Hi all,

I heard that Windows Mobile v.6.0 was released to manufacturers this week.
Any word as to when it will be available to the general public?
Anyone testing it?

Please advise.

Thank you,

~Brett~

Not sure where you heard this, and can't comment on whether that is true or
not, but let me make a few points that need to be remade each time a new
mobile OS is released.

1) MS sells this to manufacturers not consumers, so you will never see an
upgrade from MS.
2) Manufacturers don't just take the MS OS, slap it on some hardware, and
sell it. They add functionality, drivers, etc. and test it. The OS that is
on a device, is based on what MS sold them, but it is significantly altered.
3) The device manufacturer, like HTC, may not even sell to consumers, they
may sell to yet another entity, like I-Mate or Sprint, or T-Mobile, who also
make their additions, and test.
4) If you get an upgrade it is up to the whim of the last entity in the
previously mentioned chain. i.e. if you have a Sprint device, you will get
an upgrade (or not) from Sprint. MS has nothing to do with that decision,
nor does HTC, if that was who built the device. There is a good chance that
one flavor of a single device, from one distributor, might get an upgrade,
while another flavor of that same device, might not, or get it at a very
different time.
5) referencing points 2 and 4, using an upgrade from one distributor, on a
like device from another, has a good chance of not working.

Keep in mind that WM device distributors are in business to make money. Hope
that is not a surprise to anyone. They will give some thought to the return
on investment of providing an upgrade. Remember they need to integrate it
into the platform, and test it, which costs money and time. They need to
decide whether and how to market the upgrade. Should it be free? At some
cost? How will it be distributed and applied. What are the support costs
associated with having users do the upgrade, as opposed to service centers
doing it. Will it provide an acceptable user experience on old hardware.
Will it impact any new models being planned either in resources taken from
development, or sales.

Hope this helps set some expectations. The bottom line is that you should
strive to be happy with what you have. If it happens to get an official
upgrade, consider it whipped cream with a cherry on top.

--
Sven
MVP - Mobile Devices
"Brett A. Scudder" <Brett.Scudder@thetechnologysuite.com> wrote in message
news:O6jXFLKIHHA.1188@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Hi all,
>
> I heard that Windows Mobile v.6.0 was released to manufacturers this week.
> Any word as to when it will be available to the general public?
> Anyone testing it?
>
> Please advise.
>
> Thank you,
>
> ~Brett~
>

"Sven" <sejohannsen********.com> wrote in
news:eV0Z3lNIHHA.420@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl:

> Not sure where you heard this, and can't comment on whether that is
> true or not, but let me make a few points that need to be remade each
> time a new mobile OS is released.
>
> 1) MS sells this to manufacturers not consumers, so you will never see
> an upgrade from MS.

How about Pocket PC --> WM 5.0. Several manufacturers sold upgrades.

I said you would not see it from MS, not that you wouldn't see it from
manufacturers. It is not like Vista where you go to the store and get your
boxed upgrade and install it. Just trying to get ahead of the flurry of
'When is MS going to release this?', where do I download this from MS?',
'When is this going to be available for my [fill in the blank]?'

It's up to the manufacturers, and there is no guarantee of if, or when, a WM
Next will be offered for any particular device.

Also be aware that today you can get an XP machine with a promise of an
upgrade to Vista. Note that buying or having a mobile device that is
"upgradeable" is not a promise that it will be upgraded.

--
Sven
MVP - Mobile Devices
"Spam Catcher" <spamhoneypot@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:Xns989B7EEEA493Eusenethoneypotrogers@127.0.0. 1...
> "Sven" <sejohannsen********.com> wrote in
> news:eV0Z3lNIHHA.420@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl:
>
>> Not sure where you heard this, and can't comment on whether that is
>> true or not, but let me make a few points that need to be remade each
>> time a new mobile OS is released.
>>
>> 1) MS sells this to manufacturers not consumers, so you will never see
>> an upgrade from MS.
>
> How about Pocket PC --> WM 5.0. Several manufacturers sold upgrades.

To expand a bit, history has shown that oem's don't offer os upgrades
existing devices after new devices are released unless there is a
serious os problem that essentially demands a fix to allow it to meet
the advertising claims for that model.

Beverly Howard [MS MVP-Mobile Devices]

"Beverly Howard [Ms-MVP/MobileDev]" <BevNoSpamBevHoward.com> wrote in news:
#ag#t9WIHHA.1248@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl:

> To expand a bit, history has shown that oem's don't offer os upgrades
> existing devices after new devices are released unless there is a
> serious os problem that essentially demands a fix to allow it to meet
> the advertising claims for that model.

Or in Dell's case they even offered a retrograde ;-)

WM5.0 Upgrade back down to PocketPC 2003.

great...just got used to the memory leak in 5 :)

"Brett A. Scudder" <Brett.Scudder@thetechnologysuite.com> wrote in
message news:O6jXFLKIHHA.1188@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Hi all,
>
> I heard that Windows Mobile v.6.0 was released to manufacturers this
> week. Any word as to when it will be available to the general public?
> Anyone testing it?
>
> Please advise.
>
> Thank you,
>
> ~Brett~
>

So no one as heard about this new release, hmm.

I will get more details and share it but I am counting on the source to be
legitimate.

Thanks for all the responses.

~Brett A. Scudder~

"Brett A. Scudder" <Brett.Scudder@thetechnologysuite.com> wrote in message
news:O6jXFLKIHHA.1188@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Hi all,
>
> I heard that Windows Mobile v.6.0 was released to manufacturers this week.
> Any word as to when it will be available to the general public?
> Anyone testing it?
>
> Please advise.
>
> Thank you,
>
> ~Brett~
>