Currently, Windows Mobile 5.0 comes in three editions -- Smartphone, Pocket PC, and Pocket PC Phone Edition. According to
an article at Engadget.com, Smartphone will be renamed "Standard" and applies to devices without touchscreens. Pocket PC Phone Edition becomes "Professional," and Pocket PC changes to "Classic." The latter is perceived as a euphemism for "nobody buys handheld devices without phone functionality any more," Engadget.com suggests.
Windows Mobile Roadmap from June 2006 MEDC
(Click to enlarge)Microsoft has not confirmed the rumored name change, nor has it offered any additional insight into general availability of Windows Mobile 6 beyond the above roadmap, which was released at MEDC last June. In November, MobileReview.com claimed to have
gotten hold of a Pocket PC running Crossbow and posted an extensive review of it, including numerous screenshots.
Other websites reporting on the name change rumor include
Brighthand.com,
pocketnow.com, and
Pocketinfo.nl (in Dutch).
To further confuse this name game, there is also
speculation that when Crossbow arrives, its official name may be "Windows Mobile 5.0 SE" (Second Edition), rather "Windows Mobile 6.0," with the latter designation reserved for Photon.
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