Windows Mobile 2005 screenshots and ROM turn up

It's sort of a big enough deal that some screenshots and details about Windows Mobile 5.0 (aka Windows Mobile 2005 aka Magneto aka could Microsoft please hurry up and get this dang thing out) have turned up, but the real prize is that someone was devious enough to back up the ROM from a Pocket PC running a beta of the new OS and then post it up online. Not that you'd want to bother messing around with it or anything (unless you really know what you're doing). Installing a beta ROM is a pretty easy way to permanently screw up your phone (oh, and it looks like the ROM may only work with the XDA II/MDA II, aka the HTC Himalaya).

[Via Mobileread]

[Taiwan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Man I want to try the ROM :( but I also dont want to damage my pda!

Taiwan Brown

[Sebastien Barrau @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

i'd like to try it on my ipaq h4155 but i'll wait for some results first. I'm afraid i might never get an upgrade to put magneto on my IPaq

[Suntiger @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Re #1: Uh-oh... here comes the flood of flamers...

[Kwang @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Taiwan Brown: God you're ugly.

[iomatic @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Ew. Windows.

[yuppicide @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

That can't be real. It doesn't have a BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death).

[TheZodiac @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

I WILL BET YOU, Microsoft dosnt go suing any blogs or "non-journalistic" type websites for posting inside information about a non-released prodduct. That woule be silly.

[Akihabara News @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

??? The MDA II do not use a PXA 263, but a ARM 206... I am wrong or it is just a lame fake?

[dhpss @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

I saw...it WM 5.0 and ActiveSync 4.0 the beta seems to run off the SD or Flash card. So no ROM alteration.

[Justin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

I like how every single version of Windows Mobile always always looks the same. Yawn. How about punching up the UI a bit? A shadow, a gradient, a better font, you know, the things that would make the damn thing a bit more enjoyable to use... sheesh.

[Silver @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

How can a ROM run from SD or CF card? Aren't all ROMs developed by vendors(HP, Dell, etc.) to work on their respective hardware. I know Microsoft develops it but it still has to be modified to work with the various types of hardware. (or are they going to a different model like Windows where one OS will run on a variety of hardware) - that seems better as they'd be less hold ups from vendors

[TheZodiac @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

All MDAs used Xscale with the exception of the first one carried by Tmobile in the US.