Yes, it’s UI is vomit-worthy and dated, but when you stack it up against the alternatives – Iphone OS (the lack of multitasking highlights how technically challenged the core is), Android (sluggish due to its Java roots) and Symbian (to Nokia’s credit they do update it, but it seems to get worse each release) – it’s still in the running.

It’s annoying that MS totally ignored the UI, after Apple made it quite clear that’s how to win the hearts of users – technical details mean very little if you slap a pretty face on it. It’s almost as if Apple released the Iphone and MS said “wow, that’s a really amazing UI, we have to do something. Let’s take a nap. For 3 years.”

I’m hoping that winmo7 brings it back into contention, and either MS or a 3rd party better port webkit to it ASAP, as that’s where the future of mobile apps seems to be, with all the other OSes having webkit browsers, it’s the one thing that developers can count on to make cross-platform apps. The IE-Mobile on winmo is one of the biggest things holding it back.

Although If this gives the opportunity for new technology to arise then its a good thing. I use my mobile a lot for net and email as I have an Unlimited $45 monthly package from Straight Talk. I get unlimited data, minutes and messages so who ever can give me the best softwear well make me happy.

Microsoft is finished in mobile.

Because it is late to market (with a modern touch-phone interface), it must now produce a product vastly better than the more popular competitors. Otherwise nobody will migrate from those other more popular platforms.

Momentum is the other thing. As the article said, handset OEMs have been rushing away from Windows Mobile, and are all in the process of phasing it out. Momentum is going against Microsoft.

Critically, developers have deserted Windows Mobile. Nobody is writing new apps for it. The market place is barren. That’s the hallmark of a dead platform. Just like the OEMs, Microsoft will have an impossible task attracting developers back to its revised but unproven platform. Momentum is hard to reverse.

Who knows what effect the coming Windows Mobile 7 will have on sales of existing handsets running Windows Mobile 6.5 (or soon 6.6). I think sales of 6.x handsets will crash. Who wants to buy a Windows Mobile handset on a soon-to-be-discontinued platform?

Microsoft is finished in mobile. It’ll keep its desktop monopoly, but it has lost the mobile market forever.

WindowsMobile could well disappear for a couple of years, and then return with something that takes over the SmartPhone market.

Of course they could also decide to close the entire Windows Mobile project, but losing and giving up are two terms that don’t seem to be in Microsoft’s vocabulary. (Some of us might add that “reliable”, “intuitive” and “pleasure to use” are also not in their vocabulary. But that is missing the point.)

What is missing from your article, and maybe because it is just a rumour at this stage, is Project Pink; which is the new phone OS (and maybe device) from MS based off the Zune platform.

I think that has some potential to solve this for two reasons
1 – The reputation of WinMo doesn’t come into play. Sure there is some damage to carry over but in no way as bad as just another WinMo version.
2 – Technically it is easier to build up on a platform designed for mobile devices and add the phone features than it is to strip down OS designed for more feature rich devices (like computers, tablets etc…). This should mean that the OS starts off better.

Johann: speak for yourself. I welcome any competitors in the space that can push the boundaries; it’s good for consumers. Your obvious feelings of ill will toward Microsoft are probably misplaced, by the way. News flash: Apple and Google are mega-corporations too.

You can only make sub-par software (compared to what Mac and Google are doing), and ship it late, for so long.

So long, Microsoft. We won’t miss you