Microsoft Needs Better Windows Mobile Updates, Not Just Faster Ones

Microsoft is often criticized for the slow pace at which Windows Mobile is updated. The company is apparently trying to do something about this, though. According to a leaked timetable, the first devices running the next version, Windows Mobile 6.5, are going to debut in September, while it will only be 6 months later that models based on Windows Mobile 7 will hit the market.

While this is welcome news -- a major upgrade in 6 months is virtually unheard of in this industry -- it's meaningless unless Microsoft also picks up the pace at which it actually enhances Windows Mobile. In recent years, there has been a steady flow of new versions of this operating system, but each is only marginally better than the last. It's time for Microsoft to break out of its rut.

A Change of Focus

Windows Mobile started out focused on business users, and that was fine for most of a decade. Problem is, that's not really where the market for smartphones is anymore. It's consumers that are now buying them in record numbers, but most of these people aren't looking for what Microsoft has to offer.

If Windows Mobile is going to stay relevant in the smartphone market, it needs to change profoundly. I have some suggestion how.

The Stylus Is Dead, Jim

When Windows Mobile was first being developed, the cutting edge was stylus-based user interfaces. Jump forward about 10 years and things have changed: people want to ditch the stylus and control their smartphone with their fingertips. Microsoft needs to follow this trend for two reasons: it's what the customer wants, and the customer wants it because it's an inherently better way of doing things.

Screenshots of Windows Mobile 6.5 that have leaked out show that the developers are obviously moving in this direction, but they need to commit to this whole-hog. The entire user interface, including all the standard software applications, need to be redesigned to be fingertip friendly.

Licensees like HTC have tried putting a finger-oriented overlay on their devices, and this mostly just turns out to be frustrating. They can't replace everything, or even most things, and when you get past the new UI and down to the Windows Mobile heart you have to *sigh* pull out your stylus.

Let Windows Mobile Be Mobile Windows

When pundits are talking about improving things, they usually talk in vague terms. "Microsoft should innovate" is a common phrase. Exactly what that means is never spelled out.

I'm going to break out of the mold and suggest that Microsoft do the opposite. Instead of trying to make Windows Mobile act in new and different ways, it should perform in more traditional ways. Specifically, I think its user interface should be more closely tied to the desktop version of Windows.

Some will argue that the desktop paradigm doesn't work on a smartphone, and these devices need a new way of operating. The problem with this argument is that it means people have to learn to use the new user interface. People hate learning new stuff. And it's not necessary, when the old method is perfectly acceptable.

Google seems to agree with me. The basic user interface for Android is a slightly modified desktop, just like on a PC. Microsoft should follow suit, and put in a desktop with user-controllable application icons.

I'm sure there are people who like the current Today Screen and would prefer to keep it, and that's fine. But whether you realize it or not, the Today Screen is a business tool, and consumers need an option that works for them. Windows Mobile should offer both.

But there's more to Microsoft's smartphone operating becoming more like its PC one than just the desktop.

Updating your PC is a minor task; the same should be true of your smartphone. There has been a Windows Update function built into Windows Mobile for years, and so far it has never been used. This needs to change. Microsoft should be able to send out minor bug fixes and enhancements to users, not require them to reinstall the entire operating system or -- worse yet -- buy a new device.

Greater support for USB should be included, too. Plugging your smartphone into a PC should turn it into a removable drive. Limited USB host would nice too, allowing thumbdrives, keyboards, and even mice to be used. These devices are becoming powerful computers, and they should act like them.

Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

I try to be realistic. If I'm going to ask Microsoft to add features to Windows Mobile, some things need to be taken out. Fortunately, deciding which ones isn't hard. Over the years, this platform has grown into something much too complicated. Some of the unproductive parts can be chopped off without ill effect.

This is going to require another significant change in attitude, though. From the beginning, Microsoft has been very inclusive with Windows Mobile. It opened the umbrella broadly, bringing in dozen of licensees. It then tried to make the operating system and software as flexible as possible, allowing the licensees to develop a wide variety of devices. While all this sounds good, the actual result has been a product that tries to do so much that it doesn't do anything particularly well.

Let's get down to some specifics.

There are two completely different editions of Windows Mobile -- one for devices with touchscreens and one for devices without. Microsoft needs to end this silliness. It's been promising to do so for years, and it's time to quit talking and just do it. There can still be models with and without touchscreens, but the standard user interface ought to be flexible enough to handle both.

There's actually a third edition that I always forget about. It's for traditional handhelds without cellular-wireless capabilities, a category that there's just not significant interest in any more. It should be dropped.

Also, Windows Mobile supports too many screen resolutions. The latest version added several new ones just because one or two licensees asked for them, bringing the total to at least six. This is just too much work for Microsoft and third-party developers to support without enough return. I say that Windows Mobile 7 should offer just two resolutions: VGA and WVGA. It's time for the old reliable QVGA to be put out to pasture, and for the odd resolutions, like 240 by 400, to be cut.

Windows Mobile isn't a "light" operating system. It's very powerful, more powerful than many of its competitors, but to perform well it needs a fast processor and a good amount of RAM. I suspect Microsoft developers spend too much time trying to get this operating system to run on inadequate hardware because the licensees want to be able to make cheap devices with big profit margins. All this strategy gets us is underpowered models with poor performance, which people blame on Microsoft. Realistic minimum requirements should be set for Windows Mobile 7. I'd say at least a 600 MHz processor and 300 MB of RAM.

I'm a daily user of Windows Mobile, and I'd like to see it around for many years to come. Changes have to be made for this to happen, though. These are just my thoughts on what these changes should be. Please share yours in the Brighthand forum.