While some of you have no doubt been running
Windows Mobile 6 for a few months or more already (thanks, XDA developers!), the majority of the world is just recently getting its first taste of Microsoft's latest mobile operating system from new devices like the
Sprint Mogul and updates to others like the
T-Mobile Dash. The critics have certainly been, um,
critical of the new OS, to say the least -- "
evolutionary, not revolutionary" seems to be the general consensus -- but until we're allowed to behold the glorious light that is
Photon, it's the best we've got for now. Still, while WM6 has beefed up Office support and arguably improved the tethering sitch, there are a number of issues that users have been griping about for years which have curiously yet to be addressed. Where's the tabbed browsing in Pocket IE? How come we have to rely on pricey third-party apps to make a decent Today screen? And the old favorite, why can't we have the choice of "managing our own memory" and using that damn "X" button to actually close an app?
These are just a few of the complaints that have been making the rounds about an OS that feels like its definitely in need of a serious refresh -- if for no other reason than to draw some of the hype away from
splashy young competitors; so, what do you think: what could Redmond have done differently this time around?
posted June 24th 2007 6:33PM
I think you've created the counterpoint to your own statement. See the entire point of the iPhone is that it's not better because Apple threw more stuff at it. That's the whole problem with Windows Mobile. Apple is simplifying the mobile UI and Microsoft's response is to add more stuff.
Unused features are not selling points. And that's what most of your points are as far as the average consumer is concerned. Keep in mind that you and I are not average consumers, we're geeks -that's why we're spending the time to even comment on the topic in the first place.
The point is, the average consumer will buy the iPhone even despite it's technical inferiority. I think Apple proved this with the iPod. Make it simple, make it work and people will use it. And their competitors still haven't figured it out.
Well, WM6 is a de-evolution in some ways. For example, the "New" button in the text messaging/email app was changed to "Delete" and the "New" message command is buried 3 levels deep in the menu. That's a HUGE usability problem. Also in the Calendar, when you open an appointment, the "Edit" button has been changed to "Reply" which is greyed out and unaccessible on any appointment that does not include other attendees. The Edit command has been buried in the Menu which makes it much more difficult to edit appointments. I'm referring to Windows Mobile 6 Professional of course.
Then there's the hugely buggy Windows Live Messenger which often does not show all of your contacts and has plenty of connection errors.
Also, I think all Windows Mobile 6 Pro devices should come with a large-button T9 style software input method. Earlier HTC devices had this, but it has been abandoned.
Biggest complaint would be that you still can't make a new folder to store SMS or MMS messages.
Also in that category, there should be an option to separate the MMS and SMS Inbox as it was in WM5!
Minor annoyance, you can't silence a call as easily with the sidebar or scollbars like in WM5
Finally they tried locking files down too tight. At least T-Mobile did with the dash update. Made it more difficult to remap keys and replace files.
DUN!
Just give it back to us or make an app we can install, dont leave it up to the operators because they have too much control as it is.
Also, rewrite WMP as its outdated and difficult to use one handed.
Windowsmobile(CE) was written to be used with stylus pens not fingers, the pens are still included in almost the WM devices, and the advantage is to have a very precise pointer, about precision you can't even compare the precision with a pen with the precision with a finger.
I may agree with your point (no pun intended) that WM devices were designed to be used with a stylus, but its time that they implemented an interface that easily allows people the option to use their fingers (and not a finely tuned finger nail)
The iPhone *may* achieve that, but we can see thats its easily plausable with the Nokia N800.
Maybe shift will be the solution (http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2007/05/microsoft_shift.html), but surely they could just make the apps more friendly?
replace the 'start' menu with a 'self destruction' button...
