirely while rolling out WP7, purchasing departments across the country would make a huge shift to blackberry. I'm certain that this is why RIM decided to go forward with plans for a new OS and why HP purchased Palm with their WebOS. They are both counting on MS doing this.
However, through conversations with various insiders at MS, it appears these fears are unfounded. Windows 6.5 is expected to continue being developed even into next year with possible future upgrades to the OS itself. WP7 will not support skins such as the HTC Sense interface, and because of the business users with business devices - particularly full qwerty devices like the Treo, Glisten, etc - they do expect to continue development.
I have heard rumors that there is actually a long development cycle planned for WM which involves the next iteration of Windows Mobile which will be renamed Windows 7 Professional. This would be in line with MS and their way of doing things and matches up nicely with Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7. I don't know how much of this part is true and how much is just rumors floating around backstage, but it makes a lot of sense.
kfreels said:
I've been following the conversations backstage and I don't think WM6.5 is dead at all.
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Click to collapse
..not dead....dying. The next iteration of 'WM' is BASED on 6.5.x and then in 2011 a version (based on WP7) with XNA and silverlight support is due.
Here's some info on the next 'WM' release....~note...this is not a 'WP' release so doesn't fall under the 'Windows Phone' umbrella, it's a new version of Windows Mobile - Embedded and it;s backwards compatible.
http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/press-releases/microsoft-outlines-commitment-future-enterprise-handheld-devices
..also mentioned here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=6917106&posted=1#post6917106
Moving to General .
I will delete this post with in a week or two, so it doesn't clutter.
kfreels said:
WP7 has a lot of shortcomings when it comes to business use. No copy/paste.
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God, I'm so tired of hearing this. There will be copy&paste, they said it often enough...
I had a list at one point which detailed all the things that WP7 does NOT do that 6.5 does and I can tell you that enterprise customers will not accept WP7 as a replacement to WM6.x. Many large companies out here are Microsoft partners with exchange servers, sharepoint, Office suitefor all employees and as a matter of IT support, they only support Windows Mobile so that their IT departments only have to manage MS products.
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All the products you name (Office, Sharepoint, Exchange) are natively supported by WP7. Have you seen ANY WP7 demo video lately?

Microsoft Germany: WM 6.5 is here to stay

Can you smell Microsoft getting smarter:
---
Q
Microsoft originally intended to keep WM6 alive as Windows Phone Classic. Will this still be done now that WME has been announced? If yes, for how long?
A: Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile 6.5 will coexist in the market for some time. Windows Mobile provides many advanced enterprise features that large customers rely on in managed environments.
---
More here:
http://tamsppc.tamoggemon.com/2010/07/07/microsofts-frank-prengel-on-windows-mobile/
Old news is old
Why would Microsoft say anything else. If they said they would ditch Windows Mobile entirely to October, people might go out and buy iPhones instead. Can't have that!
Windcape said:
Why would Microsoft say anything else. If they said they would ditch Windows Mobile entirely to October, people might go out and buy iPhones instead. Can't have that!
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Did you know that support for Windows 2000 ends on Tuesday? Microsoft isn't one to leave their enterprise customers hanging. No reason to believe that they aren't being sincere with that promise.
Notice he specifically referenced enterprise, nothing about supporting WM in the consumer space. Seems to me they are now trying to position WM as purely an enterprise OS and are ignoring the (still) millions of non-enterprise owners of WM phones.
Lets not kid ourselves, after WP7 launches you wont see any new consumer WM devices or support, only devices geared for enterprise use like rugged WM devices. Right now they are just marking time, as Windcape said if MS came out and said they are ditching WM in October their sales would plummet even faster than its currently doing.
efjay said:
Notice he specifically referenced enterprise, nothing about supporting WM in the consumer space. Seems to me they are now trying to position WM as purely an enterprise OS and are ignoring the (still) millions of non-enterprise owners of WM phones.
Lets not kid ourselves, after WP7 launches you wont see any new consumer WM devices or support, only devices geared for enterprise use like rugged WM devices. Right now they are just marking time, as Windcape said if MS came out and said they are ditching WM in October their sales would plummet even faster than its currently doing.
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Click to collapse
WM has never been positioned as a consumer OS. It's always driven me insane as I'm a "consumer" user but that's the truth. Enterprises have need for more than just ruggedized devices, some use them for general purpose email, etc. Also, WP7 doesn't support chinese, etc so they will continue to launch new devices in those markets. Of course what really matters is the OEMs. You will probably only see a few new devices launched and they will be enterprise focused (stuff like the TP2) since they won't make any money selling consumer WM6 devices with WP7 sitting right there next to it.
The fact is, we non-enterprise WM users are a pretty small minority.
RustyGrom said:
WM has never been positioned as a consumer OS. It's always driven me insane as I'm a "consumer" user but that's the truth. Enterprises have need for more than just ruggedized devices, some use them for general purpose email, etc. Also, WP7 doesn't support chinese, etc so they will continue to launch new devices in those markets. Of course what really matters is the OEMs. You will probably only see a few new devices launched and they will be enterprise focused (stuff like the TP2) since they won't make any money selling consumer WM6 devices with WP7 sitting right there next to it.
The fact is, we non-enterprise WM users are a pretty small minority.
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In all the years I have owned a WM device I have never seen it promoted as solely an enterprise OS and NOT being suitable for consumer use, in fact wasnt 6.5 promoted as being suitable for work AND consumer use? Its also hard to believe that the bulk of WM sales are to the enterprise, I doubt very much enterprises put in large orders for devices like the HD2, Diamond, Omnia. And if that really is the case they should stop direct sales of WM devices to consumers, why sell a phone which is advertised with entertainment features like the HD2 was?
efjay said:
In all the years I have owned a WM device I have never seen it promoted as solely an enterprise OS and NOT being suitable for consumer use, in fact wasnt 6.5 promoted as being suitable for work AND consumer use? Its also hard to believe that the bulk of WM sales are to the enterprise, I doubt very much enterprises put in large orders for devices like the HD2, Diamond, Omnia. And if that really is the case they should stop direct sales of WM devices to consumers, why sell a phone which is advertised with entertainment features like the HD2 was?
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Click to collapse
In more recent times, yes. But 6.5 was just a stop-gap til they could get WP7 into the market. It's still very much targeted at business use. I remember all of the marketing for the Sprint Mogul was solely business oriented. They completely ignored media, etc.
