Confirmed: Windows Mobile 6.5 to become Windows Phone Starter Edition
By Nilay Patel 
posted February 26th 2010 3:26PM
posted February 26th 2010 3:26PM
Windows Phone 7 Series might have been the big news out of Mobile World Congress this year, but it looks like Windows Mobile 6.5 will live on as the basis of Windows Phone Starter Edition. We'd already heard some whispers to that effect, but now it's been confirmed by ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, who got some answers about the stripped-down mobile OS directly from Redmond. It's obviously designed to be a cheaper alternative for developing and emerging markets, much like Windows 7 Starter on the desktop, and it'll come in versions with and without Office Mobile preloaded when it ships on devices later this year. (Office 2010 will be included when it's officially released.) Here's the odd thing, though: when asked which features of 6.5 have been stripped to create Starter, MS replied with a list of radio support that conspicuously omits HSDPA 3G, but includes EV-DO. Simple typo, or an attempt to force international adoption of WinPho 7 in developed countries with 3G networks? We'll do some digging and find out.P.S.- Just to be clear here, it appears that the family will be Windows Phone 7 Series, and then potentially two WinMo 6.5 products: Windows Phone Classic and Windows Phone Starter Edition. Only Starter has actually been confirmed at this time, though, and we still don't know exactly how Microsoft is going to organize all of this and sell it. We'll keep you updated.
At least you can put Sense on this.
@Exbloder
Seriously, why are editors and commenters on Engadget confusing TouchFlo 3D with Sense UI?
@JeremyBenthem
I might be mistaking, but I think HTC renamed TouchFlo to Sense shortly after the Android phones with Sense on it were introduced.
@Exbloder
With the HD2, TouchFLO 3D was renamed to Sense UI, in order to get branding the same across both OSes...
@JeremyBenthem
All new HTC phones come with "Sense UI" not "TouchFlo" regardless whether they are WinMo or Android. My HD2 has "powered by HTC Sense" written on the back.
@JeremyBenthem : TouchFlo 3D has been renamed to Sense UI
@drange
thanks, I wasn't sure after the 1st,2nd,or 3rd guy said it
@JeremyBenthem
I could be wrong, and I don't know if anyone's mentioned it, but there are rumors floating around that HTC renamed TouchFlo to Sense several months ago. Take that knowledge with a grain of salt; I don't know if anyone else knows about it.
@haveyouanywool
Rumors? Sense is the official name of TouchFLO 3D 2.5. Just look at the official HTC pages for the HD2 and HD Mini; they both say Sense.
Note that the Sense name only applies to 2.5; 2.0 is called TouchFLO 3D.
@jgp
It was a joke.
@JeremyBenthem
btw great name... (lost?)
@Exbloder
I'd like to put the Sense UI on my Windows Vista Ultimate PC's. That way I'll feel like I actually got something cool out of spending the extra BS money for Vista Ultimate.
@Exbloder
They should just rename it WinPhoVista and call it a day. Some like, some don't, but overall: its okay.
@Exbloder Not much...
I find funny that while Engadger praises Microsoft of having 2 platforms the same does not hold true to Nokia and they cant "just undestand".
So MS having 2 platforms, one for high end and another one for emerging markets is good? Wow, Nokia *never* did that... not!
I dunno if the guys here are a bunch of Nokia haters or they just dont like Europeans.
Will you be able to change your wallpaper?
@Michael Scrip
LOL
@Michael Scrip only 3 times..
@Michael Scrip
MS: Then Windows Phone Starter Edition is not for you,
We have better options..
Windows Phone 7 Ultimate
Windows Phone 7 Media Center Edition
Windows Phone 7 Mobile Premium
Windows Phone 7 Business
Windows Phone 7 E without Zune and IE..
@Michael Scrip
Will the starter edition be able to run more apps at a time than the full version?
@Pontro
They need to focus on 1 really good OS, and stop focusing on names. They should fire everyone in marketing. Then put it in a white box with black letters " Windows Mobile 7 ". If the OS is good enough, people won't care about the name or the box it came in.
I really hate Windows Mobile. I don't care how many apps there are out there for it. It has almost zero usability. The applications are so hard to manage multitasking-wise. And if you are using multiple applications it's very very slow, clunky, and eats your batteries. I'm not much for touch screen keyboards, so I don't like the iphone, but I am very very excited for Windows Mobile 7 Series.
@Tiptup300 Zero usability? Really? Because I have been using push-mail and flawless Exchange-synching (calendar, contacts and tasks) and MS Office compatibility for the last five years. That added way more productivity to my working life than any of the gazillion apps that any other smartphone-platform is offering me even today.
