Is This It For Microsoft and Windows Mobile?

At one time, Windows Mobile was one of the few good mobile operation systems that offered a feature rich and somewhat streamlined experience. Recently though, Windows Mobile popularity has fallen year-over-year with the introduction of BlackBerry, iPhone, Symbian and Android. It is now 3rd overall in market share taking 24% of enterprise users. With such a sudden fall from grace, something must have happened, and that isn’t totally Microsoft’s fault.

Taking a look back, Windows Mobile originally appeared as the Pocket PC 2000 operating system. This started the trend of every Windows Mobile device requiring a stylus to enter commands onscreen. While the user could use their finger to input data, this was not easily done, marking one of the key downfalls to Windows Mobile.

With as many as 8 versions to date, many features have remained constant to the platform. Office, Outlook, Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, PPTP VPNs, Connection Sharing, multitasking, multiple file support, and the infamous Today Screen are all quintessential components to the Windows Mobile family.

On paper, Windows Mobile seems great. However, critics have had much to say about it’s poor performance. Windows is unable to recognize multi-touch screens and as such, limits hardware functionality. The interface of Windows Mobile shows many inconsistencies and requires the use of the stylus to operate a mobile device. A glaring issue is the disabling of high definition video on Windows Mobile devices when the Snapdragon processor, which powers many modern smartphones, is more than capable of doing so.

Not everything is Microsoft’s fault though. Many of the lag issues in Windows Mobile stem from hardware that couldn’t handle it in the past. Upgrading the device was also a short coming not on Microsoft’s side, but on the carrier side, so a few things can‘t be blamed on Microsoft, but a lot more can be.

Microsoft is banking on Windows Mobile 7 to help bring them out of their huge deficit. Realistically, the company is foundering and cellphone makers flock to Android as their platform of choice. The future looks grim, but fear not, a similar fate befell Palm, and their web OS help start their slow comeback. If history has taught us anything, its that the future is uncertain and nothing is set in stone.