Windows Mobile 7 early build hands-on review, not compatible with old apps
Eldar Murtazin, Russian mobile phone godfather and the man behind the very well respected Mobile-review.com, who always seem to get their hands first on the latest mobile phones, has done it again, and managed to have a few minutes with an early build of Windows Mobile 7, running on an as yet unreleased device, and has been doing some tweeting about it.
He notes that the OS has been built from scratch and that none of the old Windows Mobile 6.X apps worked.
The UI was more complicated than that of the ZuneHD, and features much horizontal movement and “additional info by clicks”. Calling a great step forward for Windows Mobile, he still felt the UI owned much to the iPhone or Android 3.1/3.2(?).
The UI still however features familiar elements such as soft keys, click and hold and bears some resemblance to leaks from 2007.
Of course, being an early build, it was devoid of much of the features that would make it an interesting OS. Eldar was not sure the software was yet ready for release, but was still sure it would be shown of at Mobile World Congress, at the very least behind closed doors.
At WMPoweruser.com we are sure that the most important part of Windows Mobile 7 are the services that would surround it like the Zune music store, and as such it is too early to draw any conclusion from the early look into the next generation of Windows Mobile. Everything is also of course in the domain of rumour,so may not be accurate or subject to change in the future. We can certainly say we can not wait for Mobile World Congress to find out more about the latest and greatest on the topic.
See the full twitter conversation, which we carefully trimmed from irrelevant bits, after the break.
To keep an eye on the latest Windows Mobile 7 news follow our tweets at twitter.com/wmpoweruser
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44 Responses to “Windows Mobile 7 early build hands-on review, not compatible with old apps”
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this is interesting news! I hope more news like this comes
I'm not sure if he really messed with it. All that he said was extremely vague. Not saying he is a lier, but I find the info he put out to be more click click then boom boom.
wreiad Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 6:14 am
Could be a publicity stunt. Such trivial information can be put up by anyone.
GP007 Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:03 am
I think as we get closer to MWC we'll see more and more of these "leaked info" posts on twitter and other blogs. We won't know until MS shows it themselfs or we get some very good screenshots.
wreiad Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 6:14 am
Could be a publicity stunt. Such trivial information can be put up by anyone.
GP007 Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:03 am
I think as we get closer to MWC we'll see more and more of these "leaked info" posts on twitter and other blogs. We won't know until MS shows it themselfs or we get some very good screenshots.
Oh COMON no screen shots yet?
I'm disappointed that it won't run the old programs but maybe it can be hacked in? It is still running Windows CE and Windows CE devices can be made to run Windows Mobile programs. This basically means it loses its whole library of software! That is going to put it a step behind everything else (including WM 6!)
I'll also have to hope all the programs I use get updated or am able to find programs that can do what I want.
wreiad Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 6:11 am
They might release an emulator like what Palm did for the Pre [Which is fantastic]. I think it's time they had a fresh start anyway. Windows Mobile apps are alright for functionality, but they don't exactly look good compared to the other operating systems. Windows Mobile 7 should [Read: will] be a better platform to bring the the eye candy.
Lennard Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:14 am
I really believe in that emulator….if they dont' do it then some other dev is going to do it and make a wad of cash from it
Lennard Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:14 am
I really believe in that emulator….if they dont' do it then some other dev is going to do it and make a wad of cash from it
GP007 Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:08 am
An emulator would be the best bet if they have indeed broken binary compatibility with a fresh rewrite of CE/WM. And honestly, it's not like the older WM6 apps need that much juice to run. Seeing how WM7 phones will have super fast snapdragons at 1Ghz and probably the newer 1.5Ghz ones, there should be no problem with performance under emulation.
wreiad Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 6:11 am
They might release an emulator like what Palm did for the Pre [Which is fantastic]. I think it's time they had a fresh start anyway. Windows Mobile apps are alright for functionality, but they don't exactly look good compared to the other operating systems. Windows Mobile 7 should [Read: will] be a better platform to bring the the eye candy.
