Windows Mobile Is Dead! Long Live Windows Mobile!

I know, I know...a HUGELY inflammatory title for a blog post, but forgive me.  Living in Massachusetts, I have been bombarded for the last 4 days by calls and advertisements for the senatorial election that will decide who will take over the seat that Ted Kennedy held for so long.  I am sick and tired of the calls and ads.  That, combined with the fact that we should instead be focusing on the fact that it's Martin Luther King Day here in the US, makes it for a slow news day in the world of enterprise mobility.  However, I did read a fascinating blog post from someone who purports to have seen and played with Windows Mobile 7.

The short version of this blog post is that your current applications for Windows Mobile will NOT work on Windows Mobile 7.  Why?  Because Windows Mobile 7 has allegedly been built from scratch.

This is yet another Keanu Reeves moment for me.  Whoah....

So for the record.  I have not yet seen Windows Mobile 7.  Microsoft has not deemed me worthy to see super duper early versions of their new OS, nor deemed me worthy to help them figure out the plans.  That's OK. I'm not hurt.  Everything I know about Windows Mobile 7 is pure speculation.  That said...if Windows Mobile 7 is a complete re-write....where old apps don't work...I say HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!

Here's my take.  Microsoft is the old Palm.  Hunh????  Ya, you heard me.  Microsoft is the old Palm.  The old Palm had an antiquated and outdated operating system that saw little to no evolution and market share paid a price.  It also took Palm what seemed in hindsight a lifetime to get the new webOS (notice how I typed it correctly?) out to market...and we all know how fond I am of webOS.

Does any of this sound familiar?  It should....

IF...big if...Windows Mobile 7 is a major re-write, then I absolutely applaud it.  There is enough bad in Windows Mobile 6.x that's it's not worth keeping any of it, just for the sake of compatibility.  Other companies have made the jump.  Apple has done so more than once, and Palm is doing it right now.  Why can't Microsoft?  Worst case scenario, they can create an emulator.

I say wipe the slate clean.  Start kicking butt and do the best you can.  The past is the past and the fact of the matter is that (enterprise) mobility is moving so quickly that the ecosystem will not bemoan and instead deal with incompatibilities that may arise.