Windows Mobile 7 - A Peek - MERGED

[Sulten]

replace the x's on the links

we all know about 6.1 screen shots
http://xxx.boygeniusreport.com/galle...ows-mobile-61/

video: http://xxx.engadget.com/2007/12/07/v...ws-mobile-6-1/

but now here comes 7.0

As far as Windows Mobile 7.0 goes, there are no leaked screen shots as of yet, but big changes are afoot. Microsoft plans to completely redo applications such as Internet Explorer, bringing the mobile browser up to par with Apple's Mobile Safari. The e-mail and SMS applications are also scheduled for complete rewrites. Microsoft plans to make the user interface even more consumer-friendly.
Beyond 7.0, Microsoft is even hinting at a completely redesigned Windows Mobile 8.0, which will again redo the internals of the operating system to keep up with newer and more powerful mobile hardware. Details for this release are scarce, although Microsoft promises features such as being able to go from a person's address in their contact info directly to a map view with directions to where they live. It all sounds like the iPhone really lit a fire under the posteriors of the Windows Mobile team, and that can only be good news for smartphone users.

[riironman]

well since alot of us have 6.1 and no big changes i hope 7.0 is not a big let down.

[boe]

Originally Posted by Sulten

Beyond 7.0, Microsoft is even hinting at a completely redesigned Windows Mobile 8.0, which will again redo the internals of the operating system to keep up with newer and more powerful mobile hardware.

That quote scares me - I hope they don't mean the same way that Vista does. There are still some people saying things like Vista runs fine on my home machine - not realizing it can be significantly faster with XP. I'm not saying well designed code can't use more powerful hardware to be even faster - it definitely can - unfortunately MS tends to make code that requires new hardware just to do what the old OS did at the same speed on old hardware.

[etx]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/06/i...dows-mobile-7/

[intelbank]

I gotta find the nerve to upgrade to 6.1 still. i'm lingering around with 6.0

IB

[RobNyc]

I wonder how I upgrade to 6.1 from my Touch

[budney]

Originally Posted by RobNyc

I wonder how I upgrade to 6.1 from my Touch

Check the Vogue upgrades sub forum.

[RobNyc]

Originally Posted by budney

Check the Vogue upgrades sub forum.

Thanks missed that

[neodorian]

Originally Posted by boe

That quote scares me - I hope they don't mean the same way that Vista does. There are still some people saying things like Vista runs fine on my home machine - not realizing it can be significantly faster with XP. I'm not saying well designed code can't use more powerful hardware to be even faster - it definitely can - unfortunately MS tends to make code that requires new hardware just to do what the old OS did at the same speed on old hardware.

Well, the problem with Vista was that they didn't completely rewrite it for new hardware. Think of how much better OSX was than OS9. Complete rewrites run the risk of problems with backwards compatibility and when you have the vast majority of the business and home market under your belt, you can't risk people losing productivity because their old software or hardware doesn't work. You think there are issues with Vista now? Imagine a whole new OS written from the ground up. Apple's OS has the benefit of a very limited hardware base to write drivers for but Windows is installed on all kinds of configurations and the driver base has been building for years.

I think a proper rewrite from the ground up would be great if it established some standards that hardware vendors could use when designing their hardware. That way it might cut down on the driver issues and make for easier development. In a way, the mobile market is less fragmented with fewer common chipsets so this might be easier than on the desktop/server side. Also I would hope they learn their lesson and not let big hardware makers like Intel dictate what it has to run on. If not for Intel throwing its weight around, Vista may have properly demanded modern hardware and not stuck MS selling crappy stripped down versions to keep Intel selling weak chipsets.

[[sammich]]

I don't care what anyone says, but the RAM on this thing better be well over 512MB. Call me crazy.

But it makes sense: The drivers for this thing are going to be HUGE! Look at all the capabilities! They are monitoring the camera, movement, touches on the screen, gestures, cell signal, battery, scanning the network, transferring data etc...

Plus, with all these features, I think this is going to be the FIRST TRUE mobile computer. More people are going to use it for business purposes, and the programs aren't going to be the little compressed ones anymore. I think developers need to be able to take a brake from cutting back features to conserve memory.

Hopefully they will have an adjustable page-pool too!