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Microsoft is still basking in the afterglow of last week's Windows 7 launch, but now faces the formidable challenge of fixing the problems in its Windows Mobile division. That won't be easy, though, because Windows Mobile is starting to resemble a disaster of Windows Vista-esque proportions.
As was the case with Vista, repeated Windows Mobile 7 delays are frustrating Microsoft's longtime industry partners. Motorola earlier this year shifted its focus away from Windows Mobile in favor of Google Android devices. Verizon, which has been tied to rumors about Microsoft's struggling Pink smartphone project, recently kicked off a marketing push for Droid, Motorola's Android powered handset, and may also have decided to move on.
Microsoft's channel partners, meanwhile, are seeing dwindling demand for Windows Mobile-related business. "We've stopped working with Windows Mobile because our client base isn't asking for it," said Stuart Crawford, business development manager at Bulletproof Infotech, a solution provider in Red Deer, Alberta. "We've gone to Blackberry internally, and we're seeing a lot of clients asking for iPhone. I'm a strong Microsoft advocate, but there are too many challenges with Windows Mobile."
Now along comes Windows 7, which shows what great things can happen when Microsoft and its partner ecosystem are collaborating and clicking on all cylinders. The pressure is on Microsoft to hit a home run with Windows Mobile 7, but that could conceivably lead to the kind of bloated, complex feature set that helped doom Vista. To further the baseball analogy, Microsoft is so far behind in the mobile game at this point that it needs to at least get a couple runners on base before it starts swinging for the fences.
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