Some parts are missing...
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Thursday 8 October 2009, 11:55 AM
Windows Mobile 6.5 - taking on the fight
Without a doubt the iPhone is the device to beat at the moment, and not incorrectly, the Windows Mobile 6.5 OS functionality has been immediately compared with it. A fair evaluation IMHO, is that WM6.5 has been an exercise in catching up.
Whilst this evaluation has taken centre stage in the pundit’s writings, a pretty significant point has missed the emphasis it requires. Since day one, the Windows Mobile OS has been built under a strategy that was quite simply, for business only. As of Windows Mobile 6.5 the strategy is now ‘work and play’. That is a big change – a big change for a big company with plenty of resources, partners and ambition.
I build Windows applications using the complete spectrum of technologies from native, to managed runtime, to web. Windows Mobile is just another platform I can use my skills to build for and I’m just one of oh, 100k similar developers in the UK. With this change in strategy comes the missing bit; the ‘Windows Phone Marketplace’ - a simple way for me to make some pocket money with my dev skills, publishing applications directly for sale on devices (WM6.0 upwards). There may be testing and content policies I need to adhere too, but they’re all much less bothersome than typical enterprise governance requirements.
All the familiar technology building blocks are there to get my apps going rapidly. From native tech like DirectShow support, through to the .Net Compact Framework 3.5 and the new web technology Widget framework. I can harness my device hardware and build the stuff I want too with a lot less effort compared to other mobile platforms. The enormous volume of stuff available to me as a developer on Windows Phone is awesome and enabling in equal measure.
You may still think the iPhone is the coolest piece of kit out there. But in the new range of Windows Phones is hardware and key OS feature parity, coupled with a world leading developer platform. It is now down to software applications to differentiate devices - and that’s something as a Windows developer, I can do easily and creatively.
Things are getting exciting again. The fight is on :-)
Whilst this evaluation has taken centre stage in the pundit’s writings, a pretty significant point has missed the emphasis it requires. Since day one, the Windows Mobile OS has been built under a strategy that was quite simply, for business only. As of Windows Mobile 6.5 the strategy is now ‘work and play’. That is a big change – a big change for a big company with plenty of resources, partners and ambition.
I build Windows applications using the complete spectrum of technologies from native, to managed runtime, to web. Windows Mobile is just another platform I can use my skills to build for and I’m just one of oh, 100k similar developers in the UK. With this change in strategy comes the missing bit; the ‘Windows Phone Marketplace’ - a simple way for me to make some pocket money with my dev skills, publishing applications directly for sale on devices (WM6.0 upwards). There may be testing and content policies I need to adhere too, but they’re all much less bothersome than typical enterprise governance requirements.
All the familiar technology building blocks are there to get my apps going rapidly. From native tech like DirectShow support, through to the .Net Compact Framework 3.5 and the new web technology Widget framework. I can harness my device hardware and build the stuff I want too with a lot less effort compared to other mobile platforms. The enormous volume of stuff available to me as a developer on Windows Phone is awesome and enabling in equal measure.
You may still think the iPhone is the coolest piece of kit out there. But in the new range of Windows Phones is hardware and key OS feature parity, coupled with a world leading developer platform. It is now down to software applications to differentiate devices - and that’s something as a Windows developer, I can do easily and creatively.
Things are getting exciting again. The fight is on :-)
Comments on this post
I wonder how the touch screen adaptations across the various models will pan out though, but again I suppose this will also depend on what software people will actually develop for them.
