So how do you market a mobile OS that’s essentially a superficial upgrade to a years-old product that a sizable bloc of techies think is the worst thing, ever, period? You change its name! To “Windows Phone,” apparently.
Actually, according to The Inquirer, who claims to have heard this firsthand from Microsoft, all versions of Windows Mobile— from the extant 6.1 to the forthcoming, total-overhaul version 7—will be pulled under the Windows Phone umbrella, a move seemingly presaged by the announcement that the new Windows Marketplace for Mobile, will be open to all versions of the OS. That, and the fact that these same rumours were getting kicked around back in February, from equally credible sources, and accompanied by the odd use of the phrase on the company’s website. In other words, it looks like it’s going to happen, probably coinciding with the launch of 6.5.
From here this looks like a simple branding decision, and a mild one: In the brave new world of decent smartphone OSes, a mature “6.1″ suffix betrays a stodginess that Microsoft is clearly trying to fight with 6.5, and hopes to completely shed with Windows Mobile 7, which promises to be in a different league than its predecessors. Of course, this won’t change the fact that Windows Mobile 6.5 is a seemingly panicked stopgap measure, nor will it make your 6.1-based phone—they still make these!—any less painful to perform basic tasks on. This all may sound harsh, but it’s also implicit in this move: If people don’t associate your brand name with something terrible, then you don’t have to behave like a cigarette company. [The Inquirer]
matt
July 30, 2009 at 9:25 AM
lol, arn’t they doing the same thing to windows vista? changing its name to windows 7?
Report PermalinkDave
July 30, 2009 at 12:22 PM
umm no, if you have ever used Win 7 you would know that
Report Permalinkmatt
July 30, 2009 at 4:01 PM
I’ve used windows 7 but i haven’t used vista, i really like windows 7, but pro vista ppl keep saying its basically like windows vista is NOW, obviously its shit loads better than when vista was when it came out… anyway, while windows 7 may be better than vista, there is no denying that they are trying to rid them selves of the vista image as quickly as possible, i mean xp was around for like 50 years and vista was only around 3 or so before it was replaced.
Report PermalinkThomas Hambleton
July 30, 2009 at 1:11 PM
I don’t know why they don’t just wait until winmo7 to do any of this image stuff, and if they get it right get the kind of kudos they did for Windows 7…
Report PermalinkQue
July 30, 2009 at 2:04 PM
face it, they can’t afford to lose again so they want a clean start if possible.
ah, only if it is possible.
Report Permalinkklaw81
July 31, 2009 at 11:34 AM
WM6.1 is by no means “painful to perform basic tasks on” – at least it’s not when you’re using one of the many excellent skinning interfaces available. It’s perfectly functional for almost any common task and with a few basic addons, the average user would use a stylus very rarely.
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