After two months of often heroic battle against the Samsung, which delighted with Samsung’s own UI but then unceremoniously dumped you into the Windows 3.1-era interface of the underlying CE, I’m back on the Moto. The Omnia II has just brilliant hardware, rendered absolutely useless by the main software. Don’t, and I mean, DO NOT attempt to use the Web browser on any site requiring more than HTML 3.2 (circa 1997). Calling the SMS interface ‘pathetic’ would be praising it far beyond its due: while I have no idea what substances the V9 writers were consuming when the ITAP word completion feature was written, the end result is less painful than on the Omnia – which would sometimes use Samsung’s own (decent) SMS software, but too often fall through the cracks unpredictably into WinMo-land.

I was at Redmond when some early versions of Windows CE were being shoved out the door. I’m not surprised they changed the name to Windows Mobile; WinCE is all too accurate a description of the user experience, then and now. However, truth-in-advertising laws should require the products rechristening as “Windows, Immobile.”

The OS hasn’t changed for YEARS. What’s going up with that division at Microsoft? Why can’t they dip into the cash pile, hire some decent programmers, architects and designers. Give everyone in the division an iPhone and have them learn something about good user usability and experience on a mobile device.

It seems Windows Mobile is becoming irrelevant to Microsoft. They are so focused on trying to keep up with Google. Well Google has Android. What do you say about that Microsoft.. do you have something lined up against Android? The iPhone, Android, RIM and Nokia are eating you alive.

Sure you are right about high expectations from Google, but in this one case (Android), there is just way too much momentum in the market. I think what we are seeing is people looking for anything to compete with the iPhone which has changed the expectations from the handset which are all around mobile Internet. From that perspective, 6.5 lags. I think that is a big issue right now for Microsoft.

This really starts to make sense when you look at the complete lack of developer information on Windows Mobile 7. The upcoming Microsoft PDC (professional developer conference) has no sessions dedicated to Windows Mobile. In my opinion, this points to a product still early in its development cycle (or Microsoft has forgotten that developers are what put Windows on the map).

At this point, it is pretty much a total disaster. One possibility for moving forward would be for Microsoft to merge their platforms. Use the Win 7 kernel to create a new mobile OS and ditch the ancient WinCE core.