News - Windows Mobile 7 penned for Q4 launch

[HEXUS]

Latest rumours claim next-gen mobile OS will be delivered to handset partners in September 2010.

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[Singh400]

Seriously? That late? Come on! Microsoft are always playing catch-up

[dangel]

Really? Always?



So Apple weren't late to the mobile market? Google? Palm didn't manage to pull a blinder out of nowhere with the Pre after being marginalised for so long?

IF the product is good, then market share will follow. I think MS are (hopefully) doing the right thing - getting the product good out of the gate. If the rumours are true we've a new CE core coming and on top of that a WPF/silverlight UI which could be extremely powerful and very pretty indeed. Let's wait and see before we write it off completely - MS are perfectly capable of assailing a market when driven enough and they definitely want more mobile mindshare.

[Singh400]

Really? Always?

Past few years, yes. I'm no Microsoft hater, but it does get tiring waiting all the time *cough* ZuneHD *cough*. And now I'm hearing talk of a Zune Phone - don't forget your UK customers Microsoft!

So Apple weren't late to the mobile market? Google? Palm didn't manage to pull a blinder out of nowhere with the Pre after being marginalised for so long?

Apple weren't late at all. Considering they pretty much made the smartphone market implode (or really bought it to the forefront). And then Android kicked itself up a gear, and is slowly embebbing away at the iPhone share.

IF the product is good, then market share will follow. I think MS are (hopefully) doing the right thing - getting the product good out of the gate. If the rumours are true we've a new CE core coming and on top of that a WPF/silverlight UI which could be extremely powerful and very pretty indeed. Let's wait and see before we write it off completely - MS are perfectly capable of assailing a market when driven enough and they definitely want more mobile mindshare.

Just feels like when Microsoft finally get around to dishing some WM7 goodness out they are going to find it really hard to get a foothold in the market. People seem to hate WM6, and you just know for one or two years that there is going to be a WM7 hate bandwagon (as we saw with Vista). Which will set them back even more.

[dangel]

Apple weren't late at all. Considering they pretty much made the smartphone market implode (or really bought it to the forefront). And then Android kicked itself up a gear, and is slowly embebbing away at the iPhone share

Apple didn't exist in the mobile space a few years ago, and now they're a big player - that's my point: they were very late indeed to the smartphone table (regardless of the quality of their implementation). And the same is true for Android too and so on.. If MS hit one out the park with WM7 it could have a huge impact - just like anyone else. How have they any less chance of doing so?

As for the more general point about MS: well they've certainly produced some darn good stuff of late - W7, ZuneHD (from what i've read!) included and of course they've made huge inroads into the console market too (which they were very late to as well). But really that's an aside - people underestimate MS all the time..

In honesty i'm not really trying to argue with you - i think we're actually more aligned than is necessarily coming across - but I do think WM7 might be good and i can't wait to get the dev tools to try it..

[scaryjim]

... People seem to hate WM6, and you just know for one or two years that there is going to be a WM7 hate bandwagon (as we saw with Vista) ...

People hated Vista... then Windows 7 was incredibly good and everyone flooded back to Windows. If they manage the same quality of product with Mobile 7, there's no reason to expedct a different result - people will go out and buy Windows Mobile phones. Mind you, I won't because I'll still have a big chunk of my current contract to run...