Well, it's about time!   Windows Mobile has been a frustrating mess for too long now.   I've had PDA's, phones, and even a touch pad device (Viewsonic Viewpad), but I've never been very happy.   When the .NET Compact Framework came out it made things easier.   At least, it was possible to create apps.   The maddening thing was the difficulty of distribution, installation, and runtime experience.   Deploying via CAB files was rather painful.   It's a fairly opaque file format, and it needs to be saved on the device like a document (from the user's point of view).   Saving files leads to wasted space, and users likely won't remember.   If you install from the desktop, there's a weird connection through ActiveSync.

Distributing the CAB files was always a crap shoot.   You could provide a download link, but you'd probably need to provide a custom mobile-enabled site since the user would need to visit from the device for the optimal experience.   App stores were poorly implemented, requiring listing an application like a product, and prices were always too high ($20 for a game to play on my phone?!).   To make it worse, every phone is slightly different: there's the question of stylus vs.. keyboard (non-touch screen), landscape vs.. portrait, and the arrangement of physical buttons.   The worse part though, was the array of versions of Windows Mobile.   You were pretty likely to get a cool app that wouldn't quite work on your device.   Once Windows Mobile phones became popular, you had the problem of apps built for PDA's that never expected a call to come in, thus requiring it to freeze or exit.

Once you were running, the frustration was definitely not over!   Many applications, mostly games, would refuse to yield top-window status (popping up every second), or would simply lock up the entire device due to bugs.   Even though many devices have a touch screen, it's only been relatively recent that the user interface has been modified for finger manipulation (and nothing very comprehensive).   HTC did a great job of creating a new shell, but your own apps would typically only work well with a stylus, and certainly wouldn't work with more than one touch point.   The Microsoft-developed user interface really didn't like the finger at all, which was incredibly annoying.

All of this frustration comes from me as a developer.   I can't even imagine how a typical end-user would feel.   I know that I would never have put up with any of it if I was non-technical.   It's just not worth it.   Apps are hard to find and expensive.   Apps lock up and require device reboots.   Touch is an afterthought and requires a stylus that easily gets lost.

Then the iPhone came!   It still amazes me how well Apple handled it all.   Apps go away when a call comes in.   Minimal buttons keep things simple.   You have de facto consistency due to single manufacturer (yes, this can be a good point).   Best of all, the app store is a thing of beauty, and dictated low prices guarantee that any money lost on the single-unit price is more than made up for in volume.   Has anyone ever made as much money on Windows Mobile software as some iPhone developers make (yes, I know that not all apps bring in so much money).

Well, all of this is changing.   Windows Phone 7 is what we Microsoft apologists have been wanting.   A slick new user interface (borrowed from the tested Zune) that works well, is touch-enabled from the start, and simply dispenses of legacy compatibility.   It was time for a clean break from the past.   Silverlight or XNA only.   .NET only.   This is a wonderful thing!   I've gotten quite adept at Silverlight and can't wait to write some great new apps for these phones.   I think it's going to be the first Microsoft phone operating system that will truly compete in the consumer space, and will likely give the iPhone a run for the money - and deservedly so.   It finally stops pretending to be a €œlite € version of Windows and embraces the small touch screen.   It dictates a standard set of buttons, screen resolution, minimum sensors, and powerful camera.   Developers are going to have fun writing apps using Silverlight, and it will actually be fun to use.   A Microsoft-run app store will finally make it easy to run the software that people want.

It will be interesting to see how it goes with developers needing to choose between iPhone, WebOS, Blackberry (still around, right!), Android, and now Windows Phone 7.   The upcoming iPhone 4 looks promising, but it's no longer the sure bet that it has been for a few years.   Since I'll finally be able to develop for my phone again, it will be harder to justify staying with iPhone after this year...