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Windows Mobile 6 Announced!!! FINALLY

engadget.com — Microsoft's finally ready to take the wraps off Windows Mobile 6, the long-awaited successor to Windows Mobile 5 (what else?) that's been baking in the oven for a while now as "Crossbow." The platform formerly known as Pocket PC Phone Edition has become Windows Mobile 6 "Professional."

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  • nickMANDERFIELD, on 10/12/2007, -55/+14Great.. another buggy, slow, and boring Mobile OS
    • Demq, on 10/12/2007, -47/+6still far behind Symbian OS
    • z3rr0, on 10/12/2007, -3/+23The *only* thing Symbian has these days that I wanted was the web browser, but Opera kills it, and I now own that. I used to love my Symbian phones until I found the 8125. I have WM5 AKU 3.3 on it and I just really haven't found anything closer to filling my needs. I like the idea of the iPhone, but the closed platform is likely to keep me away.
    • killerofkiller, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2my friend has been using that for a while now...
    • ajck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Anyone that wants to learn the reality of Windows Mobile needs to read:
      http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/50755EA6-A759-42FD-84ED-EBB5A060AF16.html

      FYI, you may Digg down the pro-Symbian comments above but Symbian is WAY out in front as a mobile OS outside the US. And that's because it is far, far superior. WM will never succeed long term because MS think smartphones are small PCs which they very much are not.
  • mikev, on 10/12/2007, -30/+14Looks kinda cool. This could rival the iPhone if it is on the right hardware.
    • a7bat, on 10/12/2007, -15/+3Like the Meizu M8.
    • flag564, on 10/12/2007, -9/+40Windows Mobile is on more devices in France than their will be iPhones in the US in two years.

      You need to hope that the iPhone can rival Windows Mobile.
    • bobcrotch, on 10/12/2007, -5/+35Also windows mobile is fully different than the iPhone OS, windows mobile is geared almost fully towards productivity and office connectivity.
    • soopafly, on 10/12/2007, -25/+7"Windows Mobile is on more devices in France than their will be iPhones in the US in two years."

      True, but that doesn't make it any better.
    • EtherGnat, on 10/12/2007, -3/+27"True, but that doesn't make it any better."

      It does if what you need is productivity apps and office connectivity.
    • Layzie, on 10/12/2007, -7/+48Forget hardware. Just remember that anyone can write software for it. That alone beats the iphone in every way.
    • naio21, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18"Just remember that anyone can write software for it."

      Using .NET and Visual Studio, which is an awesome development platform.
    • gr8one, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3"Windows Mobile is on more devices in France than their will be iPhones in the US in two years.

      You need to hope that the iPhone can rival Windows Mobile."


      Windows XP is on more computers in NYC than OSX is on in the world, so of course that makes it better......
  • kirkouimet, on 10/12/2007, -7/+24I've been using WM5 on a Cingular 2125 smartphone with direct push for the past year and I love it. Thanks for giving us the heads up on WM6, looking forward to its release.
  • GrimRage, on 10/12/2007, -24/+6... crickets ...
    • addrake, on 10/12/2007, -18/+6Oh, so the crickets are using Mobile too now? Great!
  • Demq, on 10/12/2007, -37/+8It took them so long just to add these features?? nothing impressive, and far behind the Symbian OS.


    - HTML support in email
    - Windows Live for Windows Mobile
    - File transfer capability in Windows Live Messenger
    - New versions of mobile Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint with rich editing
    - Remote wipe capability for stolen and lost devices
    - Call history in contact cards
    - Tight Vista integration
    - "Calendar ribbon" for more easily viewing schedule by day or week
    - New versions of .NET Compact Framework and SQL Server built-in
    • aurrea, on 10/12/2007, -5/+30Yeah we heard your "far behind Symbian" comment on your previous post.
    • omatsei, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17I especially like the "remote wipe" feature. I could have some fun with that...
    • ChadMonahan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Symbian OS has all these features?
  • undersky, on 10/12/2007, -24/+4BlackBerry >> Mobile 6 + iPhone
    • Demq, on 10/12/2007, -50/+1Symbian >> BlackBerry + Mobile 6 + iPhone
    • aurrea, on 10/12/2007, -4/+31@ demq

      STFU about Symbian! Go post an article about how great Symbian is....
    • masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+29@demg:

      If you'd take some time off of posting how great Symbian is, you'd realize that everyone who works with it loathes it. In fact, Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics, and Vodafone are all now working together to make a common, linux-based OS that will replace Symbian.

      http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/05/139207&from=rss
      http://www.digg.com/linux_unix/Cellphone_giants_pit_Linux_against_Microsoft_Symbian
    • EtherGnat, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12"BlackBerry >> Mobile 6 + iPhone"

      Or maybe, just maybe, they all have their place. Use the best tool for the job.
    • gdm9000, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Just curious... I know nothing about Symbian. Why do ppl loathe it?