So yes, those devices were targeted at consumers but that wasn't Microsoft doing it. Even look at the ad campaign for WM6.5... it was all about taking office apps with you on the go. Yea, that's exactly what consumers care most about. WM has always been enterprise/business 1st, everyone else 2nd. So not solely for enterprise but that was the clear priority.
But getting back to the original point... MS will continue to support WM as it is today for the next few years at least. Will the OEMs make new devices? Probably in foreign markets and some business focused devices in Europe and the US. But pretty much any device that most people will want to use will be WP7. Once WP7 picks up more enterprise capabilities, I would expect it to shift.
RustyGrom said:
Did you know that support for Windows 2000 ends on Tuesday? Microsoft isn't one to leave their enterprise customers hanging. No reason to believe that they aren't being sincere with that promise.
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Microsoft released 3 new version of their server-OS product line (Server 2003, 2008, 2008 R2).
I think t's fair to call the support after ten years. I don't think Windows Mobile 1.0 is supported either today!
efjay said:
Lets not kid ourselves, after WP7 launches you wont see any new consumer WM devices or support, only devices geared for enterprise use like rugged WM devices.
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Click to collapse
Most probably we wouldn't see great new WM devices regardless of what MS thought about it.
Windcape said:
Microsoft released 3 new version of their server-OS product line (Server 2003, 2008, 2008 R2).
I think t's fair to call the support after ten years. I don't think Windows Mobile 1.0 is supported either today!
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Click to collapse
That's my point. There's no reason to believe MS will abandon WM6 anytime soon based off their past history.
" Microsoft Germany: WM 6.5 is here to stay"
Yes... it will stay in a coffin
41:10 into this interview, Brandon Watson confirms no more work being done on WM 6.5:
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/vi...-mobility-partner-panel-q-and-a/qm237zm9?from
Hi,
what more work should they do?
IMHO, the OS is fine as it is. All it needs is adjusting to new hardware, which anyways is the job of the licensee...
Windcape said:
Microsoft released 3 new version of their server-OS product line (Server 2003, 2008, 2008 R2).
I think t's fair to call the support after ten years. I don't think Windows Mobile 1.0 is supported either today!
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Click to collapse
A lot of Android and Iphone fanboys simply are yet to realize how deep Microsoft is with enterprise customers and the excellent job they have done at continuing support for legacy systems. Android has already left their early adopters eating sawdust and the system is less than 3 years old. I'm unsure on if the original Iphone was given a viable update to the new Iphone OS4 so I can't comment, but I'm pretty sure they are going to have issues in the future as the hardware demands grow for the Iphone. I think it is awesome that Microsoft is creating a brand new platform that will kick ass while still having a viable system in place for the legacy phones that are out there.
RustyGrom said:
Did you know that support for Windows 2000 ends on Tuesday? Microsoft isn't one to leave their enterprise customers hanging. No reason to believe that they aren't being sincere with that promise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your a large volume customer (5,000+ units, I think, I forget the exact number), you can still get support for Windows 2000. If your willing to pay for it....Pay is the key word. NT4 is still supported if you PAY for it.
Most who were on NT 4 or 2000, moved to XP anyway...if not on 7 (most skipped over vista)
Microsoft abandoning WM for WP?
Are Microsoft completley abandoning Windows Mobile for Windows Phone?
It seems to me that this would be a stupid idea since Windows Mobile is a basically a Mobile OS rather then a Mobile Phone OS.
Wouldn't it be much more logical to have 2 branches, ie a Mobile and Phone?
TheATHEiST said:
Are Microsoft completley abandoning Windows Mobile for Windows Phone?
It seems to me that this would be a stupid idea since Windows Mobile is a basically a Mobile OS rather then a Mobile Phone OS.
Wouldn't it be much more logical to have 2 branches, ie a Mobile and Phone?
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i would agree. 2 are better than one. it would also be better competition towards apple n android. lets go WM.
I doubt it. MS will continue to support WM6.X for a while yet. Now 3rd party support is another story...
No they learned this back in their parrallel solution days. When they had Windows 98/ME running in parrallel with Windows NT & 2000. They decided it was better to integrate both and offer a more robust & easier to use OS in Windows XP.
The same goes for this...they just have to learn how to integrate advanced features + Ease of use into a mobile OS.
But in the shortterm they are running Windows Embedded compact for busiess and wp7 is more consumer driven.

Wm is still king

I am one of the faithful WM6.5 users. I do not care how cool my device is like most fake people that have moved on to Android & IPHONE cause their friends say they should. I feel that WM is still the best all around OS thought they all offer good things.
I would love to set goals for the future of WM6.5 like tryin to port FLASH 10.1. They did it for the IPHONE so it should be possible for WM. Also since we know software makers are walkin away from us for Android IPHONE and WP7 so i assume development for our devices will be done by the geniuses at XDA. I am not ready to walk away from this platform yet. I think we can keep it going for another year. Lets make 2011 the year of WINDOWS MOBILE. I want this thread to be dedicated to askin developers on XDA what new ideas they have for WM 6.1 & 6.5.
If you have ideas for games, ports, regedits, or programs to make our devices better please post below.
RULES:
DO NOT post tellin us what your favorite OS is or what the best OS is. Everyone knows that different people like different OS's.
DO NOT get upset if someone disagrees with your opinion.
DO NOT post unless you have something good to say about WM. This is a thread that is for people that want to better the WM OS not bash it. If you prefer Android or IPHONE then I am sure you can find somewhere to talk about how they are better than WM but do not do it here.
DO NOT tell us how WM is a dying OS, we know this already.
DO NOT post things such as your career or academic achievments and somehow link it to WM users being more or less intelligent then other users.
DO NOT post unless you love WM period!
WM is still very powerful operating system, but only if you can use it potential.
I wonder why people are more into simple-yet-dumb OS's which simply limit user.
On windows mobile, i can listen to music through bluetooth headset, share my 3g+ connection with laptop, browse html5 websites with flash and all of it on one device. And thats just beggining.
On the note to successor, WP7, where the hell is copy/paste? Dumb.
I love to copy commands from notepad to my remote desktop connection to use quick server commands.
BTW. I'm still laughing my ass off when i think about NO multitasking on iphone.
retsam88 said:
WM is still very powerful operating system, but only if you can use it potential.
I wonder why people are more into simple-yet-dumb OS's which simply limit user.
