Windows Mobile 6.5 Launches TomorrowWindows Mobile 6.5 Launches Tomorrow

October 6 is the big day for Windows Mobile. The first major release since Windows Mobile 5 launched in 2005 is ready to roll out. A lot has happened since then, namely the iPhone. In response to that, WinMo 6.5 is a lot more finger friendly than any of its WinMo predecessors. While previous releases have focused on enterprise features, such as management and security, WinMo 6.5 has a definite consumer appeal that the Microsoft platform has lacked in recent years.AT&T has already started selling at least one device, the HTC Pure, on October 4, though I am not sure it is available everywhere yet. Could be just a few stores have let them slip out. All of he major carriers though have WinMo 6.5 devices waiting in the wings for Tuesday's launch.

The data backup service My Phone will be going down on October 5th for system upgrades and be available again on the 6th to coincide with the launch. Presumably, the service will be exiting the beta phase and officially launch. The blog entry doesn't mention what the upgrades are. It may just be back office upgrades to the servers, but there could be some fixes to some annoying bugs I've run across or possibly some feature updates, like the ability to back up data that is already being synchronized with an Exchange Server. One can always hope, eh? The post doesn't mention whether or not those that already have the client on their 6.0/6.1 device will have to install a newer client either. I guess we'll have to wait until the 6th to see for sure.

Last, but not least, is Windows Marketplace for Mobile. This is Microsoft's version of an application store for its mobile platform. Originally this was only going to be for WinMo 6.5 and higher, but a few months ago Microsoft committed to support all WinMo 6.x devices. The bad news is the client for 6.0/6.1 devices won't be available until closer to the end of the year. I guess the lion's share of WinMo users will either have to upgrade to 6.5 or wait a few months before testing the store out.

This is a big launch for Microsoft. As has been stated here and many other places before, WinMo has been showing its age, and not at all gracefully. WinMo 7 is supposed to radically change the world's perception of the platform, but that is probably a year or more away from launch. 6.5 is supposed to be the transition that, if it cannot reverse the trend, will at least sharply curtail the platform's stodgy image when compared to the iPhone or Pre. We'll see how it goes in the next few months.