In case you weren't aware,
Mobile-review's Eldar Murtazin is somewhat of a living legend around these parts. The Russian-borne phone guru manages to get his hands on an ample number of then-unreleased devices and juicy scoops -- but he's also been known to get things dead wrong from time, so keep that in mind. This time he might've just outdone himself with some apparent hands-on time with
Windows Mobile 7. Here's what he's saying via Twitter: the OS has been built on scratch, and none of the old WinMo 6.x apps worked. There's "a lot of horizontal movements, a lot of additional info by clicks... for WM users it will be a great step ahead. For market it's a copycat of Android 3.1/3.2 [sic] or iPhone." No direct comparison to Zune HD, except to say that it's a simpler UI than what he was seeing here, and also no clue on the kernel underneath. Still, the lack of legacy compatibility is either a huge bummer to the fan base, or if not that then Microsoft is preparing for a two-platform WinMo world. Then again, this is a purported early build (and while we're at it, an unconfirmed hands-on), so who knows what's bound to change before the final release. There's a lot of other details if you're willing to check his feed, or just head over to
WMPoweruser for the abridged / "good parts" version. Boy, February just
can't come soon enough.
posted January 17th 2010 3:18AM
Oh great.
Its the Palm OS death all over again.
Eldar sounds full of sh@t see here::
http://www.mobiletechworld.com/2010/01/17/windows-mobile-7-rumors-getting-out-of-hand/
@JudgeDredd Guy lost all credibility after the N900 stunt he pulled.
He's like digitimes. Hyped cause most of the stuff is lost in translation
@Munk
That whole line of tweeting is so full of wtf, that the fact that it even made it past the inbox of Engadget's tip box is astonishing.
@Munk A Living Legend lol. Knew he was full of ish after the made up Nexus One slash Google just trolling story.
People still care about Windows Mobile?.........
I'm just wondering why anyone cares about Windows mobile when the superior Android Exist.
@GoogleCEO
Obviously the fact that people have it (in higher numbers than Android), are here discussing it, I dont know, just going out on a limb here....
MEANS THAT PEOPLE "CARE" ABOUT IT!
@WeirdHero
since its microsoft i wouldnt be surprised if the final version broke 80% of the apps... but honestly it if's one of the 'very first builds' you cannot expect everything to work right
@GoogleCEO
Cause android is fake open source, requires ROOT to do anything (doesn't come out of box with root for a device YOU paid for -- same type of re-packaged trusted computing Apple pulls), also Google owns it so if they don't like something (voip, tethering), it's gone.
Android SUCKS.
I actually think it's a good thing to have a fresh start... supporting legacy applications could break things.
Yeah, especially their user base
@EGOvoruhk Let the developers rebuild their legacy apps to bring it up to speed and take advantage of the new new os and hardware. I'd rather a lean, swift device with fully optimized software, than an os that's bloated to support older applications.
@untitled I can't see MS breaking compatibility. If there's one thing Microsoft are reasonably good at, it's maintaining backwards compatibility. Given the size of the MS userbase and number of applications, it's one of the few things where they shine.
@untitled
people have been asking MS to do this with WIndows for YEARS.
As someone who will never go within 500m of a WindowsMobile device, I can still say, I think its great that they're going for a Modern architecture, not just more lipstick on the stylus lovin' pig called WinMo 6
@untitled I don't get it. Before when you asked about why people still liked WinMo and why it was better than iPhone OS and Android, they said it was backwards compatibility. Now that's gone, people have changed their mind?
@untitled I agree it should be up to the developers to keep their apps current with the OS maker. Especially if the OS is aiming for an exceptionally better user experience and breaking away from something panned by a huge segment of the market.
@untitled Let's not get to ahead of ourselves, maybe Windows Mobile 7 will come with an emulator to run the legacy apps... that would be very cool.
@KosherTelephone While backwards compatibility is important factor, I think we devs like the flexibility and ease of developing on the .NET platform foremost.
I'm willing to bet that most of our .NET code will transition easily to work with wm7, and most of our time will be spent in the UI, making things more touch friendly and stylus-free (which is one of the hardware requirements of the first-gen wm7 devices).
Forcing developers to upgrade their apps with a richer UI and new APIs that are better suited for the platform is a good decision.
And given the aforementioned, I would imaging their app marketplace should grow pretty fast.
@untitled They might be planning to keep legacy compatibilty through emulation (possibly outsourced) the way Palm did with the Classic app in webOS.
All I want is the apps to use the same base as the Zune HD. The main reason they haven't opened up app development for that is because they didn't want to fragment things and manage 2 different app environments (although that may happen anyway depending on the extent they support 6.x and earlier)
Isn't this a good thing? Isn't this the one thing about Winmo that everybody wants MS to do? To build it from scratch? MS is facing the same dilemma on Windows. People want MS ditch legacy support, registry, etc, yet the same people are bitching and whining when their 16-bit DOS program doesn't work. Cue in the same story with Winmo, where the fanboys will bitch that their NES/SNES emulator doesn't work anymore.
