Ballmer: Windows Mobile 7 should have been out, like, yesterday
By Donald Melanson 
posted Sep 24th 2009 7:41PM
posted Sep 24th 2009 7:41PM
It wasn't all that long ago that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer proudly declared that Windows Mobile 7 would be out "sometime next year," but it looks things got a bit more real at the company's just-concluded Venture Capital Summit, where Ballmer reportedly said that he wished Windows Mobile 7 had already launched by now. That initial word comes from venture capitalist Paul Jozefak (or @pjozefak), who also tweeted that "Ballmer says they screwed up with Windows Mobile," while another attendee, @beninato, directly quotes Ballmer as saying that Microsoft has "pumped in some new talent," and that "this will not happen again." Steve Ballmer's fists could not be reached for comment.
[Via MobileTechWorld]
I agree
I concur.
PREACH IT, balmer, savior of saints and fools.
I completely agree.
But wait, Nokia and RIM (Blackberry maker) are also struggling. Only Palm has been able to meet the Apple (iPhone) challenge. With Palm it was succeed or die. With Microsoft, it was... well, we will still make $5 Billion profit every three months from our Windows and Office dominance. Also, Microsoft was distracted by Vista, and as a result had to get Windows 7 out of the woods ASAP. Now that Windows 7 is done, their focus may once again turn to Windows 8...
I get down-voted (go ahead, click the red button) for criticizing WinMo, but it really isn't up to the standard it should be. I don't have a problem with Windows, but the mobile version is just cranky. It really does feel like they tried to re-skin a desktop OS for mobile use, and that isn't really the right approach right now. I'd love for WinMo 7 to blow Android and WebOS out of the water, but I'm not optimistic after the problems I've seen with WinMo 6.0, 6.1, and 6.5.
1. Claim you understand you're the minority and that you'll get down voted, but will still say anyway it because you're an honest person that really cares about voicing their opinion even if it makes you the unpopular critic.
2. Say something broad and vague the majority agrees on
3. ???
4. Get high ranked
Thinker: You seem to be oblivious to what's happening in the world market. Nokia has probably sold more 5800s alone than iPhones, Blackberrys whatever combined. (Palm is sadly, a non-factor worldwide. Sad because I really like the pre and it's not yet available worldwide). I don't have too high an opinion on the 5800 (The cheaper 5530 is way nicer), but Nokia sells them like hot cakes.
The only areas where there actually is an Apple "Challenge" is in the UI and the hype. The UI challenge is currently being answered by the likes of HTC (And soon by Sony Ericsson and MS themselves). The hype, well... no comments on that. ;)
In other news water is wet.
Good to see them acknowledging it though.
We agree to him more, now that we discover that he has a very good sense of humor inside :D
Hilarious link: http://pinoytutorial.com/bestandworst/steve-ballmer-wears-a-halloween-costume
"just for laughs"
Best of luck to you, Microsoft. You have a whole lot of catching up to do.
Looks like the catching up part is done, its innovation time now!
Looks like the catching up part is done, its time to copy Apple now!
Looks like the catching up to catching up is done. Pokemon!
Because, you know, everyone copies Apple when they run out of ideas. Like the touchscreen- that wasn't on the DS or anything was it?
Yes, because portable touch screen devices weren't around before the DS. There were never, you know, PDAs or anything before that. No one said Apple invented touch screens.
I *think* the Newton predates the Nintendo DS. And the Palm.
Not 100% sure, though..
Actually David, plenty of people on this site have said that apple invented touch screens.
Apple did not invent touchscreens, they REinvented it. Get your facts right.
Apple didn't invent the touchscreen on mobile devices, but they have definitely started a trend in the industry.
Before 2007, capacitive touch screens were extremely rare, and multitouch gesture were relegated to university research departments.
Apple released the first mass market and extremely popular capacitive touch device with multitouch gestures, and they set the standard to beat.
In the same way that Apple didn't invent the mouse or the GUI (both of those honors go to Douglas Englebart, imho), they deserve credit for productizing it and setting the standard for the next 25 years of user interface design.
i lol'd
jackass.
Come on Microsoft... You guys blew it.... still about a good 2 years behind. I have had 3 MS Mobile phones and they may be the most complicated and glitchy operating systems ever designed. People think I'm crazy for still using it.
Glitchy? Complicated? Get a good ROM for free over at XDA. They have several that are so simple and so stable that you barely have to do anything. 6.5 is as smooth as silk.
I'm not going into roms coming from the XDA forums, but let's assume the roms really did make a huge difference, I'm just going to ask in general, how many regular consumers do you think want to go through the trouble of waiting for spare-time hackers to post (often complicated) directions on how to finally get their phone working the way they wanted when they bought it?