@Tiptup300 LOL! You obviously know nothing about the Windows Mobile development community. All those things you said are wrong with Windows Mobile have been fixed in some way or another. It has Zero Usability? Really? You are really trying to generalize huh?
@andreab
I don't know, maybe my phone is just the worst winMo phone out there. Everyone always says how great winmo is, but my phone runs it like pure ass. Actually I'm almost certain it's just my phone. My phone is the insensitive screen I've ever used. I actually HAVE to push very hard to get it to recognize my button presses.
people in the developing world suffer enough--they don't need windows mobile 6.5
This seems odd, since it seems like the only market really where WinMo 6 would have an advantage over 7-Series is the business market, who aren't likely to be the types to buy a "starter" phone.
@EpsilonNot
Really. Bad move, MS. I would have called it "Windows Phone Enterprise Edition", at least until the point that all the enterprise-class apps are available on the new platform.
Dumb.
Microsoft do you really have to find ways to force everyone to do what you want?
Cant you just ask really nicely?
@kiden:
Sorry guy, I think you're confusing Microsoft with Apple
I know I am going to get down ranked for this, but can we change the name to Windows Phone FAIL Edition? Please make this Mobile OS go away, and bring on the Windows 7 version.
@treats
There are lots of very good reasons for keeping 6.5. For starters it lets hardware manufactures make their own interfaces and not have to worry about writing the whole OS. HTC have done an excellent job with Sense, if they can get a cheaper licence on 6.5 and create their own interface on top of it then all the better.
The OS itself is not *that* bad (when used with Sense or other UIs), but the guys and gals at Microsoft who are utilizing this sick naming nomenclature need to be slapped hard with a large trout numerous times.
Hahahaha! Say WhaT??
Windows Vista is "Windows 7 classic"
This just re-affirms that one should NEVER buy any software called "Starter Edition", regardless of who makes it or what it is for.
Starter? Starter? My Touch Pro 2 is not running Windows Phone Starter Edition. It's running Windows Mobile!
@Pookiewood yeah, this is seriously a stupid name. Windows Phone Classic or something like that would have been much better.
@Pookiewood Ah, the Touch Pro 2 is freaking awesome, now they're admitting they put a rinky-dink OS on it. They should give you a free upgrade to Win 7 ASAP!
I don't know guys, my WinMo 6.5 has been used for weeks and it hasn't crashed on me once.
That's more stable than my PC. That said, it is a modded ROM and I have no idea what you lot are complaining about.
Does this mean we need to watch out not to cook a ROM with these versions of 6.5?
@JCerna That's what I was thinking.
Very strange. Honestly, if you just take WinMo 6.5.3 and rebrand it as Starter Edition without changing anything, that'd probably be the smartest move here. Don't cut out radio frequencies or Office or restrict it to emerging marketing or some shit. That's just a dick move. Though then again, so is having 7 versions of Office 2010 and 6 versions of Windows 7 with the lower ones being so gimped it's pathetic and the higher ones being so expensive they break the bank.
In other words, I wouldn't put a move like this past Microsoft. Want another example of them screwing people over? Go buy an Xbox. If it doesn't die on you, you might have enough time to spend $50 a year on an online service that's barely better then PSN or Steam and then have to look at advertisements anyway. Don't get me wrong, I have a 360 and I enjoy using it (for the most part) but they do some really dirty business sometimes.
Is there going to be a Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise too?
@Jaylittles531 I'll take it as long as it's nothing like Millennium Edition! :)
If you like multiple versions of things, you can get an iPad 16, iPad 16+3g, iPad 32, iPad 32+3g, iPad 64, iPad 64+3g.
However it is only funny when it's Microsoft producing different products for different niches.
@Decoy
I'm pretty sure all those different versions offer the exact same software features as each other.
All the different versions of Windows have distinct software differences.
@Decoy
Its funny when Microsoft does it because most of the editions server no purpose. I'm not by no means supporting the iPad and probably never will support it but at least all of those versions are different in big ways and have the same OS and can do everything exactly the same.
@Decoy
The difference is between hardware and software.
It costs more to make a single iPad + 3G than it does to make a single iPad without 3G. Apple has to pay for the extra components.
Microsoft develops one version of Windows and then strips it of features to create the different editions. That process in itself has to cost money. In effect they are spending extra money to provide an inferior product. Crazyness.
When it comes to Windows Mobile, it's a bit different. WinMo 6.5 isn't so much an edition of WinMo 7 as it is an almost completely different operating system. Not sure why they wanted to call it "starter edition" in the first place... oh well...
So, let me get this straight: Windows Mobile Starter and Windows Mobile 7, both marketed as "new" OSes, will both have completely different APIs...
Because multiples of every Windows OS, makes total sense. Give me a break.