The downside for MS in Winmo 7 is that, they're the 3rd or 4th player if they start from scratch in terms of apps. They have to start over. With so many developers focusing on the iPhone OS and Android, can MS entice them to WinMo 7?
@pika2000
If they are starting form scratch its good for them as whole mobile experience has changes in couple of years and no one likes there experience , so they need to fresh start and have to show us they are not dead yet.
I am expecting whole new and better WM as i know they can do.
@pika2000 : the quote was actually "built ON scratch". Isn't Scratch a nickname for the Devil?
@pika2000 How does Silverlight and XNA sound? b'coz those are the only things you can use to develop apps on WM7.
@VasiS
I'd say it sounds good. But then again that because i already know C#. I think its a pretty good language to learn with loads of resources. But then again, same could be said about java.
@pika2000 I hope there is some sort of emulator app for it.. because I have a .NET CF app i NEED for work. And if it doesnt work on this, i might not be able to upgrade to it.
@pika2000
Microsoft will have three, maybe four mobile operating systems offered to the public at the same time: Windows Mobile 6.5.x/6.6, Windows Mobile 7, Zune, and possibly Pink. It's much more likely that developers will support none of them rather than some or all of them.
Android 3.1/3.2?
@refthemc
Did you miss the [sic]?
@ChazClout there's no [sic] in the original tweet, engadget added it..
@ChazClout there's no [sic] in the original tweet, engadget added it..
@JudgeDredd and @refthemc
I guess you guys don't know what [sic] means.
@comments
Does it mean "sick" as in "not well"??
@Sunil
"said in context"
@seriousam7 actually, it's Latin, which means 'exactly so', therefore meaning that it's not an editor's or reporter's typo and was found in the original context.
@seriousam7 Yup, basically, to all you guys that have no idea, people use [sic] to show that it was the person they're quoting from's error, not their own.
@Vizzy Exactly, it's a word, not an acronym.
@Seriousam7 That's a backronym, as is my preferred version of "spelling included correctly"
The problem with [sic] is that the editors don't really know if he made a typo, or if it's just BS.
Probably the latter.
I mean, [sic] covers both, but people are used to it being used for typos, not unbelievable statements.
Developers and news agency will save the best for Android and iPhone. MS has to have some serious surprises between now and fall or they'll just be over run by android, iPhone and Blackberry.
@majg: Developers will make apps for any device that is 1. Easy to develop for so there is less development costs and 2. Has a large user base to sell your app to and 3. The device/OS has all the features necessary to make your app writable on that platform.
As long as those conditions are satisfied, they will write apps for the platform.
And unlike Android, WM has a massive legacy user base (legacy being 6.1 and 6.5 users) which is a pool of potential upgrades of over 30 million that Android never had. And a lot of those people are just itching to upgrade. As for ease of development and features, since its an MS product, i doubt they will fail to deliver, especially if they plan on moving to WPF for GUI design and .NET/C# for back-end coding without the need to know C/C++ unmanaged to code something powerful and elegant. Those two are an absolute breeze to design/code for and are extremely powerful.
why is anyone surprised? Its supposed to be brand new and everyone has been whining about how WM is dated and old.
Plus didn't WM5 break compatibility with a lot of programs but it was an easy fix for most?
Didn't Murtazin do something quite awful to one of the major manufactures? He just seems like the type to really push a bias or hold a grudge, so I am not sure how much credit these tweets deserve. But I really can't tell either way, since I don't speak Russian.
@jin and guice Yup, 90% of he's predictions or claims are usually false.
check this short analysis: http://www.mobiletechworld.com/2010/01/17/windows-mobile-7-rumors-getting-out-of-hand/
@JudgeDredd his analyst of siemens going bankrupt wasn't false, motorola almost going to toilet wasn't false, sony ericsson slowly going to toilet wasn't false either. he's not perfect, he makes mistakes once in a while like every ' journalist' on this blogsite. i've been fallowing him @ MR since 2004 and he's almost always right. most of the time he most likely would give a tiny pieces/hint not full leak. he only does that when a device is almost to be release.
Microsoft is the master of breaking compatibility in new software releases. And also a master of copying someone or some company's work and failing to profit from it.
Lol @ "Hate Windows Mobile 7."
Sounds like a child. Why not say "It's a pity that it doesn't support legacy apps." instead of pulling the irrational and childish "I HATE IT!!!" card.
@mrmckeb
Oh, you didn't know? He actually is a silly lying child :)
@mrmckeb
I think that was the point of saying "I hate WinMo 7." Making it a little bit more entertaining, by acting like you're not giving it a chance.
son of a...
I call shenanigans.