Things I'd want changed:
1) Better (or more useful) predictive text
2) Ability to create and use custom profiles. Fix the stupid reminder sound bug (If switching to Vibrate, then switching back to Normal), the reminder sound is stuck on Vibrate. The editing of the profile doesn't have a choice for reminders on any of the profiles except for the Vibrate profile. I have a Dash, so I don't know if it's only a Dash problem or a WM6 problem. There is a hack out there to fix this: http://www.omnisoft.com/downloads/OMNISOFT_Dash_WM6_ReminderFix.CAB
3) When a voice mail comes in, ability to silence/stop the sound from continuing to play - When I had a 30 second sound playing when a voicemail came in, I couldn't stop it. This especially was bad when I was already on the phone.
3a) Ability to not play notification sound (reminders, voicemails, etc...) when actually talking on the phone.
4) Problems with synching Office files when editing them while your phone is connected to your PC. For some reason, if the phone is connected, you always receive a message when synchronization occurs that both files have been modified and you must choose which one to sync. If you disconnect the phone, edit the file on the PC (or the phone), then reconnect, there aren't any problems at all.
5) Not exactly a Windows Mobile 6 problem... but allow me to write my own apps using either one of the Visual Studio Express Versions (C# or Visual Basic) rather than me having to purchase the full retail version of Visual Studio.
6) Allow me to create folders in the start menu to organize my icons and programs, rather than having to scroll multiple pages of stuff, I could just do multiple clicks to get to what I want.
7) File Explorer should let me choose the default startup location rather than just My Documents.
8) When uninstalling programs, the icon for the just removed program should disappear from the recent programs list. Not just change to a default icon because the program can't be found. It should just be removed completely, or at least when you select it (Someone might want to see an icon just to know that the program was removed or that something happened to phone if a program was removed unintentionally), allow you to remove it from the list.
Here's a though - how about naming it properly? Windows Mobile 6 is built on CE 5.0, not CE 6.0. This product should be called WM5.5 or similar, as it is now out-of-line with the Microsoft versioning of their embedded operating systems. CE 6.0 has a lot of improvements...
1. Improve memory management (when I close an application, it should be closed)
2. Provide a "Restart" option in the Start Menu
3. Give me the ability to change Start Menu items, create folders in Start Menu so I can get to what I need very quickly
4. Give me the option of upgrading my current device to the new O/S without making it a federal case.
HINT: Microsoft, sit down with the Telco's and work this one out. If you're going to call an Operating System "Windows" then let us upgrade. It's not like the Cell companies provide any real technical support anyway.
On the whole I honestly love my Windows Mobile smartphones and watch as they get better and better. I had the first Motorola MPx200, the the MPx220, then a Siemens SX-66, a Cingular 3125 and now my Blackjack. With each generation they have improved.
How about Public Folder support in Outlook. That would make life a lot easier. Instead if you absolutly have to get to something you have to try and run Outlook Web Access in the browser and that really sucks
MAKE IT AN IPHONE! MAKE IT AN IPHONE! MAKE IT AN IPHONE!!!
Iphone here, Iphone there.. but it's just exactly the type of mobile-GUI and device i have been waiting for since the first mobile devices. I've never been a real apple fan though, never used OSX, but THATS just it! Lacking here and there (UMTS, GPS, Graphics..), but overall just the best GUI mixed with some really nice features, not to mention it just revolutionized mobile internet(!??) ..WAP?.. (x)HTML/CSS resizing?... NO! Full screen, horizontally, full page rendering + ZOOOM!
-> Just trash windows mobile, start over.. fullscreen, touch oriented!!! With the new touch-feedack features to come, it all goes touchscreen anyway.. stylus and keyboard are just a plus then..
my 2 cents..
tmobile dash - if i turn on wifi, and then turn it off, it seems to never work with edge/gprs unless i reboot it. ms please fix this... very annoying.
and other times it just seems to quit communicating with edge/gprs for no good reason... reboot... back in business. bleh.
All above are correct ...
YES WM could be much better in a number of areas
YES MS will now fasten their pace in regards to upscaling competition (iPhone, Linux OS, New Palm strategy, ...)
YES WM is moving forward and i say this having used the OS from 7 years ago.