You mean like Jailbreaking an iPhone?
OR installing the Cyanogen ROM on a Google Android phone?
For whatever reason people keep "almost" getting the phones they want and have to do the rest of the legwork themselves.
Here is hoping someone actually figuires it out and makes something truely perfect without needing to be modded to get there.
@JohnTitor
How much of the "way you want it" has anything to do with original version of Windows Mobile? How much of it has to do with the crap that the carrier and/or vendor added to the ROM? What pissed me off beyond belief is on my AT&T Tilt I have demos of crap that I can not get rid of and other bloat applications that the Vendor/Carrier get a kickback to install. Some game you play decide its complete crap or not worth buying and you can never get rid of it without going through some list of steps, etc.
Then there is stuff like the Touch Flo that HTC uses, some of it is OK but some of it changes the default way that stuff use to work. Like selected a list of messages, you use to just be able to drag your finger or stylus down the list and highlight them to mark as read. Now with the great Touch Flo installed you have to go to Menu, Select, Select Items or some crap like that to be able to select multiple messages at once. That was just one of the annoyances about a Fuze that made me return it after a few days.
Not one of these problems is something that Microsoft did, its what companies did with Microsofts OS. Same way that a computer that's been reloaded directly from a Microsoft OS cd runs a lot better that the same machine with Vendor factory load. I'm not saying a lot of WinMo and Windows problems aren't caused by Microsoft, but the Vendors/Carriers certainly don't help the situation.
I like Microsoft, I love my Zune HD, my Xbox 360, and I've always loved Windows. Lets hope that they can get their act together and push out a great OS.
Agreed. Windows is great, the Xbox is brilliant and so is the Zune. It wasn't even that long ago that WinMo was considered the best in its class. Sure it's been shaken up a bit and is playing catch up on the touch front, but I don't doubt that MS know exactly what they need to come out with. They know their market, they know they're lacking. Ballmer knows this.
I can't wait for WinMo 7. It could be a while though, so I might end up getting a WinMo 6.5 handset mid way through next year, then *hopefully* upgrade to WinMo 7. If upgrades aren't possible, I'll wait. MS will come out with guns blazing, I'm sure.
Geez, Imagine being _that_ guy who screwed up when Balmer comes into your office and starts rolling up his sleeves. Then he tells you "no lube".
oh, my. Just don't let him near a chair...
You know who is to blame for this?
Developers.
Developers, Developers, Developers.
Epically brilliant.
I disagree. The ones who hired the developers and/or those who off on the developers' work are to blame. The end product is always a reflection on the company, so if the company released a product, they approved the developers' work.
Correction - *signed off* on the developers work.
I thought the article said, "Ballmer, Windows Mobile 7 should have been out, like, yesterday" (with the comma)
And I though, wow, now that's a clever double entendre Engadget!
Sadly, life is not nearly that good.
Brilliant! Didn't catch that one :)
For those at home: "Ballmer and WinMo 7: Out like yesterday."
Whether you like Ballmer or not, there's no denying that Microsoft have been rejuvenated since he took over from Gates. He must be doing something right.
@jakem
"Whether you like Ballmer or not, there's no denying that Microsoft have been rejuvenated since he took over from Gates. He must be doing something right."
I'm a MSFT shareholder. I do not like Steve Ballmer. One look at the share price since he took over shows he is a huge f*ck-up as CEO. Anything he does does right is by sheer accident.
One of Ballmer's main functions is to anticipate the future and shift resources to projects that will take advantage of developing trends. His admission of failure with WinMo7 is just another in a long line - the board of directors needs to boot his sorry ass to the moon.
They need to ketchup, rubber buns and liquor.
What you did there...I definitely see it
I don't know you but at least the guy seems honest.
No problem, as long as Windows Mobile 7 is heck worth it, I'll gladly wait a bit more.
But it BETTER be worth it...
Want Windows 7!!!! and Zune HD...
bam
I just shot you in the foot.
well if he wants to surprise me and finish it early/mid 2010, that'd be cool.
go away twat fart
He's said the exact same thing, or something similar, for almost every product they've ever released. Remember when he was so excited about Vista?? I'm not judging Windows 7 yet but so far I'm not impressed, 20 hours to install & tons of driver issues (same thing with Vista) makes it hard to not give it a thumbs down though. I won't even go into my complaints about every Windows Mobile release I've tested.
I installed windows 7 on 3 different pc's in under 2 hours and not a driver problem on any. In fact only driver I remember downloading manually was a new nvidia driver, but it wasn't required. You must be doing something wrong.