      I've owned only WinCE PDAs. Out-of-the-box configuration is lame; you have to add 3rd-party apps, but with them the OS is great. But there is not a single feature in WM6 that I want and would upgrade for. WM6 looks lame - looks like they just added more DRM...

      Oh, and the iPhone looks lame, too. No 3rd party apps? Ugh! They're the best part of WinCE!
  • will4042, on 10/12/2007, -14/+3its about time
  • gstuartj, on 10/12/2007, -26/+3Oy. Am I the only one who thinks the interface is ugly? Unless it's skinnable, there's no way I could stand using that. Also, who wants to bet the remote-wiping capability will be exploited and used to brick innocent devices?
    • ejdmoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+25It's skinnable.

      The remote wiping feature only works if you sync with an Exchange 2003 SP1 server.

      Have a nice day, average digg commenter.
    • 1iProd, on 10/12/2007, -16/+1Well, at least it's not obnoxious and distracting like Office 2007.
    • Blackforge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8The Remote Wipe feature requires Exchange 2003 SP2. SP2 introduced Microsoft's version of "push e-mail" along with it. You can actually do remote wipe now if your Windows Mobile 5 device has the Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSFP) included in the OS. You administer it with Windows Mobile Admin pack, which is just a website that installs into IIS. It's very limiting and only lets you do two things at the moment. Delete the device from a user's mailbox and remote wipe. Pales in comparison to what you can do with a Blackberry Enterprise Server.

      The biggest thing in my mind for 6.0 is an encrypted file system or at least the last time I read about it.

      Here's hoping my T-mobile Dash gets a 6.0 update :-/

  • bergur1, on 10/12/2007, -13/+4"Microsoft's finally ready to take the wraps off Windows Mobile 6, the long-awaited successor to Windows Mobile 5 (what else?)"

    The correct answer would be Windows Mobile 4
    • cronot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"The correct answer would be Windows Mobile 4"

      Are you serious? There's no such thing. You may be confusing Windows CE 4.2, whose software bundle on PDAs and smartphones is called Windows Mobile 2003. Then there's the current version, Windows Mobile 5, and now the soon-to-be-released Windows Mobile 6. The submitter is quite correct.
  • theBrink, on 10/12/2007, -17/+1great...my new blackjack = obsolete.

    Thanks Microsoft! Then the week after that you can release WMobile 7 and call it the "Hyper Smartphone Edition" Of course all the new apps for WMobile7 will not run on WM5 or 6.
    • gstuartj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+26What do you expect MS to do? Put out a product and not release updates, because it will upset people who just bought the older product? That, sir, is faulty logic.
    • undersky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Duracell AAA X 1 >> BlackJack Battery X 10
    • Cronus6, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11There's a good chance that newer smartphones (such as yours) will be able to be updated (either officially or "otherwise").
    • EtherGnat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Updates for smartphones are really hit and miss. The operating system is heavily customized for the hardware, so upgrades take a significant amount of work and testing.
  • angusware, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8can you update this for your already existing 5 OS ?
    • ejdmoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Short answer: yes...

      Windows Mobile 5.0 changed a lot of the platform defining what a "Pocket PC" is. For instance, it changed the storage from being in volatile RAM to flash ROM. Also some other things, I think.

      Windows Mobile 6.0 is an update to the shell and surrounding applications (like Outlook Mobile) more than to the platform itself. Thus, I have it running currently on my HTC Wizard. You can find it if you know where to look and know what you're doing.
    • sammyc53, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I have seen a MS Rep who was running WM 6 on his Treo 700wx. He said it was doable (not sure if it will be supported).
    • trc0, on 10/12/2007, -7/+13digg down
    • undersky, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3medium length answer... maybe.
    • naio21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"medium length answer... maybe."

      He is right. As WM is tightly coupled to the hardware, it depends on the "good will" of the manufacturer to release an update.