On windows mobile, i can listen to music through bluetooth headset, share my 3g+ connection with laptop, browse html5 websites with flash and all of it on one device. And thats just beggining.
On the note to successor, WP7, where the hell is copy/paste? Dumb.
I love to copy commands from notepad to my remote desktop connection to use quick server commands.
BTW. I'm still laughing my ass off when i think about NO multitasking on iphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We r using it to its potential as of now but it can be better. As I mentioned FLASH 10.1 which was ran on the HD2 in a video but was never released for WM instead went to Android and was ported to the IPHONE. I think we should start a movement to get these things workin on WM. There is alot of useless apps being made and I would luv to see the developers move towards making our devices better instead of making them "cooler."
I totally agree - I am using WM5/6 as target devices for my private and business projects.
But it seems like the wm programmers are in short the veterans of programming. A little crowd (did someone say 3 are a crowd?) of people that stand to their mobile os :-D
I've been using android for a while and I have to say wm has the throne in productivity. I mean, I can play in android but wm can satisfy my needs mare than any other os
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
I've had a WM device for 3 years now, and it's old news. There's not even one...ONE single good sports app. How is there not one. Developers don't care about WM6. It's been swept under the carpet and it's sad because I still have a Treo Pro.
I totally agree for this post !
I hope that we have soon the the new wm6.X builds (WM6.5 handset,etc...) with new features and new API !!!!!
Why they are moving for less sophisticated OS? That's easy to answer. When Palm was the king of the hill, do you know what was the best selling PDA they had? It was the entry level Zire22 (lowres screen, no sdcard support, ...). Why? Because the vast majority of users are lowend. They will never:
1. sync with their computers
2. install anything new, use what was given with the phone/pda
3. tweak it
We are NOT regular users, and also, we are NOT the biggest buying group. They are business oriented, will manufacture what sells.
You can see the same with games. Who remembers the best racing simulator ever done, GrandPrix Legends by Papyrus? It was so hard to drive that it fail miserably on sales, they shifted their focus to a more arcade kind of games (best sellers).
I totaly agree and i think the same way that Win Mo is the Best OS right now and will tell why.
1st because WinMo is fully Costumizable in every aspect not only visual, so WinMo is the base if you have a WinMo Device for few seconds you can make it look like iOS or Anroid or Windows Mobile 7 or.. you name it.. so the WindowsMobile 6.X give use the freedom and is like chameleon on the same time.
I dont like stupid OS like the iPhone just icons icons and icons everywhere..
Android... you move widgets and etc this is all of course now i have Android look with SBP shell and when im totally pissed of i aways can just uninstall it))))))))))))
Honestly i like Android only for the Speed, and if we talk here honest we all know that WindowsMobile 6.x is SLOW OS by saying slow i mean compared to Android or iOS but overal WindowsMobile is good OS for everyday use if you costumize and optimize it
The things that we can do with our devices NO ONE can do them with Android or iOS or WM7 this is the TRUE.
Im not programer but i believe that many interesting thing can be done if here have serious peoples who love WM 6.x
And i really think that WinMo is still the KING because give us Freedom.
Couldn't agree more!wm6.5.x is quite decent .But lack of latest apps will be a problem as many software companies are no longer providing WM supports.many of apps running on my Omnia2 are last released 1 or 2 years ago and some of them are just not designed for 800X480 screen.
I have been a WinMo supporter since 2003SE. And I recently upgraded from my Tilt2 to the HTC Surround. I have to admit WP7 just works better. But Do not get me wrong, I will never give up my Tilt2. I love that device. I love trying new ROMs, using RDP, and most of all the keyboard. And I will continue my support of WM until Microsoft officially calls it EOL.
You know why people move to android? It's easier to use, more finger friendly, widely supported in terms of games, based on linux (doesnt get much more open source if you really want to dig), and its generally more physically appealing. Even with SPB mobile shell Windows mobile 6.5 looks like crap. I have an HD2 but aside from theming it to look like WP7 I've been using it primarily for android because, hey, I like to have FUN with my phone. When is the last time a truly GOOD app was made for winmo? I remember warspear a few years back that's about it. You pull together enough people to completely rejuvenate a lifeless OS and I will eat my own shoe on youtube for all of you. Til then.
Android: Functionality/Fun
WP7: Ease of use/glorified feature phone
iphone: Overpriced status symbol
WM5/6: Flatline
i didnt like 6.5, i thought it sucked. i did like 6.1 tho.
either way its a dead os with no new apps being devloped or updated. will have to wait to see what wp7 brings
The things that we can do with our devices NO ONE can do them with Android or iOS or WM7 this is the TRUE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lmao. This dude is trapped in a fantasy world.
1. There's a reason that the Android section of this forum has more threads in Apps and Games, Themes, and Software development than Windows Mobile...and it hasn't even been around as long!
2. There's a reason everyone wants to mod their Windows Mobible devices to look like droids, AND even install the android os on their WM devices.
Tell me ONE thing, ONE THING that your WM6.5 or whatever it is can do, that an android phone can't, except make a less expensive paper weight?
I have a Palm Treo Pro, and as much as I love this phone, it's old news. I want a droid. WM is dead.
Long live to Windows Mobile!!
I think WM is far away to being considered as dead, of course MS wants that but it will depend on us users and Chefs & Devs to keep it alive!!
I still prefer it over WP7 and Android!
A voting for the best Developers award will be soon announced as a tribute to our beloved WM!
As much as I love WM, there is a simple fact, developers will develop for the popular platforms first and users will go where there are apps...just like games sell consoles, apps will drive smart devices.
WM is good, but MS has never made it easy to develop on, compact .net has always been lacking and you need a pro version of visual studio (with it's huge price tag). The fact that you can develop windows phone 7 using Visual Studio Express 2010 - which is free and that even the Pro version of Visual Studio 2010 does not support WM, shows that MS are doing their best to kill off WM, they've even removed many of the WebCasts for developing WM from their site so you can't even get the information you used to have available.
Add to that whole new area's of TV streaming devices and Tablets which are likely to support Android or iOS stuff and WM ends up being a smaller and smaller old and tired fish in a fast expanding pond of young competition.
You can see here, that the forum has already swung from WM!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=866626
I totally agree with meltwater. WM is going to die soon or later. In this moment I''m totally happy with my Touch HD, CHT 2.0 gave me all the flexibility on home page I was looking for. I can't find nothing on the other platforms I don't find for my actual phone, a part maybe something related to augmented reality.