Hes obviously lying if your going to troll do it right 0_o
My desktop still won't boot 7 without blue screening, seems to be a driver issue... My laptop blue screened after an upgrade install. I had to wipe it and than it would boot.
So far, for me, Windows 7 has been the worst Windows upgrade experience by far, including Vista.
So you guys are bitching about driver issues for an os that technically isn't out yet?
A month is quite a while. Companies still have to finalize drivers. Relax.
I threw the RC on my Shuttle, dual boot with XP on another partition, installed like butter.....I haven't touched XP since. I was actually thinking about going Mac, but after the Win 7 RC experience, I just don't see any point to having to spend all the extra money....for what?
"20 hours to install & tons of driver issues"
#1. The 20 hour thing was taken out of context. thats the WORST CASE scenario.
#2. tons? you mean like...3-4? my god... 3=ton...
I have a bunch of specialised Lenovo drivers, and I don't have an issue with 7
out of the only three people in my school that use a macbook pro, (there are about 460 by estimate from the school for PC users), two predominately use only windows 7, one of whom got it form his MSDN subscribed father (as his father earns hundreds of thousands from his software firm). he sometimes chuckles at how windows development paid for his Macbook Pro, while showing off his father's signed copy of windows xp from bill gates.
he's the coolest kid ever.
Aim a little higher next time.
The big M is doing things right this time around they've made a solid OS a cutting edge pmp player(ZUNE HD) a great gaming/entertainment system(XBOX 360), i have a good feeling windows 7 mobile will be good.
I don't know if I would call the Xbox 360 a "great gaming/entertainment system". They have started to get great 3rd party games (like Final Fantasy XIII) as opposed to just relying on Halo for sales (like the original Xbox), but the console itself is crap. It breaks 10 times more often then the Wii and PS3. And the Xbox has been a complete flop outside of the U.S.
Stop trolling : (
Its a flop in japan. Its doing fine in nearly every other market. And that is taking into account the failure rate. It looks like everyone cares less about the hardware issues than you do.
Its a flop in japan. Its doing fine in nearly every other market. And that is taking into account the failure rate. It looks like everyone cares less about the hardware issues than you do.
Strictly speaking, while it does break 10x more often than the Wii, it only breaks 5x more often than the PS3.
If Ballmer says, "What do you mean it's late? It's five years ahead of it's time!"; I'm going to laugh hysterically.
on the count of three, lets hack the site. ONE...
Windows mobile 7 is not out because its such a great gaming platform!
"There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance." Steve Ballmer, April 30 2007
"Wired: So what do you think of Windows Mobile?
Foley: I've avoided it like the plague. Every time I get a new cellphone, everyone always warns me not to get Windows Mobile. The thing's awful. I think Windows Mobile is a huge challenge for them. " Microsoft syncophant Mary Jo Foley, May 08 2008
"Long story short, this is too little too late... The iPhone will be in its third generation by the time Microsoft's partners get around to shipping Windows Mobile 6.5-based phones... Windows Mobile 6.5, itself, is an interim solution created on the fly as a response to the iPhone... Microsoft can talk up 20,000 apps all it wants. Virtually none of them are any good. Plus the disparity of Windows Mobile hardware types means that these things won't work consistently across devices." Microsoft syncophant Paul Thurrott, Feb 17 2009
Wired is on the Apple payroll.
Call me when the iPhone has the kind of support IT admins in a corporate environment need. Ever realize exactly why WinMo phones are so popular in the workplace? Yeah. It's got nothing to do with the UI or cool apps or cheap phones, it's about being able to manage all of them from a centralized location and having an awesomely tight integration with Exchange, which is pretty much the meat and potatoes of corporate email.
Much as I like Foley and Thurrott, the fact that they do not work alongside another hundred or so people in the same building explains why they believe WinMo is dying.
Do you have anything to add to the conversation, or are you just planning on posting that set of outdated quotes?
1) The word is sycophant, not syncophant.
2) Ballmer's statements on the iPhone were geared towards enterprise solutions. There's a great clip of an interview with him on YouTube explaining that the iPhone doesn't have a physical keyboard, doesn't support Exchange (or anything better than push) and was not a businessman's device. He called Microsoft the "incumbent" in the smartphone arena, and that Apple would have to challenge them. To this day, he's still right. Just because consumer-level market share is dominated by the iPhone doesn't mean it's useful to the business class.
3) The statement that of the 20,000 apps, "virtually none of them are any good" is a joke. Seriously. The iPhone's app store...games, fart apps, a FLASHLIGHT app!? As a percentage, maybe only 5% of the apps are any good. That's 1,000 good, useful apps. And Office Mobile? It's a central solution tied to a dominant desktop brand.