      HP, for instance, has a very irregular upgrade policy for their Pocket PC line.
  • loqqq, on 10/12/2007, -15/+2"the long-awaited successor" -- yes, you 3 have been waiting a long time
  • undersky, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2digg down
  • digger_twit, on 10/12/2007, -11/+1Looks like a skin - just as Kevin said on diggnation...
  • SirBotchness, on 10/12/2007, -5/+30oh look, its not iphone, so the dumbs don't care. Hey, you can actually use this right now, not in 10 months. But hey, what do you know about using your smart phone to make money? You just want to browse for porn and listen to your nickelback.
    • deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -15/+2Yes because the only important thing in life is making money and serving our corporate masters. Mmm hm.
    • sexycommando, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17get a job, hippy
  • Justin6512, on 10/12/2007, -43/+4burried this story as lame because of the word "Windows" in the title. Nothing good ever comes out of them (microsoft) except the XBOX 360.

    Go ahead bury me now
    • Evoguy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15Wow, I hate people like you. Hate is such a strong word, but I'll use it here anyway.
    • naio21, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13"Go ahead bury me now"

      As you wish, my dear clueless teenager gamer.
    • zetsurin, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3XBOX360 sucks puppy ass.
    • Justin6512, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@evoguy

      and I love pissing people like you off! ;)
    • Justin6512, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@naio21

      My DEAR dear CLUELESS ignorant fool. I am in fact NOT a "teenager gamer" you stupid ***** stereotyping retard. GO ***** YOURSELF!
  • bastardo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I have an Axim X51. Can I update to the new windows, or are they locked?
    • snipes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Google for some compatible WM6 ROMs for your device, you should be to find one and flash, if you're not scared to try that kinda stuff.
    • sexycommando, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5get a version of ur current os to flash back to in case it doesn't work
    • naio21, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4If Dell releases a WM6 update for their X51 line having the same quality of their WM5 upgrade for the X50... well, I would not advise for you to do so.

      Every X50 user I know reversed back to WM2003SE !
  • donnydarko319, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2I see they're still missing the option to actually CLOSE an app when you click x. It's not a big deal for me, I use Wisbar, problem solved.

    However, I see tons of people with the same model phone as I (HTC Wizard) who probably won't end up downloading a special task manager. I'd hate to be them when typing a email or writing an important note only to have an app close for no apparent reason while multitasking. It's not like Windows couldn't do it. HTC makes a freeware program that does it, and for the life of me, I don't see how Smartclose is helpful. It would've been nice, for the sake of others, to at least make actual closing optional.

    Noentheless though, I'm perfectly happy with my device, and the Remote Wipe capability looks sweet.
    • atheistx, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Cheers to that, I also have an HTC Wizard, and can't think of a single good reason my contacts list or inbox is still running in the background long after I have finished my call, or read my messages--especially after I've deliberately hit the "close" button. So I, too, use a third-party app to sufficiently close processes. Though, despite that lacking stock feature, I'm still pleased overall with Windows Mobile.

      Ce la vie. :)
  • eleazar123, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Now if only we can get a release date for the Samsung i760! That phone looks like the best of both worlds.
  • aacidusX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3long-awaited? ha!
    the long-awaited version was windows mobile 5, ppl in those days were still using version 2002 and then 2003 while it was still the year 2005.
  • lotion, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9If you know where to look, crossbow roms are already floating around. In fact, one of the more popular home-cooked WM5 roms out there right now has taken a lot of the cool features from WM6. I just upgraded to it and I love it.

    And for the people bashing WM phones, have you ever actually owned one? I have an HTC Wizard (Cingular 8125) that hasn't failed me since I've been upgrading the rom. Sure, the initial release was a bit buggy (I froze every now and again or radio reception would fail without notice) but it has improved dramatically since then. Beyond all of that, the compact framework is genius. Unlike your coveted iPhone, Microsoft supports writing your own applications and since it's part of the .net framework, it's very easy to integrate all sorts of things so you can basically have the same application at home on your computer and on the road on your phone.

    To be honest, I can't think of much that the iPhone will be capable of that WM phones aren't already except for the tilt sensing (which is a hardware thing anyway) and the touch zoom. I'll grant you, it's seems well designed and attractive (as are most apple products), but the fact that it is a closed platform screws it up. Even though Microsoft may be slow to respond, it's the programming community that they support that makes up for it. Apple just wont be able to compete with a world of PPC developers. In fact, most of the "upgrades" Microsoft is talking about for WM6 have already been accomplished by third parties.
    • zetsurin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1"And for the people bashing WM phones, have you ever actually owned one?"

      Yes, I have owned several and they were all terrible. When I use a phone I don't want to have to whip out a stylus and work with a clunky interface. The 8125 is probably better used by the police force for smashing down doors during night time raids. Don't tell me you actually try to jam that thing in your pants pocket?