On the other way I've already tried Android on my HD and works very well, considered all the limitations. Pity for camera and FM Radio, I use them so Android can't be for a daily use. But if they'll be able to solve last problems it's possible I'll start to use Android, more to start to use and learn the OS so to be ready when really new phones/tablet will come in the market. To say the truth I always liked big screens, so if next year a very good 7" tablet will be in the market with optimized Android (3.0?) and a price near 400 Euros, I'll definitely change the wagon.
About WP7, i appreciate Microsoft efforts, but I don't like at all . I've seen iPhone 4 and it's spectacular to see in use, nothing to say. But overpriced and not for me, similar to WP7 too many limitations.
meltwater said:
As much as I love WM, there is a simple fact, developers will develop for the popular platforms first and users will go where there are apps...just like games sell consoles, apps will drive smart devices.
WM is good, but MS has never made it easy to develop on, compact .net has always been lacking and you need a pro version of visual studio (with it's huge price tag). The fact that you can develop windows phone 7 using Visual Studio Express 2010 - which is free and that even the Pro version of Visual Studio 2010 does not support WM, shows that MS are doing their best to kill off WM, they've even removed many of the WebCasts for developing WM from their site so you can't even get the information you used to have available.
Add to that whole new area's of TV streaming devices and Tablets which are likely to support Android or iOS stuff and WM ends up being a smaller and smaller old and tired fish in a fast expanding pond of young competition.
You can see here, that the forum has already swung from WM!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=866626
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Click to collapse
I feel that there are quite a few misunderstandings in this thread. The first is that if developers were going to wait for MS to come up with the goods in the first place, this forum would have never existed. In fact, we would have been relegated to overpriced and monetiseed structures for selling icons and ringtones like the Symbian people.
Secondly, a person's reason for getting an Android phone or iPhone are different to that of the Windows user. Blame it on the recession, blame it on the lower IQ of the average smartphone user, either way the basis of buying Android or iPhone is a product of good marketing and the science of hype,like buying an ipod when instead you could stick a stereo jack in your phone and have all the same stuff. I bought my first WM phone years before I saw an ad for it, because Im a bit of tech junkie and I jumped at the opportunity to have so much functionality in a mobile platform. The decorations came later.
Thirdly, the constant habit of WM users customising their handsets to look like other platforms is for entertainment purposes only, we knew we could always press the hard-reset button and put the hype behind us.
Fourth, Microsoft always does the same thing of taking away support or info when they bring out a new OS. As much as I love Windows Mobile, I dont like Microsoft. The only way to move new product is to stop support for the biggest seller, I remember when they did the same thing with Windows 98 when XP came out.
Conclusion: If youre looking to resell common-place technology (thats been around for years) to hyped-up half wits, then Android/iPhone is the way to go. Its hard to pull the wool over a real Windows Mobile user's eyes,unfortunately.
Windows FTW always
I started using windows mobile long long ago and for its time it was something epic. However, once other smartphones came into play they were just unable to keep the pace. Sure, your phone CAN do a lot more, theres customizations on windows phones that android may not have for a long time. However if they'd been smart and invested some time when phones became more finger friendly rather than still forcing stylus usage when devices with "touch" in the name came out then they'd be a lot better off. Android in some aspects will never catch winmo, you just can't get that open source and expect to have a clean user experience. In some ways we may never catch up to winmo, parts of what they did may still be considered revolutionary 20 years from now but in a lot of ways we passed up windows mobile 2 years ago when the g1 came to pass because we took what you could do, we made it easier to develop, and we made it user-friendly to start out with. Windows mobile will remain a developers phone... if you want to shell out an unreal price for software that you wont make money off of anymore due to it being a dead operating system.

Why I think WP7 users are worrying about nothing in terms of new apps neglect

It has been said that developers will code for Windows Phone 8 devices and neglect Windows Phone 7..
I totally disagree. If I was a developer I would code for WP7 and not WP8. Not immediately anyway. At launch of WP8, there would be millions more WP7 devices than WP8 devices so why limit my sales to WP8 devices only? WP7 apps work on WP7 and WP8. WP8 apps ONLY work on WP8 devices. Therefore, I would code for WP7 devices which work on WP7 AND WP8. Makes total sense if I want to make more money from my app. I would wait several months before coding for WP8 to allow time for a large user base of WP8 owners to grow.
Considering WP7 market share is only 3.8% and the fact that it will continue to drop as people start to realize it's an orphaned platform, if WP8 is successful, I would think most developers would prefer to compile their apps for native WP8. The existing user base of WP7 phones will dry up quickly as people will upgrade at the end of their 1 or 2-year contracts.
For new developers, there's usually a good learning curve when it comes to an SDK, so I don't know why they would want to learn the WP7 SDK when they can jump right to WP8.
My company has developers that we are currently contracting for mobile development. We had an active project going on for WP7 for an enterprise app (business purposes).
The day of the announcement we halted all development... First idea was to stop coding immediately, get our hands on the new SDK, and re-write the app so it would be native to the new OS for when development is finished...
Unfortunately, no SDK is yet available for WP8, and after the business guys got involved, meeting with developers, we are thinking of switching platforms (to iOS, or Android. Whichever is more friendly for the enterprise) just because we don't want to run in to this again...
-We don't want to push this app for WP7 and have it not run natively on the new WP8...
-If we did stay with Windows Phone, we'd want it to be coded in the best way possible (using the SDK and coded best practice using the new development methods of WP8)...
-We don't want to halt development until we hear more as to WTF is going on with the SDK, development, and a product that isn't even out yet...
-We don't want to code for a platform that is obsolete (WP7).
And most of all, this applies not just to us, but to the typical dev writing a complex app... We don't have the time, funds, and budget to develop for both platforms WP7, and WP8...