In short, yes, WinMo7 is late. Wired said that, and Ballmer is admitting it. But Ballmer is also drinking the Apple Kool-Aid if it thinks WinMo is completely useless, down and out.
1) The word is sycophant, not syncophant.
2) Ballmer's statements on the iPhone were geared towards enterprise solutions. There's a great clip of an interview with him on YouTube explaining that the iPhone doesn't have a physical keyboard, doesn't support Exchange (or anything better than push) and was not a businessman's device. He called Microsoft the "incumbent" in the smartphone arena, and that Apple would have to challenge them. To this day, he's still right. Just because consumer-level market share is dominated by the iPhone doesn't mean it's useful to the business class.
3) The statement that of the 20,000 apps, "virtually none of them are any good" is a joke. Seriously. The iPhone's app store...games, fart apps, a FLASHLIGHT app!? As a percentage, maybe only 5% of the apps are any good. That's 1,000 good, useful apps. And Office Mobile? It's a central solution tied to a dominant desktop brand.
In short, yes, WinMo7 is late. Wired said that, and Ballmer is admitting it. But Wired is also drinking the Apple Kool-Aid if it thinks WinMo is completely useless, down and out.
The word is "sycophant," but yes, I agree.
then it would have sucked from, yesterday.
The fact of the matter is that Windows Mobile is by far and away the most powerful, capable OS on the market. It's also sold on the widest range of hardware available on the market--and it's biggest detractor is it's outdated, clumsy GUI.
That's it.
Exactly.
Which 6.5 Titanium and TF3D have largely taken care of for the most part.
Now it's just time to shed those previous misconceptions.
I just love how any time someone voices a complaint about something that's been documented they call them a "Troll". I'm amazed how people refuse to believe what to someone else is the truth. Just because it didn't happen to you doesn't make it false. Also I know that Windows 7 isn't out for at least a month but sadly HP, Dell & Compaq haven't been known to release drivers as quickly as they should. If you ask Mr. Dell he blames MS on their failure to disclose technical data in a timely fashion. I remember all you fanboys defending Vista's lack of drivers, saying they'd be here before Vista was released too but I had a customer who waited over 8 months for a driver before he could use his $800 HP printer again... Looks to me like "Here we go again".
What the hell are you talking about?
First of all this post has nothing to do with Windows MOBILE.
Secondly, Windows 7 has the most extensive driver support of any OS on or off the market, bar none. I defy you to find another OS that can support more hardware than 7.
Lastly, ALL, and I do mean ALL of my hardware that worked for Vista works just as well if not better on 7. Not just on one of my systems, but on all 4 of them, ranging from a custom built gaming PC, to a laptop, to a netbook, to my work PC.
Also, all of my peripherals work flawlessly during the conversion:
cameras, phones, printers, scanners, tuners, you name it, it works.
No one is buying whatever BS you're selling.
Better still, 7 shares exactly the same driver model as Vista - bar WDDM 1.1 for video which is a minor abstraction at best in a very narrow area. So not only can you use the SAME BLOODY DRIVERS in most cases but Win7 actually has THOUSANDS of them built right into the install disc - and if it doesn't find one points your right at the website to sort it out. It's mind numblingly easy - but then you'd know that if you'd actually tried the damn thing instead of being such a smacktard. I pity your "customers" because they'd obviously being getting far better service (and heck, knowledge) elsewhere..
Apple is ever exploring new possibilities for their machine. They focus on Mac and Mac only so thank God for Steve Jobs.
On the other hand MS is just a tired 500 pound gorilla that only cares how many pc units have sold from its partners so they can add up all the licensing money. Windows, is in like what, 97% of the world pcs. Damn. They bring in 1 billion a month take home. But they do have a marketing obligation to their partners and that is to introduce a new or tweaked OS periodically. When the OS seems old the pc sells drop. Get it. Best Buy is waiting with baited breath for Win 7 to drop so they can drop a huge ad in the Sunday paper saying shit like get a new pc from so and so with the latest hardware to run the newest OS by MS, WIN 7. Kiss my ass.
Umm...you've got so many screwed up ideas I don't know where to begin.
First off, Steve Jobs doesn't do much. He might point them in a direction, but he's not some kind of super nerd who programs and writes OS X all by himself. Also, all the 'updates' to OS X are just that: minor tweaks. That they charge for. Imagine if Microsoft tried to charge for a service pack. Apple really doesn't innovate often, they just slap a new color on it, as well as an Apple logo, and a few tweaks to a device that's already on the market and sell it. Apple didn't invent the MP3 player, or the smartphone, or the touchscreen, or multi-touch (contrary to popular belief). They just used already released technology.