GP007 Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:08 am
An emulator would be the best bet if they have indeed broken binary compatibility with a fresh rewrite of CE/WM. And honestly, it's not like the older WM6 apps need that much juice to run. Seeing how WM7 phones will have super fast snapdragons at 1Ghz and probably the newer 1.5Ghz ones, there should be no problem with performance under emulation.
You can't help but to think Microsoft is cooking up one hell of a gumbo here. This has to be good for no [Proper] information and screens to be available.
Lennard Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:05 am
its just crazy to me that Microsoft can actually creat things in secret now. it really baffles my mind how they created such a turn around
wreiad Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 8:13 am
Not the mention the constant Windows 7 leaks. How they fixed the faucet on this one, we'll never know.
Jake Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Actually there were very few, if any, Windows 7 leaks right up until the first public showcase at PDC in October 2008. The Windows 7 beta leaked in December (a couple of weeks before it was publicly released) but Microsoft managed to control the release of information pretty well for Windows 7.
Jake Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Actually there were very few, if any, Windows 7 leaks right up until the first public showcase at PDC in October 2008. The Windows 7 beta leaked in December (a couple of weeks before it was publicly released) but Microsoft managed to control the release of information pretty well for Windows 7.
wreiad Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 8:13 am
Not the mention the constant Windows 7 leaks. How they fixed the faucet on this one, we'll never know.
GP007 Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:06 am
I agree, they're fine with loads of shots and leaked builds of WM6.5.3 hitting the net, but all we have from WM7 are some very old shots from 2007? And those are probably some already dead early concept shots. It all depends on how one looks at it, I think keeping it so hush hush is probably a good thing, others might think it's bad and that MS has nothing good to show.
John Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
The number of changes done in 6.5.3 is so small that i wouldnt be surprised if 1 or 2 devs were working on that platform.
John Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
The number of changes done in 6.5.3 is so small that i wouldnt be surprised if 1 or 2 devs were working on that platform.
Lennard Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:05 am
its just crazy to me that Microsoft can actually creat things in secret now. it really baffles my mind how they created such a turn around
GP007 Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:06 am
I agree, they're fine with loads of shots and leaked builds of WM6.5.3 hitting the net, but all we have from WM7 are some very old shots from 2007? And those are probably some already dead early concept shots. It all depends on how one looks at it, I think keeping it so hush hush is probably a good thing, others might think it's bad and that MS has nothing good to show.
I'm not a twitter person, so I saw the conversation and I thougth "sweet!" so I started reading from top down, and it's when i reached the bottom I realized that the convo goes from bottom up!! and it's then when I started reading it over it all started to make sense o.0
I'm glad to hear goods of winMo7…wished there was some pics leaked….I can't wait for the roms to start pouring out from the crack in the wall….leak gaddammit, leak
GP007 Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:18 am
They probably have it on like, 4 or 5 test phones that are guarded by armed personnel 24/7!
GP007 Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:18 am
They probably have it on like, 4 or 5 test phones that are guarded by armed personnel 24/7!
Looking forward to seeing the real thing at MWC, hopefully it will blow us away. In regards to app compatibility, it was a no brainer when MS said they were redoing the entire OS from the ground up, it's for the best and considering Microsofts track record I don't expect it to be too difficult for any app developer to port over their programs to WM7
MoB Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 8:45 am
Many developers may see it quite too much difficult – they are not updating their apps even now when the compatibility is not an issue. Many developers are moving to other platforms. As for me – if I have to switch platforms, I will rather go to Android than another Windows brand. I am pretty dissatisfied with the level of "support" I am given from MS and HTC. Here cometh the time for platform switch!
John Ellis Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 10:29 am
I would expect the support from MS will increase with WM7 seeing as the updates and software seem to be much more under their control now. Android's shortcoming is Google's lack of help, Microsoft usually excels at support- I expect this to be the case now they are responsible for more of the software.
