14 DAY TRIAL // Redmond-based software giant Microsoft has already started the work on the development of another flavor of its mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 7. The company has just released into the wild a new version of the platform, namely Windows Mobile 6.5, and showed a greater focus on the development of its client for mobile phones, yet it seems that the next iteration of Windows Mobile is the one that will truly prove Microsoft’s commitment to enhance the user experience of mobile phone owners.
We've already reported a few details on the next-generation operating system, and most of you might already know that we're to expect for it to include touch enhancements, support for non-touch gestures, better integration with various services, more user friendliness, and more. While the development of the OS flavor has already started, and Microsoft is known to have deployed a large number of people to work on it, no exact details on when Windows Mobile 7 will come to the market or with what features have emerged.
Even so, one thing seems to have been nailed down already: Windows Mobile 7 will be a killer. This means that it will be able to prove competitive on a smartphone market where more attractive platforms appeal to users at the moment. At least this is what Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer hopes for, and has stated it once again during a private breakfast at Microsoft's Kendall Square outpost in Boston. Here's what WMExperts extracted from a post on boston.com:
“The one sparky interchange - no surprise - seems to have been initiated by angel investor (and former Lotus exec) John Landry, who said it seemed to him that Microsoft is still very much focused on desktop computing, and considers all other devices to be peripherals to the PC. Landry waved his iPhone and said he does 80 percent of his work on that device. Ballmer responded by saying that Microsoft was aware that it has to do much better with Windows Mobile 7, its forthcoming mobile operating system (the release of which has been pushed back into 2010). 'We know we have to kill on that one,' a meeting attendee recalled Ballmer saying. (I've got a call in to Landry, to get his version of the discussion about the iPhone.)
Twitter entrepreneur Laura Fitton also noted that very few people were developing Twitter apps for Windows Mobile. Ballmer responded by saying that Microsoft realized that the company was engaged in a long campaign to get more developers writing apps for the Windows Mobile OS.”
Needless to add anything else here. We'll have to wait for about a year from now to see what Windows Mobile 7 will bring forth and whether Ballmer's hopes will come true. For what it's worth, there are also a wide range of enthusiasts expecting just the same: for Windows Mobile to become a much better operating system, both in what its visual style and user friendliness are concerned and in terms of its productivity capabilities.