Windows Phone 7 Series faces off against its Windows Mobile past
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Windows CE kernel | 5.2 | 5.2 | 6.0 |
Minimum resolution | None | None | WVGA |
Skinnable | Yes | Yes | No |
Finger friendly | No | Barely | Yes |
Multitouch | No | Basic | Yes |
Capacitive touchscreen | No | Yes | Yes |
Stylus | Required | Optional | None |
Touchscreen keyboard | Unfriendly | Finger-friendly | Finger-friendly |
Required buttons | Start | Start | Start, Back, Search |
Operating metaphor | Apps | Apps | Task hubs |
Pane switching | Tabs | Swipe | "Pivot" |
Browser | IE Mobile 6 | IE Mobile 6 | New, still IE-based |
Zune integration | No | No | Yes |
Xbox integration | No | No | Yes |
Courting enterprise | Yes | Yes | Not yet |
Social networking | Apps / Skins | Apps / Skins | Built-in |
This is a comparison of core OS functionality and differences, handset skins and carrier tweaks aren't factored in.
If you couldn't tell from the chart above, the "differences" between Windows Phone 7 Series and Windows Mobile of yore (last week) are rather hard to quantify: it's like comparing a bed with an oven. Two very different things, for two very different purposes. Windows Mobile has had a justifiable position in the realm of business, and will probably continue to maintain a legacy install base for some time to come, but it's pretty safe to say that the days of Windows Mobile as a consumer-facing OS are rapidly coming to an end. Bring on the new!