(Comparing this to WinMo6 where Vendor ROMs were given as updates as opposed to OTA updates in the newer OS.)
John Ellis Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 10:29 am
I would expect the support from MS will increase with WM7 seeing as the updates and software seem to be much more under their control now. Android's shortcoming is Google's lack of help, Microsoft usually excels at support- I expect this to be the case now they are responsible for more of the software.
(Comparing this to WinMo6 where Vendor ROMs were given as updates as opposed to OTA updates in the newer OS.)
Ed M. Reply:
January 18th, 2010 at 4:21 am
It's the best thing that Microsoft has made Windows Mobile 7 incompatible with Windows Mobile 6.x.
A really large proportion of the WM 6.x apps were unusable on capacitive screens, such as the HTC HD2. Those apps were originally designed for a stylus pen interface, and some were useless on the capacitive screen of the HD2.
Microsoft must cut the stylus loose, and move the whole Windows Mobile OS and all its applications to the capacitive interface. The market demands capacitive screens. Resistive, stylus interfaces will simply fail to sell (which is what's happening now with 6.x).
Whichever way it goes, most of the existing applications will need modification and interface changes. Maybe not a total rewrite, but it will be a major rewrite. We also know that WM7 will have a new kernel (CE6)
MoB Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 8:45 am
Many developers may see it quite too much difficult – they are not updating their apps even now when the compatibility is not an issue. Many developers are moving to other platforms. As for me – if I have to switch platforms, I will rather go to Android than another Windows brand. I am pretty dissatisfied with the level of "support" I am given from MS and HTC. Here cometh the time for platform switch!
Ed M. Reply:
January 18th, 2010 at 4:21 am
It's the best thing that Microsoft has made Windows Mobile 7 incompatible with Windows Mobile 6.x.
A really large proportion of the WM 6.x apps were unusable on capacitive screens, such as the HTC HD2. Those apps were originally designed for a stylus pen interface, and some were useless on the capacitive screen of the HD2.
Microsoft must cut the stylus loose, and move the whole Windows Mobile OS and all its applications to the capacitive interface. The market demands capacitive screens. Resistive, stylus interfaces will simply fail to sell (which is what's happening now with 6.x).
Whichever way it goes, most of the existing applications will need modification and interface changes. Maybe not a total rewrite, but it will be a major rewrite. We also know that WM7 will have a new kernel (CE6)
im on the screenshot hahahaha
:p
As far as I know, in WM7, developers must use C# to develop applications, not C++.
GP007 Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
I think that makes sense. MS would want to switch to C# and push for the usage of .NET/Silverlight for making WM7 apps I'd think.
John Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
I have a .NET app i need for work. I sure hope those arent broken.
John Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
I have a .NET app i need for work. I sure hope those arent broken.
GP007 Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
I think that makes sense. MS would want to switch to C# and push for the usage of .NET/Silverlight for making WM7 apps I'd think.
This doesn't even really classify as 'rumor'…
I think the whole thing sounds dodgy to me.
http://www.mobiletechworld.com/2010/01/17/windows...
No backwards-compatibility is GREAT actually. It means a whole new platform which is exactly what we need! I really really hope that this early build is not representative and that the final thing will have some revolutionary parts!
Strangerx Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
No it's not great, all developers must code their apps again, you know what this means? wait another year till you have all your apps that you've used before on your new WM7-powered handset. Oh and I'm sure devs won't be happy at all if this happens to be the truth.
What you said about the new platform will happen anyway, even if it has backwards compability there will be a new SDK and you would probably need to code your apps in C# now etc.
Robert Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
This is a good thing, its a brand new OS. WM has been getting old, this is a reboot. MS needed to do this, if they would have kept with the same legacy OS they’ve been running it would have kept them in the rut they’ve been in the past few years. You can’t just put a skin on WM 6.X and make it good. Sure HTC made it look good but it still was WM 6.X, still had its flaws. I’m actually more excited now about WM 7 than I was.