Zhariak said:
Unfortunately, no SDK is yet available for WP8, and after the business guys got involved, meeting with developers, we are thinking of switching platforms (to iOS, or Android. Whichever is more friendly for the enterprise) just because we don't want to run in to this again...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How many people are creating apps for Windows Phone exclusively? Besides the Nokia Collection (for obvious reasons) not a single other app on my phone is unique to Windows Phone. You are going to need to give us more information. Why would you ignore iphone and Andriod anyway? That's insane. It sounds like the place where you work is poorly run. I don't think that is the fault of MSFT.
sitizenx said:
How many people are creating apps for Windows Phone exclusively? Besides the Nokia Collection (for obvious reasons) not a single other app on my phone is unique to Windows Phone. You are going to need to give us more information. Why would you ignore iphone and Andriod anyway? That's insane. It sounds like the place where you work is poorly run. I don't think that is the fault of MSFT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only app I know of that is exclusive to WP7 is the Walgreen's app. If you're an old, broken down POS like me, it occupies the top left tile.
sitizenx said:
How many people are creating apps for Windows Phone exclusively? Besides the Nokia Collection (for obvious reasons) not a single other app on my phone is unique to Windows Phone. You are going to need to give us more information. Why would you ignore iphone and Andriod anyway? That's insane. It sounds like the place where you work is poorly run. I don't think that is the fault of MSFT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We are a small biz, this isn't your average tinker app... We chose a platform and OS to our liking... Don't have the resources to manage the same app over multiple platforms... That's the main reason why we aren't developing for both development methods for WP7 and WP8.
Did we all watch the same 2 hour video of the summit? Because Joe specifically states that all windows phone 7.5 apps will work with windows 8 with "little to no tweaking of the code." So I don't get why everyone is so worried.
Laquox said:
Did we all watch the same 2 hour video of the summit? Because Joe specifically states that all windows phone 7.5 apps will work with windows 8 with "little to no tweaking of the code." So I don't get why everyone is so worried.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are worried about developers preferring to use the WP8 SDK instead of the obsolete WP7 SDK. Because if they do, the new apps won't run on the old phone.
Valid concern, because if I were a mobile developer, I'd prefer to use the newer SDK. The WP7 user base is not large enough for a new developer to justify learning an obsolete SDK, or an existing developer to faithfully continue using an old SDK just to appease a small base of users which will rapidly diminish. IMO, of course.
GnatGoSplat said:
They are worried about developers preferring to use the WP8 SDK instead of the obsolete WP7 SDK. Because if they do, the new apps won't run on the old phone.
Valid concern, because if I were a mobile developer, I'd prefer to use the newer SDK. The WP7 user base is not large enough for a new developer to justify learning an obsolete SDK, or an existing developer to faithfully continue using an old SDK just to appease a small base of users which will rapidly diminish. IMO, of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can see that but we probably won't see a SDK for at least 3-6 months. No developer on the planet (that I can think of) is going to wait for that amount of time to get to market. And my take from the Summit was that the 7.5 SDK will not be obsolete as your app will run on WP8. By the time WP8 has a decent enough market share it will be time to refresh your app anyway (14-18 months from now) and then you can make the jump to the new SDK which from what I watched will be almost effortless and will allow native code.
Just my thoughts here.
GnatGoSplat said:
They are worried about developers preferring to use the WP8 SDK instead of the obsolete WP7 SDK. Because if they do, the new apps won't run on the old phone.
Valid concern, because if I were a mobile developer, I'd prefer to use the newer SDK. The WP7 user base is not large enough for a new developer to justify learning an obsolete SDK, or an existing developer to faithfully continue using an old SDK just to appease a small base of users which will rapidly diminish. IMO, of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In term of money, they would make more money if they can make an app that can run well on both OS without further development.
But in technology side, Native C and C++ would be easier to develop, i am start worrying that Microsoft is driving to a wrong way. Not a straight way to success, but a narrow and longer one.
Just keep thinking about what if they put the native-code support for Windows 7.8 (Simple Speaking, would be what if they make Windows Phone 8 Apps (written in Native C) can run well on Windows Phone 7.8 as well without any modification...
A little more works to be done , but think about what they can get from it. People will respect Windows Phone more, recent user will not regret with their 2-years plan as much as they do right now.
There will be some reasonable explanation about the hardware limitation of the current Windows Phone, but just think about that. I don't think it is impossible to make the current kernel support apps from Windows Phone 8.
If they can't do that right now , just be clear that they don't sound like "Windows Phone 7.8 mark the death for the current Windows Phone gen."
Windows Phone lovers won't be hurt since i know they (and i) will purchase a new phone anyway, but with some users, it is a broken deal if they just picked up a Lumia or Titan for 2-years contract and feel like Microsoft just forget about them.
GnatGoSplat said:
They are worried about developers preferring to use the WP8 SDK instead of the obsolete WP7 SDK. Because if they do, the new apps won't run on the old phone.
Valid concern, because if I were a mobile developer, I'd prefer to use the newer SDK. The WP7 user base is not large enough for a new developer to justify learning an obsolete SDK, or an existing developer to faithfully continue using an old SDK just to appease a small base of users which will rapidly diminish. IMO, of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you think WP7's userbase is small, what does that make WP8's? Non-existent. There are millions of WP7 users. By some accounts 12-16 million. How long do you think it will take for WP8 to reach those numbers?
Let's be mildly optimistic and say that WP8 launches in September and sells 2 million units per month. It would take 6 months (March 2013) before it reaches the low end WP7 number of 12 million phones sold. So, six months from now that would be equal or a bit behind what WP7 has NOW.
But, during those six months WP7 will have sold more phones. But, let's be a little more pessimistic with this outlook. Let's take the mean of the two numbers above (12 and 16) and say WP7 has sold only 14 million units in 18 months. That's almost 800k phones per month. Now, let's say in the 3 months leading up to WP8's launch, WP7 sales drop and it only sells 500k phones per month. That's another 1.5 million units prior to Wp8's launch for a total of 15.5 million phones in the wild.
So, at launch WP8 zero, WP7 15.5 million potential customers for developers. Considering that 80-90% of your code can be ported over, as a dev, why would you NOT code for WP7 first?
I know. I know. Native code this, native code that. Okay, let's look at this. How many apps are on the market place right now that can absolutely and overwhelmingly benefit from native code? I mean, the differences in performance and features would be night and day. I'd wager a small minority of apps.
So, if an app written for WP7 will perform on par with the same app written for WP8, why, again, would you not code for WP7 first? If you didn't do this you cut out millions of potential customers and who knows how much in potential revenue, all to wait for WP8 to build a userbase.
ICS is on approximately 7% of all Android handsets right now. So, using some of you all's logic, a developer should code strictly for ICS and what it offers and forgo the other 93% of potential customers. That's nigh insane to even think about if you're trying to make any money at all.
Granted Android's user base is much larger, but that was an example. Even if we say that by the time WP8 launches WP7 will only have say... ten million users, that's ten million more than WP8.
