Windows Mobile 6 ...Shiny!

Well after the 'fun' I experienced in the previous blog post, I finally got my upgrade, and so I thought I would just talk about some of the cool new features and functions of WM6 and then about my feelings and experience with the OS.

Well lets start off with some of the cool new and updated features, there are a lot of them but I will just mention those I feel are most important and affect me the most:

• Remote Desktop Client - Although not included in the version I recieved (had to download it) Its such an awesome tool, made someone actually believe I was running Vista on my phone!
• Improved Live Messenger - So so so much better version of the IM program, finally I can hide offline contacts! No more hours of scrolling and its such a nicer interface.
• AJAX and JavaScript support for Pocket Internet Explorer, meaning more sites actually work properly, though shame most sites still don't render properly.
• .Net CF & Compact SQL Server included in the ROM... hopefully faster speeds and less space. Means all .Net CF V2 programs I make will run flawlessly on WM6 devices.

Other updates that don't really affect me or I haven't used yet but still will greatly help some people or will be useful in the future:

• Live Update system for the Operating System... A great idea but will it ever get used, or even for anything but Security Updates. Windows Extra type programs would be awesome!
• Customer Feedback - Will help in time but customers won't see any initial change.
• Bluetooth Stack greatly improved - Now I don't really use Bluetooth but I guess will be great for some!
  

So what has it been like to use WM6? Well I think its a great improvement over Windows Mobile 5 mainly in the performance area, due to lots of enhancements behind the scenes and a change in the memory management WM6 seems a lot more responsive and also seems to have more RAM available most of the time. This is great seeing as by default you don't exit applications.

Most programs have had a makeover to make them look better, the Instant Messenger (Windows Live Messenger) is great though the wrapper program Windows Live seems to me pointless? Though I was very annoyed when the IM program decided to dump my entire IM contacts list into my phones contacts manager... 200+ random email addresses to sort through... fun!

But there are some problems but I guess thats due to O2 or the manafacture HTC, such as Remote Desktop wasn't shipped with the ROM and also a strange bug with the Wireless. Such as when I am connected to a network and click the wireless icon at the top of the screen, it asks me if I want to turn on the wireless... strange?

In conclusion its such a great improvement and I would suggest to anyone to get a smartphone or PDA with it on, and now I'm just waiting for the next version (Photon) to be released!