(Click here for larger image)PCMag.com editor Sascha Segan writes that "Microsoft... stopped well short of a gut renovation. The new OS is really more of an honorable version 5.5 than a true 6 -- an accumulation of new, useful features that doesn't disturb the OS's underpinnings or solve some of its deeper problems."
Windows Mobile 6, for example, "lets owners of devices without touchscreens (such as the Motorola Q) edit Microsoft Office documents for the first time, and offers tight integration with both Windows Live and Microsoft Exchange 2007 servers. The system's PIM, Web browser, and other applications have all received upgrades. The core of the operating system, based on Windows CE 5.0, remains the same, however," continues Segan.
"Windows Mobile 6 will appear within the next few months on new smartphones, including Verizon's Samsung SCH-i760, which was demonstrated at CES in January," Segan adds. "While it's theoretically possible to upgrade some existing phones to the new OS, that's up to each additional manufacturer and carrier, Microsoft said."
Name gamesRumors recently surfaced that Microsoft would be changing its
Pocket PC and
Smartphone naming strategy with the release of Windows Mobile 6. Currently, Windows Mobile 5.0 comes in three editions: Smartphone, Pocket PC, and Pocket PC Phone Edition. Reports were that:
- Smartphone Edition would be renamed to "Standard" -- for mobile phones without touchscreens
- Pocket PC Phone Edition would become "Professional" -- for PDAs with touchscreens and mobile phone capabilities
- Pocket PC Edition would change to "Classic" -- for PDAs with touchscreens but without built-in mobile phone functionality
One
website suggested that Classic is a euphemism for "nobody buys handheld devices without phone functionality any more."
Earlier
speculation had it that the next release of Windows Mobile, codenamed "Crossbow," would be dubbed "Windows Mobile 5.0 SE" (Second Edition), rather "Windows Mobile 6," with the version 6 designation reserved for "Photon," a more substantial update most likely based on a new core OS, the
recently released Windows CE 6. It now appears, however, that the incorporation of Windows CE 6 into Windows Mobile will not take place until the next major update to Windows Mobile (codename Photon), most likely in 2008, as indicated on the Windows Mobile Roadmap chart below.
Windows Mobile Roadmap from June 2006 MEDC
(Click to enlarge)Detailed Windows Mobile 6 reviewFor further details on Windows Mobile 6, read Segan's comprehensive review at our sister site, PCMag.com:
Review: Windows Mobile 6PCMag.com's Windows Mobile 6 slideshow is available
here.
Microsoft plans to officially unveil the new version of Windows Mobile on Feb. 12 at 3GSM,
according to eWEEK.com.
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