Windows Mobile Team Blog : 27,469

So now that the Windows Mobile team has Windows Mobile 5.0 out – they now have to convince developers and end users to use it.

While Rob Levy is tasked with that (and will be getting 27460 air miles for it), Mike Dimmick makes the point:
“This 1 developer not very happy he has to buy 1 new development environment, not yet released, to debug code on 1 new operating system. You seem to forget that Pocket PC 2002 is only three years old – companies do _not_ want to replace their devices that frequently.”

Agreed – Mike. I actually have a PocketPC 2003 and am amazed that I will have to actually think about replacing the unit later this year to get the latest features.

It’s enough to make me want to consider more open-sourced programs for the PocketPC rather than the provided ones.

Why can’t Windows Mobile 5.0 run on these devices as an upgrade? That would at least solve the end-users problems and make it easier for developers to swallow getting a new environment.

It may not seem like much to those with corporate accounts but spending $500 a year for a new device that does pretty much what the previous one did – doesn’t sound like a win-win, even if it does consolidate dev between two similar but different environments (Pocket PC and Smart Phone).

Now HP is offering an upgrade plan for their units from this year but not earlier years. So is Dell for their Axim x50 line.

Now some of the great new features that they are promoting : Mobile blogs , PhotoStory, and Windows Media 10 all sound great but you know?

What I would love is being able to use more advanced JavaScript in the Pocket Explorer – that way I don’t need to rely on a Wifi Connection – I can simply use something like TiddyWiki.

Get done more in meetings? Where’s OneNote for the Windows Mobile devices? Right now, I find I get more done with MindManager for my Pocket PC.

Yes, sure – Windows Mobile 5.0 is an evolutionary step – but it seems to be more about putting disparate devices together than really making a difference in the end-user experience. Sure – there will be some of that – but there needs to be more.

Windows Mobile Team Blog : 27,469