Also MS doesn’t have much to loose. WM phones have been loosing customers to iphone, Android, WebOS, and Blackberry and this is their best bet to gain people. They couldn’t do this with Windows 7 because Windows has billions of people using it, with WM loosing users, this is the right thing for them to do. Sure devs will have to make new apps, but it’ll get done and they’ll hopefully be better than ever. So think of the plus side and forget about what you think the negative side is because its very thin.
Robert Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
This is a good thing, its a brand new OS. WM has been getting old, this is a reboot. MS needed to do this, if they would have kept with the same legacy OS they’ve been running it would have kept them in the rut they’ve been in the past few years. You can’t just put a skin on WM 6.X and make it good. Sure HTC made it look good but it still was WM 6.X, still had its flaws. I’m actually more excited now about WM 7 than I was.
Also MS doesn’t have much to loose. WM phones have been loosing customers to iphone, Android, WebOS, and Blackberry and this is their best bet to gain people. They couldn’t do this with Windows 7 because Windows has billions of people using it, with WM loosing users, this is the right thing for them to do. Sure devs will have to make new apps, but it’ll get done and they’ll hopefully be better than ever. So think of the plus side and forget about what you think the negative side is because its very thin.
Strangerx Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
No it's not great, all developers must code their apps again, you know what this means? wait another year till you have all your apps that you've used before on your new WM7-powered handset. Oh and I'm sure devs won't be happy at all if this happens to be the truth.
What you said about the new platform will happen anyway, even if it has backwards compability there will be a new SDK and you would probably need to code your apps in C# now etc.
Well whether this is true or not, I think MS should rather soon release a statement about it. Developers will need to know about this, and will need to know what technologies can or can't be used on WM7, so (if necessary) they can start reading up / practising / whatever the new skills they will need. Having to wait for WM7 actually being released will be too late.
I'm pretty sure that at least the .net framework will be supported, maybe the runtime is not yet done?!? Remeber the step from wm 2003 to wm5, there were many native apps that worked only after the developer compiled it with the new compilers. Not evry app will run on wm7, but most of them will for sure!
this guy is know to talk a lot of bullshit. here are some weird things form the tweets for me.
1. the guy asks what phone he tested it on, his answer was i dont remember (sounds fishy that a guy thats deals in phones cant remember what he tested it on.
2. how does a russian guy get to play on wm7 when its seems to be microsoft's most secret software.
something about all this seems awfully fishy to me. microsoft has done such an incredible job keeping wm7 hush hush, then all of a sudden some guy with a not so great track record comes forward with information about it not being all that great. when people like the editor of engadget say what they saw is revolutionary
break out those bags of salt guys!
Why would anyone buy a Windows Mobile phone right now?
Knowing that there's no compatibility and no upgradeability to version 7, if you buy a Windows Mobile 6.x phone you're going to be left with an expensive brick.
Any potential WinMo buyers will avoid the current phones (including the coming 6.6 cosmetic update), and wait until version 7 comes out.
Android 3.1/3.2 O.o
Eldar Murtazin is using time machine or maybe drugs.
Hey if Meizu was able to write their OS based on CE6 and still use WM applications why MS wouldn't be able to do something like that. Few minutes ago I saw video showing Meizu M8 running FPSEce 0.10 and remember that it has capacitive multi-touch display.
I think that final version of WM7 will support legacy applications. Either through emulation or virtual machine. Similar to what Eldar said. I won't judge it before seeing final version but for now it doesn't sound too promising…
drphysx Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
What's troubling is that that small companyMeizu managed to put a great UI onto WinCE6 within a pretty short time and it took Microsoft three years to put that disappointing WM6.5 UI onto WinCE5.2.
I wonder what Microsoft has been doing all the time.
Ed M. Reply:
January 18th, 2010 at 4:32 am
Wishmaster89 (above) said that Microsoft must include emulation to use 6.x apps.