YES many times the application of the OS on top of the hw has nothing to do with MS and some manufacturers screw up
YES MS has started to listen recently, much more than in the past
YES there are better PDA's out there (the Sony Ericsson P line is one of the best i tested/tried)
YES WM is the best corporate oriented OS today.
YES, YES, YES ... just make your own pick and choose what is appropriate to YOU. Just please stop swearing one at the other ...
I'd settle for WM to START to work...
Just please let me dial the phone by selecting numbers with the d-pad. I try to keep everyone in my contacts list but sometimes I need to dial a phone number when I don't have two hands available to try a peck at the keypad on the screen (or my hands are covered in some substance I don't want on my screen). We should be able to use up/down/left/right/select to move a cursor around the phone keypad.
am i missing something??? i've had this on my verizonxv6700 for like a year.
anyway, it needs less lag in the u i. a more customizable today screen would be nice too. i mean without flashing anything. i should be able to change anything on my phone. i had an old v205 that i changed the antennae icon to rolling ocean waves that would go higher or lower depending on the signal. little things like that. i hate to say it, but, user friendly like the iphone.
and most of all DON'T LET VERIZON STRIP FEATURES!!!
Not a Mac user nor will I ever be. As a linux user I'm partial to PCs so I'm not biased but I have one simple solution...
Maybe the GUI look like the iPhone. Apple really knows what they are doing with that UI.
I have a PPC-6700, so I can only complain about WM5. I've read a little bit about WM6, so I'll try to dodge stuff that's already fixed (eg, Samba browsing).
1. Windows Media Player Mobile sucks. By now, WM6 should be at the same level as the old Portable Media Centers. TCPMP has proven you can play damn near anything on a WM device, so why hasn't WMP stepped up to the plate at all?
2. I don't have the crazy "must reset twice daily" and "constant slow-down" issues some people have, but I'd appreciate it if the kernel could get a better scheduler, and maybe be a little more aggressive in closing unused apps that are in the background. I hardly ever do resets.
3. Bluetooth pairing, especially for synch, is a awkward to set up and use. I'd also like it if WiFi could be configured to only use certain APs, and not prompt me with large ugly lists if it doesn't find them. I'll manually take care of it, thanks. :)
4. A new, finger-usable GUI would be nice. I don't care so much about multi-touch, but something more in line with TouchFlo would be great. This doesn't need to be to the exclusion of a stylus-based UI, though.
5. An optional on-screen indicator to tell you when you're in "option" or "shift" mode on the keyboard.
6. Bring back Wi-Fi network synchronization with ActiveSync. Why is it OK to use Bluetooth, but not Wi-Fi?
7. At least in WM5, the backlight tends to turn off and then never come back on if you power off the screen. This really needs to get fixed, especially since it's very difficult to read the screen without the backlight.
8. Windows Home Server integration would be nice - let me auto-backup my phone to WHS. For bonus points, full image restore would be fantastic.
9. Letting me set a default view for calendar would be great.
I would kill it with fire.
Fine, I said it. Mod me down now. :D
Forget WM6, it's a rehash of WM5. Create a device that plugs into the XBOX Live / Zune ecosystems so users can download video, music and possibly even XNA based titles to their handsets. At the same time, give the device powerful business functionality that make it a win/win proposition for the enterprise user. This is the device that will silence the iPhone, not a sad refresh like the Motorola Q9m.
That brings up another point - get your hardware partners in line. People don't look at devices like the Q9m and say "boy, Motorla is passing off a repackaged Q hoping to score a quick buck" they say "Another sad device from Microsoft". You've lost control of the Windows Mobile brand.
Can't be bothered trawling all the posts to see if this has been said but,
You CAN change the x button so that it actually closes the program not just minimises, its in the options in the today drop down (above the list of running applications), under "Button"
WM6 does not include this option under the "Button" settings. Only the ability to change repeat rates and button-press application-to-launch options.
ALLOW AUTOMATIC TIME CHANGE WHEN TRAVELING TO DIFFERENT TIME ZONES WHEN CONNECTED TO NETWORK