I'm so OVER Windows Mobile

Every year I go out and get a tribe of Windows Mobile devices. My most recent purchase was the T-mobile XDA Pro. Previous to that it was the Orange SPV C500… er… well, in fact, every single SPV since they came out.

I owned an Ipaq. I owned an o2 XDA.

Every single time I make the mistake of buying Windows Mobile.

With Windows Mobile 5.0 I thought Microsoft would really have sorted it all out. LESS of the ‘oh look it has Windows Media Player’ and more of ‘oh look, it doesn’t crash, oh look I can’t see the operating system limping along updating the screen’.

But no.

I’ve got really quite frustrated going up and down the sodding escalators on the London Underground and being exposed to all manner of ‘You should do your spreadsheet on your SPV’ complete nonsense advertising.

‘Check your email’ blah blah blah adverts. Totally winding me up. Because I bought into it and I, to some extent, still do. I like the concept of a Windows Mobile device. I loved being able to connect it and have it sync my contacts PROPERLY.

I lent my MDA Pro to colleague Justin for some testing. This was about 2 months ago I think. He’s volunteered a few times to meet me to give it back. I just… I’m happy to meet Justin, it’s, just I really don’t care about the MDA Pro enough to want it back.

I’m so disappointed in Microsoft. Surely, someone, somewhere high up in the Windows Mobile development team realises that their devices (as a result of the operating system) are invariably 30% rubbish. That is, they are 70% fine with 30% of their usage devoted to annoyance.

On ANY OTHER PHONE when I click ‘address book’, the address book loads. Quickly. Immediately — say half a second. Woosh, there it is.

IF I have made the cardinal error of using Internet Explorer on the device THEN click Contacts, it has none of it. Invariably you’re forced to endure a 2-3 or sometimes 5 second wait. The operating system reacts immediately — the moment you press the contacts button. But then it spends seconds screwing around with goodness knows what while it builds the screen like some intel 386 running Windows XP.

Surely this isn’t an emperor’s new clothes thing? Surely someone, somewhere must realise that if you actually USE the device, it’s intensely frustrating having to make allowances for the incapable operating system? Run calendar, run email, run Internet Explorer, THEN send a text message. Click…. zzz. Click…zzzz. Ahh it’s infuriating.

I’m moved to post this because Modaco recently posted a note of some new device pictures:

Orange are prepping the SPV C700 (aka HTC Breeze) and SPV M3100 (aka HTC Hermes) for release across Orange territories, with the C700 scheduled to touch down in July, with the M3100 following in August.

They’re looking sexy. Normally I’d be the first on the block at the Orange store, credit card in hand, ready to upgrade away.

I really would like to use Windows Mobile and all its possibilities … perhaps I just need to get myself a Windows Mobile 6.0 device with gigabytes of RAM… I shall suspend my disbelief.