I'm going to code NOW for those millions of customers which are actually out there with phones in their hands as opposed to holding off for customers of an OS version that is probably no less than three months out and no less than six months out from building a decent user base. I hope I'm wrong and WP8 explodes like Android did after the "Droid" ad campaign.
But, if I'm not and my hypothetical numbers are even remotely close, I leave you with the old adage... a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. WP7 IS the bird in the hand in case y'all missed it.
Excellent post Wyn6. Well said. For anyone to say that WP7 SDK is dead..
well, they clearly need to change their mind pronto if they want to make money as a developer. I wish WP8 lots of success and think it will be successful, but there is still (and will be) plenty of life in WP7.
Very well said Wyn6. Can you please post it on some more threads here and around other forums where we have headless chickens running around wanting to jump the ship? I've run out of my thanks for today but will make sure they go where they are due. I will be quoting your post in numerous threads I've pulled my hair reading in past 48 hours! Hope you are ok with that
Wyn6 said:
If you think WP7's userbase is small, what does that make WP8's? Non-existent. There are millions of WP7 users. By some accounts 12-16 million. How long do you think it will take for WP8 to reach those numbers?
Let's be mildly optimistic and say that WP8 launches in September and sells 2 million units per month. It would take 6 months (March 2013) before it reaches the low end WP7 number of 12 million phones sold. So, six months from now that would be equal or a bit behind what WP7 has NOW.
But, during those six months WP7 will have sold more phones. But, let's be a little more pessimistic with this outlook. Let's take the mean of the two numbers above (12 and 16) and say WP7 has sold only 14 million units in 18 months. That's almost 800k phones per month. Now, let's say in the 3 months leading up to WP8's launch, WP7 sales drop and it only sells 500k phones per month. That's another 1.5 million units prior to Wp8's launch for a total of 15.5 million phones in the wild.
So, at launch WP8 zero, WP7 15.5 million potential customers for developers. Considering that 80-90% of your code can be ported over, as a dev, why would you NOT code for WP7 first?
I know. I know. Native code this, native code that. Okay, let's look at this. How many apps are on the market place right now that can absolutely and overwhelmingly benefit from native code? I mean, the differences in performance and features would be night and day. I'd wager a small minority of apps.
So, if an app written for WP7 will perform on par with the same app written for WP8, why, again, would you not code for WP7 first? If you didn't do this you cut out millions of potential customers and who knows how much in potential revenue, all to wait for WP8 to build a userbase.
ICS is on approximately 7% of all Android handsets right now. So, using some of you all's logic, a developer should code strictly for ICS and what it offers and forgo the other 93% of potential customers. That's nigh insane to even think about if you're trying to make any money at all.
Granted Android's user base is much larger, but that was an example. Even if we say that by the time WP8 launches WP7 will only have say... ten million users, that's ten million more than WP8.
I'm going to code NOW for those millions of customers which are actually out there with phones in their hands as opposed to holding off for customers of an OS version that is probably no less than three months out and no less than six months out from building a decent user base. I hope I'm wrong and WP8 explodes like Android did after the "Droid" ad campaign.
But, if I'm not and my hypothetical numbers are even remotely close, I leave you with the old adage... a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. WP7 IS the bird in the hand in case y'all missed it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly what i want to say...
Countinuing supporting for Windows Phone 7 right now is the way the developer would do... Since Windows Phone 8/ Windows 8 user base would not reach to the point that WP7.5 has right now.
Wyn6 said:
ICS is on approximately 7% of all Android handsets right now. So, using some of you all's logic, a developer should code strictly for ICS and what it offers and forgo the other 93% of potential customers. That's nigh insane to even think about if you're trying to make any money at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I know in the video game console market there has been a long history of making new systems incompatible with previous generations of a console. The reason being is console makers wanted software developers to use the new console's new features. If left to their own devices software makers would be a lot slower to code solely for the new hardware. I don't know why smartphones wouldn't be the same.
The people that think they are clever waiting for Windows Phone 8 are going to be disappointed. The OS will have some great new characteristics that the MSFT built in apps will take advantage of on day one but I doubt there will be a deluge of Windows Phone 8 exclusive apps for a loooonnnngggg time. Who doubts this?
nice post.
except..
you are not a developer. You don't pay 100$ a year for AppHub. You don't have to buy Visual Studio, but even ignoring that your logic is also flawed.
First developing for WP7 platform is not a profitable for the majority of devs. This is a fact, development costs are higher compared to IOS and Android (xcode is free, andriod tools are completely free), and the user base is small. Unless you're one of the few devs making enough money, there's no point supporting something that has negative returns.
pillsburydoughman said:
nice post.
except..
you are not a developer. You don't pay 100$ a year for AppHub. You don't have to buy Visual Studio, but even ignoring that your logic is also flawed.
First developing for WP7 platform is not a profitable for the majority of devs. This is a fact, development costs are higher compared to IOS and Android (xcode is free, andriod tools are completely free), and the user base is small. Unless you're one of the few devs making enough money, there's no point supporting something that has negative returns.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right. Those 100,000 apps that school kids have made for WP7 in about 20 months might be better when a developer who pays $100 makes them. You will be alright.
Here is what logic tells me:
They switched to a new way of doing things (kernel) for a reason. Not because they are fickle and like to screw people over.
By switching over to a new way of doing things, this will allow them to do new things that either were not possible on WP7 or were going to be very difficult.
(so far all this makes sense to me)
Therefore, if those two things are logically sound:
Windows Phone 8 will have non-trivial improvements over Windows Phone 7.x. Things that were important enough to do something as publicly damaging as what they did by switching the kernel. Maybe it is a deeper integration (skype), an experience exactly like the PC one (IE 10) or a shared programming platform (silverlight).
How many people in here honestly believe Windows Phone 8 won't have a bunch of wow features in it when it launches that Windows Phone 7.8 will not nor ever have?
How many people believe OEMs will push out new phones with Windows 7.8 on it? Maybe Nokia on some low end Lumia bound for Asia/Africa.
The Android 2.3 vs 4.0 anaolgy really is not the same. If I am looking to port my game to Windows Phone, after that announcement I would have shelved the project. Why code for a single core phone when I can code for a dual?
The "oh I have to wait" critics of WP just got more fuel.
nicksti said:
Here is what logic tells me:
They switched to a new way of doing things (kernel) for a reason. Not because they are fickle and like to screw people over.