Emulation, such as Rosetta, helped Apple bridge from PowerPC to x86. But the thing to remember is that the interface remained the same through Apple's platform migration.
Emulation may not work for Windows Mobile, in that it is the interface that will need the most changes. The interfaces from the old WinMo 6.x apps (designed for stylus) won't work with the new Zune-like interface of Windows Mobile 7. It seems obvious that every app will need some modification.
drphysx Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
What's troubling is that that small companyMeizu managed to put a great UI onto WinCE6 within a pretty short time and it took Microsoft three years to put that disappointing WM6.5 UI onto WinCE5.2.
I wonder what Microsoft has been doing all the time.
Ed M. Reply:
January 18th, 2010 at 4:32 am
Wishmaster89 (above) said that Microsoft must include emulation to use 6.x apps.
Emulation, such as Rosetta, helped Apple bridge from PowerPC to x86. But the thing to remember is that the interface remained the same through Apple's platform migration.
Emulation may not work for Windows Mobile, in that it is the interface that will need the most changes. The interfaces from the old WinMo 6.x apps (designed for stylus) won't work with the new Zune-like interface of Windows Mobile 7. It seems obvious that every app will need some modification.
I call bullshit on this one. Jesus, anybody can post anything on the internet. I could just randomly tweet that WM7 is based off OS X and next thing you know it'd be taken seriously on the rumor mill.
As I said on another blog…
A cornerstone at Microsoft is backwards compatibility. Look at the effort put into Windows 7. It’s actually more backward compatible than Vista with the integrated “XP Mode.”
I am absolutely 100% sure that there will be apps made for WM6.x, WM5, and older that will not work well (or at all) on WM7. There are too many apps in the ecosystem and new features sometimes break old ones. It’s not intended, but it happens. Additionally, sometimes older APIs change with time. For example, WinCE 6, supporting true memory isolation and so on, breaks a ton of system-level apps written for WinCE 5 (every system app made for WM thus far).
However,the bulk of apps will probably work. The ones that don’t will need to be tweaked, but not written from scratch.
Microsoft is a business company. If they want to remain competitive with RIM, they need business apps. Are they going to rewrite the entire Pocket Office suite? Maybe, but it seems like a lot of extra work.
Besides, Windows CE is incredibly mature and powerful and used on multiple platforms, from the XBox to rugged mobile devices, to high security devices, to, most famously, Windows Phone. Why would they change that when they were under the gun to begin with from a time perspective?
I am highly highly skeptical.
I think what we will see is more like a XP to Vista transitition. Some apps won’t work just due to OS changes (to be expected), but the bulk will because the underlying system is just a newer version of the old.
Finally, Microsoft loves the developers. They really do! Announcing that all the developers’ hard work for Windows Phone 6.5 and the app store is all for naught next year would just not at all be consistent with their tradition of “here’s our next OS, here’s how you make sure you are compatible” trend they set.
Ok look I love this site, and respect the integrity of it's articles and understand the nature of rumor chasing.
But cmon. I dont care who this guy is what I am highly skeptical of is him. He referred to Android 3.1./3.2… wow he must be pretty good to know what 3.1 is going to look like. Of course a newer version of CE wouldnt be compatible with old apps, maybe some kind of backend solution. To me he seems to be regurgitating a bunch of rumors. No screen shots, no noting. No offense but I'm going to completely disregard this article.
If this is true, then my Touch Pro is probably my last WM phone. If I have to get all new software, I might as well get a droid so I can at least get the latest google apps since google doesn't release new stuff on other platforms anymore.
huh…i dont like hearing about the fact that WinMo 7 is probably going to break compatibility with older apps! i mean i have spent quite a few bucks on paying for full software PLUS a new HD2 and now MS is saying this?????
if there is no upgrade for the apps, then am stuck with having to full price again…!!! if that happens, then probably i will stick to old 6.5.x and what i have or embrace the dark side and start looking for illegal stuff!