14 DAY TRIAL // Redmond-based software company Microsoft recently released into the wild the latest flavor of its mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 6.5, and it has already started to work on the development of its next-generation Windows Mobile 7 platform, while also planning another OS flavor, one that most of you might already know as 6.5.1.
This is not the first time the supposed Windows Mobile version surfaces into the headlines, yet it seems that now things are beginning to connect to one another, and a recent post from Long Zheng blogger seems meant to prove what we were already aware of: Microsoft is indeed preparing a WM version that will be released into the wild before Windows Mobile 7 will start shipping on devices.
There are no exact details on when said platform, supposedly Windows Mobile 6.5.1, will come to the market, though some of the previous rumors pointed towards early 2010 as the most possible availability time frame (since Windows Mobile 7 has been pushed all the way to late 2010). However, most of you should already be aware of the wide range of Windows Mobile 6.5 builds from the 23xxx branch that emerged into the wild during the past few months, and which offered us the possibility to make an idea of what this yet unofficial version of Microsoft's mobile client will include.
Most of the novelties that Windows Mobile 6.5.1 is set to come to the market with include visual changes, user interface tweaks like re-designed buttons, checkboxes, radio buttons, more touch friendliness and more. According to Long Zheng, this version of the operating system might be seen as what WM 6.5 couldn't be, as Microsoft hasn't implemented all the necessary improvements with the OS, and they will be included within 6.5.1. However, one should wait for Windows Mobile 7 as the real salvation for the platform, though giving 6.5.1 a try won't hurt either.