If Windows was as bad as people make it sound, Apple and Linux would have more than single digit marketshares. They don't, and that says a lot. Despite the complaints, the OS works.
As for Windows 7, the hardware requirements are pretty much the same as Vista's, so no one is making you buy new hardware.
Really, it's Microsoft who's exploring new possibilities for their OS. WinFS, built in VM, etc.
Winblows is bad, Snow Leotard stinks, Red Hat forever! Wu-Tang
Don't let them get you down. Linux for life, homes.
Ballmer needs a T-shirt with an arrow that points to his protruding tongue and says "I'm with stupid".
Uncle Fester is Microsoft's A-number-one greatest liability and corporate embarrassment--insanely unprofessional. He makes even the King of Arrogance, Steve Jobs, look good!
Damn, I miss the Bill Gates days............
"Ballmer says they screwed up with Windows Mobile,"
Same old, same old.
Windows XP released October 25, 2001.
Vista released Jan. 30, 2007
Windows 7 releases on October 22, 2009
I have to agree with the sentiment that the Big M has some mo. Several products with lots of integration are coming together. I see Windows 7 with the big improvements in Media Center and BIG improvements with Zune are kicking A at the moment. If a Zune Phone-like is on the horizon.... it's a game changer for a few years. Microsoft has the ball.. if they score another TD... it's a 2-3 year advantage.
There's more wishful thinking in this comment than I think I've ever before seen in one place. It goes beyond fanboism into the realm of supreme stupidity. "Microsoft has the ball"?
I'm rooting for Microsoft too. But I've kept my eyes open and my brain engaged. MS has dug themselves into a deep, deep hole, and the first thing they need to do is build a really good ladder (hint: the Zune ain't it). Right after they get rid of that embarrassing idiot Ballmer.
There are a lot of microsoft apologists leaving comments. I'll never apologize for a company convicted of patent infringement and abuse of monopoly power. Sheep.
You are aware that we can look up your post history and realize the hypocrisy of that statement, right?
Or do you honestly believe that Apple is completely innocent and blameless? If so, than you must be including yourself in the flock.
I like Ballmer. He says what he thinks, and doesn't jerk us around like other CEO's. At least Microsoft has a better chance now that Gates is gone.
Better chance now that Gates is gone? Are you insane?
When are they going to fire this dope? I mean seriously... how hard is it to maintain a Death Star?
It's actually pretty nice to hear a huge corporation, like Microsoft, admit that they screwed something up, instead of trying to sugarcoat everything and sweep it under the rug, like a certain rival of theirs.
But it's a great gaming machine
They should be "pumping in new talent" in the form of a CEO.
Leave it to good ole' microsoft to launch W 7 and WinMo 6.5 at the same time.
You mean like Apple did with OS X 10.7 and Mobile OS X 3.1?
i think microsoft been on good run lately with nxe on xbox 360, windows live 3.0, windows 7, and zune hd. but for the mobile division, even if im really confident about mobile 7, i've waited too long enough. i moved to android. not perfect, but google is doing what microsoft doesn't, fast releases (1.0, 1.5, 1.6 in less than one year)
with their current mismanagement level, adding a million new talent wont help.
I want a microsoft handheld and I want them to fix winmo6.
win7 RTM already crashed on my laptop twice, I am actually pretty happy with my vista 64bit premium on desktop. I think winmo7 will be totally like vista initially.
Ballmer wishes a lot of things.
- he wishes folks would stop comparing him to a Monkey Boy (i won't post a link)
- he wishes his OS was as stable as other OSes
- he wishes he could meet a deadline he sets
- he wishes his Office Suite wasn't the most horrible thing imagined
- he wishes he could do something about his profuse sweating (probably a medical condition he's on disability for)
- he wishes that Bill Gates had not stepped down from MS as he is now realizing how hard trying to run the company is without someone else actually in charge
- he wishes I would stop this list
The 3-6 month delay between RTM and R is an anachronism. Put that puppy on the internets and let people burn their own install DVDs.
WinMo 7 should have been out, like, yesterday? Yeah, no kidding Ballmer.
Their desktop OS has leaped forward, their gaming console platform is very succesful, they've launched a media player that looks really good. The user experience across MS products and services is shaping up pretty nicely, but WinMo remains the one key gap in their lineup.
If WinMo 7 was launching in 2009, with a slick Zune-HD-like touch screen user experience and Zune Store and Xbox Live integration, I think MS would have a killer combo of products and services. But as it stands, there's a crucial piece of the puzzle missing.
Sounds like they recognize that. If I was MS, I would be throwing some major resources at WinMo 7 right now.