      I'm no great fan or hater of the iPhone (never used one myself) but I will say this: the Windows Mobile space has become EXTREMELY boring over the last number of years. The OS continues to be clunky and VGA support is still lacking and inconsistent (basically hasn't improved since the days I had my Toshiba e800), and the HTC hardware all looks like it's been knocked out from the same cookie cutter.

      So sue people if they want to try something different.

  • vassar, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3I owned a WM5 - it was a piece of junk. Very happy with my outdated but simple to work/does everything I want Treo 700p
    • naio21, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The Treo 700p is a buggy piece of crap from an almost bankrupted company. I'd better think twice...
  • RandallBe, on 10/12/2007, -10/+5***** windows mobile. Palm is by far the best mobile OS
    • jaydj, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7So go play with your um... er... palm.
    • sremick, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I'm late to this thread, but figured I'd chime in anyway. I'm also a Palm fan... which means I'll get dugg down, no doubt.

      But hear me out... I fully admit that tech-wise, Palm is behind the times. Compared with WM, PalmOS is archaic. I hear it's hard to program for. It doesn't support the latest features and technology. The hardware specs are lacking (the last good Palm was the T3, which is what I own). And Palm as a company has been horribly mismanaged for years, putting the future of PalmOS and Palm devices in jeopardy.

      But I use a Palm PDA anyway. How come? Because despite Palm's problems, they did a lot of things RIGHT. There is an elegance and simplicity to PalmOS that is lacking in WM. Certain "duh" features are natural and easy on Palm but insanely difficult on WM. WM is plagued with a lot of the problems inherent in Windows and a natural infection considering it's developed by the same company with the same ideas on how things should be done.

      Despite how old my Palm is, people are amazed by how modern it looks and the things I do with it. I got rid of the dated Palm UI using PalmRevolt which allows hi-res skinning. FontSmoother allows me to replace any/all system fonts with crisp anti-aliased fonts. The combination of the 2 is like having a brand new 2007 device. ZLauncher beats the default Palm launcher and allows for its own skinning. Opera Mini gives me powerful web-browsing capabilities, while SnapperMail allows me to access my IMAP email from anywhere. Despite living in the sticks, I can get cell reception pretty much anywhere, so a Bluetooth dial-up networking link via my cell allows me internet access from anywhere to pull up not only email but realtime news, weather, directory listings, and maps via the Google Maps client. Pocket Tunes allows me to listen to music (more often podcasts though). Plus I have tons of awesome-looking games, more enough to pass away any free time I might have while wowing anyone looking over my shoulder. I even have a wifi card (although around here, wifi hotspots are rare... I use dial-up more often). All on a 400+ MHz device with a hi-res screen, 64MB of memory + a 1GB SD card. I even upgraded the battery to one with more juice.

      And to be honest, I also use Palm because it's "Not Microsoft". WM might have all the flash and gee-whiz right now, and be right there on-top of modern tech, but it's full of huge problems, more (in my opinion) than Palm. Sometimes you have to vote for what you believe in, even if they're the underdog and not fashionable.

      I cannot in clean-conscience support Microsoft. I don't use Windows on my home PC and likewise I do not use Windows on my PDA. I use Palm because, despite all their issues, they're still the best PDA competition to Microsoft. If someone non-Microsoft beats out Palm, then I'll take a look at them.
  • mpeters13, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3How exciting. Can WM6 really be used to update phones with existing WM5 installations? (ie.. sprint ppc 6700?.. that would be so wicked cool)
  • Trat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Yes, now I can have the registry and dll-hell on my mobile phone! Yeah!!!!
    • zetsurin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3You jest but it's the truth. When you install on an app on Windows mobile, it's like introducing a scatterbomb across your storage. You need to carefully choose what to install otherwise you are looking for a hard reset. Great OS... NOT! The unbelievable thing is that MS had a chance to write a good mobile OS from scratch and they blew it. The temptation for them to just jam in the big lumbering Win32 API was too great for them.
  • DeepPan77, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I hope they've got it right with version 6, because I've been using version 5 for a while it it sucks big time!
  • whi73rav3n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The Office suite will be a standard package in windows mobile 6

    http://www.helpero.com/news/Mobile/Software/Office-in-Windows-Mobile-6_255.html
  • gquaglia, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Who cares. Its hard to believe that something could suck even worse then Windows on the desktop, but behold Win mobile. Not satisfied with ***** everyone in the office, now Gates and Co see fit to release their disease into the mobile world. It surprises me how many people are drooling over this when it sucks so bad.
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