[Originally written Feb 16 2010]
While the announcement of Windows Phone 7 Series is exciting, I can't help but feel a little sad that it is essentially the final nail in the coffin of Windows Mobile, née "Pocket PC".
The new user interface seems slick, but in many ways it tells us Microsoft themselves has bought into the press and validated their critics- that bringing the desktop Windows interface to the small screen was ultimately a failure, and only a ground-up re-imagining could save Microsoft's lagging mobile OS business.
While I'm apparently in the minority, I always felt Microsoft hit a home run with the Pocket PC/Windows Mobile Pro UI. The Today screen was a fantastic "at a glance" roundup of all the important info on the device, and the desktop-like start menu instantly evoked the familiar look and feel of Windows. From there, a set of evenly-spaced, easy to poke program icons took you into your applications. (Anyone want to tell me why the iPhone's UI was so "groundbreaking" when, frankly, if you replaced WinMo's Programs menu white background with black, you've essentially got the iPhone's grid?)
Sure, WinMo wasn't perfect- under the programs and applets were tiny radio buttons and menus that required a stylus even back when 4" screens were the norm, much less a 2.5" one! Even so, I'm not sure it was time to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. WinMo certainly needed a ground-up reprogramming, if only to get rid of the obsolete code most likely present through 10 years of revisions and upgrades, and to tighten up responsiveness, but I'm not sure anyone can declare that the UI was a complete and utter failure. No portable device (other than UMPCs running actual Windows itself) ever came as close to replicating a full computer experience in your palm than Windows Mobile. My wife, who is not a huge technology fan, was able to navigate the various features of her Windows Mobile phone without any help, based on the similarity to desktop Windows alone (though she happily switched to an iPhone eventually, which, while less capable, she considers far more "fun.")
So, looking toward the future with some regret, I wonder about the new iteration of Windows on phones- the strength of Pocket PC/Windows Mobile was that it could be all things to all people- it was a business class device, it offered a decent media experience, and tens of thousands of apps to meet virtually any need- it was a full-fledged PC in my pocket, hence the name . Will "7 series" be as malleable? Or, (with apologies to Steve Jobs,) will it simply be the "best Zune ever"- a media/browsing-centric device with a minor degree in social networking?
"The King is Dead. Long Live the King!"
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