By switching over to a new way of doing things, this will allow them to do new things that either were not possible on WP7 or were going to be very difficult.
(so far all this makes sense to me)
Therefore, if those two things are logically sound:
Windows Phone 8 will have non-trivial improvements over Windows Phone 7.x. Things that were important enough to do something as publicly damaging as what they did by switching the kernel. Maybe it is a deeper integration (skype), an experience exactly like the PC one (IE 10) or a shared programming platform (silverlight).
How many people in here honestly believe Windows Phone 8 won't have a bunch of wow features in it when it launches that Windows Phone 7.8 will not nor ever have?
How many people believe OEMs will push out new phones with Windows 7.8 on it? Maybe Nokia on some low end Lumia bound for Asia/Africa.
The Android 2.3 vs 4.0 anaolgy really is not the same. If I am looking to port my game to Windows Phone, after that announcement I would have shelved the project. Why code for a single core phone when I can code for a dual?
The "oh I have to wait" critics of WP just got more fuel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This issue whether this aspect or another of that app will work on both WP7.5 and WP8 is already present with Audible release - voice control is WP8-only affair.
So there must be more things that possible software-wise on WP8 that is impossible on WP7.5 - and it is not the hardware difference.
lqaddict said:
This issue whether this aspect or another of that app will work on both WP7.5 and WP8 is already present with Audible release - voice control is WP8-only affair.
So there must be more things that possible software-wise on WP8 that is impossible on WP7.5 - and it is not the hardware difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe people in here understand that if a software dev wanted to he/she could make software that would be compatible on WP7.8 and 8. What they are debating is if someone would. Because in theory they would want to include as many devices as possible.
Are OEMs going to make new handsets with WP7.8? If the answer is no then WP7 is dead. Dead as my goldfish Goldie.

Petition for Windows Mobile support

On January 10, 2011, Microsoft announced Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5, the last windows mobile family product. since then it stopped supporting it's best mobile product
examples are closing market, not publishing fresh bing and skype, threatening us it will stop support on live messenger, stopping microsoft facebook app, iexplorer, fully stopping donations do third party software publishers. It is determined to kill this great product.
If microsoft had decided to evolve wm 6.5.5 to windows mobile 7 keeping backwards compatibility, i am sure it could keep windows mobile's big market share. instead of this it decided to create a monster mobile os (windows phone) totally closed, hardware dependent, non customizable. Google was smart enough to keep or adopt wm nice features and dominate with android
Microsoft is fool enough to expect after what it did to wm users (abandoning them), people to trust it again and buy it's new products (windows phone)
So i am opening a petition to show microsoft that wm users are still many and that we demand support, at least on the above products i mentioned.
Please vote here
http://www.ipetition...tion/wmsupport/
Have a look at the following article from the UK's Computing Magazine.
http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/feat...r-windows-as-hillarys-blinds-opts-for-android
It more or less sums it up, when a dedicated user of WM 6.5 handsets, decides to ditch the lot in favour of Android because of the uncertainty involved in WM and Windows Phone, and the incompatibility between them. These devices are far more than phones. They are line of business hand held order terminals that allow the sales representative to produce an on the spot quote for a client. They have become essential tools of the business.
Microsoft, in its attempt to try and follow the Apple model, has alienated countless users. If it involves a Herculean effort to port an application from Windows Mobile 5/6 to Windows Phone 7/8, it is probably not much harder to port it to a completely different platform.
Hillarys was probably not the first company to do this, and I am certain it won't be the last.
See http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2415482
Any SW that pulls contents online or relying on online backend support will likely cease to work. And, if the provider is Microsoft, you are rest assured that it will happen sooner that other 3rd-party providers.
Its indeed sad that Microsoft alienated WM users
Sent from my GT-I9082 using xda-premium
you think Microsoft harmed its customers by stopping support to windows mobile (most of users were businessmen/women). The company harmed itself. i am sure if gates was still the boss he will never get this kind of stupid decision. New CEO seems to get money from google to lead all the company's mobile customers to android. They doing their best about this. Stop one app after another. They think they lead us to windows phone this, but in fact they are leading us to android.
Windows mobile was fully customizable, platform independent, with thousands of apps, mature, tested fast
Windows phone is non customizable (i hate stupid home screen tiles), platform dependent (qualcomm only), with very few apps (fewer for business use), less tested and less beloved.
Android was very smart and covered Microsoft's stupidity, by cloning windows mobile best features (customizable, platform independent, with thousands of apps, now mature, now tested)
Android is the new windows mobile. It is replacing windows mobile (and windows CE) on all portable devices i know. Microsoft shot it's base clients and killed herself. i am never going to buy windows phone as long as they want to keep their OS locked. Most wm lovers too. Once traitor (of customers) all time traitor (in near future MS will betray WP7 and WP8 users for another stupid idea).
if i was MS CEO i would have fired the person had the idea about abandoning wm and start from zero point with Windows Phone on his form. If was CEO's idea he should resign and admit his failure on the stockholders.
It maybe that Windows RT, the ARM Windows 8 OS for tablets, could be going the same way.
Since its launch, all other manufacturers of the devices have pulled out due to disappointing sales. The last to pull its products was Dell, now leaving Microsoft as the sole supplier of the devices in a dwindling share of the market.
Somehow, it all sounds vaguely familiar.
stephj said:
It maybe that Windows RT, the ARM Windows 8 OS for tablets, could be going the same way.
Since its launch, all other manufacturers of the devices have pulled out due to disappointing sales. The last to pull its products was Dell, now leaving Microsoft as the sole supplier of the devices in a dwindling share of the market.
Somehow, it all sounds vaguely familiar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same to me
But Windows Mobile was loads better
Sent from my GT-I9082 using Tapatalk 2
spkraul said:
On January 10, 2011, Microsoft announced Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5, the last windows mobile family product. since then it stopped supporting it's best mobile product
examples are closing market, not publishing fresh bing and skype, threatening us it will stop support on live messenger, stopping microsoft facebook app, iexplorer, fully stopping donations do third party software publishers. It is determined to kill this great product.
If microsoft had decided to evolve wm 6.5.5 to windows mobile 7 keeping backwards compatibility, i am sure it could keep windows mobile's big market share. instead of this it decided to create a monster mobile os (windows phone) totally closed, hardware dependent, non customizable. Google was smart enough to keep or adopt wm nice features and dominate with android
Microsoft is fool enough to expect after what it did to wm users (abandoning them), people to trust it again and buy it's new products (windows phone)
So i am opening a petition to show microsoft that wm users are still many and that we demand support, at least on the above products i mentioned.
