Posted on 02/09/2007 11:00:12 AM PST by ShadowAce
Windows Vista, which hit shelves last week, is the most important version of Windows that Microsoft launches this year. But it isn't the last.
Next Monday at the 3GSM wireless trade show in Barcelona, Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people) will finally take the lid off its long-anticipated update to Windows Mobile. While Vista runs on computers and needs a ton of memory, Microsoft's cellphone operating system runs in the palm of your hand.
Windows Mobile 6 isn't a huge upgrade from the current version 5, but it sports some new features aimed at both its traditional business users and mainstream consumers. For instance, it plays along better with some of the company's business software, like Word, Excel and PowerPoint. It displays some e-mails better and works closer with some of Microsoft's Web-based Windows Live services like instant messaging and voice notes. It also has a redesigned, more attractive user interface, with Vista-like, three-dimensional graphics.
The updates are important because Windows Mobile 6 will very likely be the best-selling edition yet. As recently as a year ago, most Windows Mobile smartphones were bulky and expensive, aimed at tech types and enterprise users.
"If you went back two years ago and I walked around with my Windows Mobile phone, and I showed it to people, they'd say 'Wow, that is cool! What is it?'" says Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division. "You'd say, 'It's a Windows Mobile phone,' and they'd say 'What's that?' And now you walk through an airport and you don't get that response."
That's because smartphones have gone mainstream, thanks to slimmer, cheaper handsets like Samsung's BlackJack, T-Mobile's Dash and the Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people) Q--all which run on Windows Mobile 5. Apple (nasdaq: AAPL news - people) made a splash in January unveiling its own smartphone, the iPhone, heavy on both design and price: It starts at $500.
Most smartphones now cost much less, in large part because carriers subsidize the cost of the tiny computers. With good reason: Smartphone subscribers spend about seven times more per month on data services, ranging from text messaging and mobile Web browsing to streaming video.
Unlike Windows' dominance in personal computing, Microsoft's U.S. cellphone market share isn't much--about 1% in November 2006, according to research firm M:Metrics. But that represents 2 million people, and it's more than double its share two years ago. Last fall, it passed rival Palm(nasdaq: PALM - news - people) OS in the U.S.
Worldwide, Microsoft sold 9 million Windows Mobile licenses last year, on devices from 47 different manufacturers and 115 mobile operators in 55 countries. Last quarter, the company sold 3 million licenses, up more than 90% from a year ago.
And the market is growing: In 2007, people will buy more than a billion cellphones worldwide, according to Yankee Group, with smartphones accounting for more than 113 million, or 11% of all phones sold. In 2010, Yankee Group projects smartphone sales to top 243 million, or 20% of all phone sales.
Microsoft doesn't sell its own phones--yet--but handset companies like Motorola and HTC pay the company a license fee for each Windows Mobile phone they make. And the more places people see the familiar "Start" button, the better for Microsoft's overall strategy of getting its software on more devices, ranging from the PC and cellphone to videogame consoles, music players and even cable set-top boxes.
I'll keep the squirting to a minimum.
does anyone have any idea how well vista is selling?? seems to me I'm seeing a lot of commercials for it and how great(?) it is and how you just have to buy it..moreso than for 2000 and XP..or is it just my imagination??
Mostly it's not selling. Microsoft is trying to push this one hard, and it's being greeted by a yawn.
XP is just fine for now. Maybe in 2009 or 10
Vista doesn't operate well with Schwab's StreetSmart Pro.
I have Vista on a new computer. It is a pig. Close to 800MB of physical memory used to boot it up.
On the surface, it appears OK. The most notable difference how the windows open and close. It looks like the window begins very far away from you and zooms up to you as it opens. Likewise, when they close, they look like they move away from you. If I would have forked over money for an upgrade, I would be disappointed.
More stuff from Microshaft.... motto "hate your customer"
Hmmmm....I don't think that's what corporate IT departments were waiting for.
Since they stuck with NT for so long, maybe they'll stick with XP for 4 or 5 years.
I'm quite happy with my present OS and see no need to purchase Vista, but, even if that weren't the case, I wouldn't want Vista anyway because of all the DRM restrictions and so forth. In fact, I don't want any part of Vista. However, my fear is that whenever I buy a new computer I won't have much of a choice, since it'll likely come bundled with Vista.
I just became a Linux convert, I installed Ubuntu on my laptop, and it's great to not have to wait five minutes for all the Windows bloatware to load.
I just bought a new computer (3 months ago) with XP..when I go for another one in a few years, I'm going to seriously, seriously consider a mac..even though they're far more expensive..
Windows CE, uh, Mobile is getting there. I played with the early versions, and they sucked oh so badly, a sad attempt to cram Windows into a small device. The new one doesn't look too bad.
I'm waiting for more details on the handheld OS X. The BSD it's based on can easily be squeezed into small devices, so there's a good chance you'll get a practically full OS X kernel rather than CE's small Windows subset kernel. We already know it's coming with high-end OS X features like Core Animation.
Maybe partly because of people like me and those I work with. The consensus here is that, with all the DRM and anti-privacy crap that MS has put in Vista, we're not even interested in a pirated copy of it, never mind buying it.
We need more of these types of informative, unbiased and thought out posts....
Duh -- to the point. This is one reason why experiences with Windows Mobile devices aren't always very good. Any yahoo who can get a license can make a device, and it may suck. The PC industry grew on Microsoft's model of licensing the software to anybody who makes a system, but now we're getting into regular consumer electronics, which operates on a different model.
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