Please vote here
http://www.ipetition...tion/wmsupport/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good idea! W.M. has a lot of qualities.
I'm sign the petition but I think I will make a better one on another site. (There will be other reasons for more recipients)
Windows Mobile rocked, and so did my HTC Touch Pro 2!
Actually, I think that was part of MS's motivation to not make WP7 backward compatible with WM - to force people to get new handsets.
If WP7 *was* backward compatible with WM, I'd probably still be using my Touch Pro 2 today (over 4 years after I originally purchased it)!!!
Win Mobile 6.1 is best!
Windows mobile ah yes, this is the best operating system for advanced users. Before winmo I have been using nokia phones such as 3310 and 3510i and it was always too simple and not costumizable, I always wanted to get a device, that is more advaced, costumizable and professional and you know more like desktop computer. I found out that that device is pocket pc. I didn't even mind if it didn't have phone, taking another device for phone stuff, was/is not problem fpr me was never as I prefer dumb phone for actual phone functionality anyway.
So I got this budget pda ipaq rz1710 in 2005 oh yeah its still working and is somewhere), mastered winmo quickly(something majority of users could't do). Even through that PPC had very limited ram and no bt or wifi I loved it, I played games, listened to music, watched full movies, installed programs like pocket plus, mbutton and many that costumize UI. I especially enjoyed customzing it and I still do it on both desktop windows and windows mobile.
In 2007 when first iphone came out, I couldn't give two ****s about this overhyped phone with locked down os, which has kids gui (like all smartphones do today), was/is locked down and not costumizable at all. Instead Iphone I just bought a hx4700 (which I used since and I still do, since its just awesome ppc), love its nice vga screen and the fact it has everything what ipaq rz1700 lacked, such as bt, wifi, cf card, 200% faster cpu, more ram and 128mb rom which enables me to flash all the custom roms.
The only real flaw is touchpad instead dpad, god I hate that thing, what were they thinking? So yeah I gamed less on this pda, than on rz1700 because of that, but I mastered the touchpad and it isn't that bad after you get used to it, sadly it makes games that use dpad much more challenging as it is nearly unplayable.
So here I'm in 2013, still rocking with my hx4700, love this pda, its one of best ppc ever made, so I bought another one this year, due the fact that the old one got really worn, especially screen. It got worn so much that the protective layer of digitizer started pealing off! Oh and I broke two touchpads during those years, so I got the third one from ipaqrepair.com. Touch pad is not just bad its also the least durable part of the pda. Quality of hx4700 is amazing, I caried it every where and the original battery degraded only by 30% of battery life in those years, unlike htc hd2 which had for less than year and battery already barely works now and can die in 20 minutes of use! (probably due the fact I ordered it from china, the phone is original, but the battery is fake, I know that just by the fact I got two batteries with it, which is always a bad sign) I also upgraded the ram to 128mb.
Also I got the htc hd2 and ipaq 214 (2008), both are great, ipaq has nice dpad, awesome battery life, sdhc and wpa2. However compared to its older brother from 2004, the hx4700 its not much of improvement, in 4 years they only managed to go from 64 to 128 mb ram(128mb ram upgrade can be done on hx4700 since 2004!), it had same cpu, same screen and instead of being thiner its actually thicker than hx4700 oh and lets not forget that hx4700 is made of magnesium while ipaq 214 is plastic, but it is not cheap plastic, it does go with the hp quality standards. Even through ipaq 214 isn't that impressive its still a nice vga ppc and its comfortable in hand even through its even bigger than hx4700.
Got a little out of the way, but anyway you can see that I do love windows mobile, I want it come back, but that is unlikely to happen. Microsoft pretty much ditched winmo users in favour of the crappy win phone which is the worst mobile os out there. They went to advanced (and best) to dumb kiddy os, much like the competition, in order to attempt to compete with them, nedless to say they failed. That wasn't enough, they also attempt to bring the todays kiddy smartphone interface to desktop pc, with windows 8 and metro, which also failed. Microsoft just never learns, they should had just stick with winmo to please advanced users and they could still retain bigger marketshare of at least 10% than the laughtable 4% which win phone got now.
Anyway not long ago I finished my custom wm6.1 rom, which includes many modded icons(control panel, taskbar icons, folders, filetype icons,..), lots of must have programs such as pocket plus, quick menu, wk task, resco explorer, pocket music, tcpmp, ramdisk,.. registry tweaks, preconfigured filetypes, settings,...
I can share this rom to anybody interested who has the hx4700.
What did I tell you!
stephj said:
It maybe that Windows RT, the ARM Windows 8 OS for tablets, could be going the same way.
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Click to collapse
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/26/microsoft-kill-windows-rt-larson-green
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/385609/windows-rt-faces-the-axe-microsoft-exec-suggests
I wonder if the guys in the RT forum have heard this yet.
stephj said:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/26/microsoft-kill-windows-rt-larson-green
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/385609/windows-rt-faces-the-axe-microsoft-exec-suggests
I wonder if the guys in the RT forum have heard this yet.
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That's the same game again and again
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I also used WM from version 3 on in so many PDA's I lost count... Then I went to WM Phones... HTC touch diamond, TD2, HD2, et all... But when Windows 7 came out, I couldn't even look at the directory (my wife has one). So Microsoft drove me to Android... Just another example of their unsailsmenship... Yea I know it's not a word... But it's the truth...
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My only phone is still Samsung Omnia i900, which is just perfect. I think i wouldn't use Android as a primary system, so I am going to buy HTC HD2.
the biggest apps windows mobile lack is a translation app (ex google/bing translate) and a more modern internet browser.
zetakey in very fresh (march 2014) but very heavy and makes the phone to stop responding. i hope they can solve it soon. until then ucweb and opera 10 are our only options.
spkraul said:
the biggest apps windows mobile lack is a translation app (ex google/bing translate) and a more modern internet browser.
zetakey in very fresh (march 2014) but very heavy and makes the phone to stop responding. i hope they can solve it soon. until then ucweb and opera 10 are our only options.
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Click to collapse
Had tried Zetakey some time back. Pretty heavy and made device unresponsive but it did work, and hey at least it was a plausible way to access HTML5.
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