Microsoft says no "6 on 6" upgrade for current devices
Answering questions posted by users on Microsoft's official Windows Mobile Team Blog, an employee has laid down a nasty reality check that's going to piss off a user base that's already salty from years of being underserved: Internet Explorer Mobile 6 will not be made available as an upgrade or download for existing handsets. The alleged reasoning is that "the rich media experiences that IE Mobile 6 enables require more powerful, advanced devices," but let's get real here -- competitors like Opera and Skyfire already manage to match what Microsoft's new browser is trying to do and they work like champs on the latest round of hardware. Internet Explorer requiring more horsepower than the Touch Pro or the X1 has to offer? Please, Microsoft -- just give it to us straight, this was a business decision through and through.[Via Pocket PC Thoughts]
Filed under: Software, Windows Mobile
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Riley Freeman @ Nov 19th 2008 5:31PM
as a guy that will only use windows mobile. with the way customers are going to other platforms. i think this is a major screwup on microsofts part.
emoney @ Nov 19th 2008 5:52PM
Agreed.....the future of mobile platforms is over the air updates- not only for firmware but for software app add-ons as well. Unfortunately as is par for the course Microsoft is already playing catch up with Google and Apple. Must be something to do with how they license the mobile OS with the carriers. Grow some balls and tell the carriers if they want Windows Mobile OS phones they need to play by new rules.
xultar @ Nov 19th 2008 5:47PM
OK. I'm done with Windows Mobile. I've been with that platform since Windows CE.... I'm moving on to Apple or Blackberry.
BYE BEEOTCHES!
ubn2 @ Nov 19th 2008 5:58PM
ewww 6on6 thats a hell of a night!
Jacksplat @ Nov 19th 2008 6:00PM
Now I just sit back and wait for XDA-DEV to crank out WM6.5 with IE6 for my Touch....
fyreblazer @ Nov 20th 2008 12:12PM
I've been running this IE6 on my Tilt since September. It all depends on which Custom ROM you run. MSFT claiming it won't run on older devices is just a flat out lie.
Peter F @ Nov 20th 2008 4:16PM
Exactly. Us tilt users had WM6.1 on our phones before ATT decided to make a ROM.
Fernando @ Nov 19th 2008 6:12PM
Boo!
Rollins @ Nov 19th 2008 6:12PM
What a perfect way to stop people from buying current WM6 devices!
jason51873 @ Nov 19th 2008 6:28PM
My guess its that WM is getting a chunky as regular windows, and is requiring a much more power computer/phone then is needed to do simple tasks.
Just like windows Vista requires you to upgrade your hardware to do all the same tasks that you can do on a Linux machine with 1/2 the hardware.
Plain and simple - Windows and now WM need a complete redo. Start from scratch. Its either that or get passed up by OSX and Linux eventually.
Virtuous @ Nov 19th 2008 6:39PM
Glad I dumped WM some time ago.
RCC2k8 @ Nov 19th 2008 6:54PM
What's the big deal? With Opera Mobile, Skyfire and Iris out there, who needs Internet Explorer? The longer Microsoft takes to give users an upgraded browser, the more market share they'll loose to other browsers. And who knows if FireFox Mobile has the same success on mobile devices as they did on the desktop. Microsoft should either post an update now or scrap mobile IE forever as it is not irreplaceable.
jason51873 @ Nov 25th 2008 5:33PM
For real!
Ed Hardy @ Nov 19th 2008 7:18PM
I talk to a Microsoft spokesperson about this, and was told that part of developing Internet Explorer Mobile 6 (IEM6) involved making changes to various parts of the OS (APIs). It's still Windows Mobile 6.1, but a slightly modified version of it. So installing IEM6 requires replacing portions of the OS.
The Microsoft spokesperson didn't say anything about this, but I'm speculating that the real reason we won't see this released as a update is that none of the carriers wanted to do the trouble and expense of integrating this new version of WM into their current devices and then testing it, when the only benefit is a better web browser.
If this was the reason, it's a serios mistake. The Web browser has become the most significant single application on consumer-oriented smartphones, and the current version of IE Mobile is years behind the competition.
Ed Hardy
Editor
http://www.brighthand.com
Christian Walters @ Nov 19th 2008 7:32PM
Shoot, give it 2 days and BAM! The people at either XDA or MoDaCo will have this available for every device made within the last 5 years.....hell, if WM6.1 can run on a first gen Wallaby, then a browser sure as hell can.
cesium @ Nov 19th 2008 8:24PM
lol, IE6 is already integrated into various ROMs for the Touch Diamond on ppcgeeks (I'm sure they're on xda-dev too, but ppcgeeks has more support for the sprint diamond, so I stay there)
Sizer @ Nov 19th 2008 10:31PM
I've got Opera Mini on my Touch Pro; I don't even give a damn about MS's crappy browser. So go ahead and hold it back, you dickheads.
Zane @ Nov 19th 2008 11:06PM
Opera Mini? That crappy Java browser?? Get Opera Mobile 9.5 man.. there's a world of difference between the two.
Chris R @ Nov 19th 2008 10:58PM
Does this mean that existing devices won't get a WM6.5 upgrade either? That would be most unfortunate.
MikeWard1701 @ Nov 20th 2008 7:12AM
Nah Microsoft is stupid, but not batshit insane.
WM6.5 will be an upgrade/interim OS until WM7 finally gets finished. Very few devices will be released with 6.5 in ROM I think, so will mainly cater for WM6/6.1 users.
By the time device manufacturers and carriers have got their hands on WM6.5 and tested it, WM7 will be upon us.
Well, if all goes according to plan lol.
Aaron @ Nov 19th 2008 11:18PM
Clearly Microsoft doesn't care at all about it's customers. Android here I come.
Quikboy @ Dec 19th 2008 5:08PM
They do care. IE6 needs much better hardware to run pretty well, and unfortunately, as Microsoft and anyone knows, a lot of the hardware for WinMo phones don't pack in as much power and performance as people would like. So if some average Joe download IE6 and sees how awful the phone's performance suffers after that, then it wouldn't bode well for Microsoft, the user, or anyone.
Microsoft pushing for better hardware quality may raise the price a bit, but at least you're guaranteed a better phone. That's a major reason why people don't stick with WinMo.
SPOKE @ Nov 19th 2008 11:18PM
No, maybe MS is right, you need a dual core atom CPU in an HTC touch PRO HD to even run the fucking thing.
DssTrainer @ Nov 19th 2008 11:52PM
Amen! I think if winmo phones started using atom's they might finally be able to run WinMo efficiently.
But who cares if steve-o says no upgrades. That is why we have xda-developers to collaborate and bring us the goods.
foaf @ Nov 20th 2008 4:20AM
What a joke. Do they realise cells come on 12-18 month contracts, and current buyers of WinMo will be showing their friends their current pathetic IEMobile experience in 18 months time, while Android and iPhone users will be laughing in their faces with their updated May 2010 browsers. It does nothing for the WinMo Lifecycle, and only aids its permanent decline.
Erwos @ Nov 20th 2008 5:42AM
Opera Mini and Skyfire both route all of your web traffic through external servers, where the pages get rewritten. Accusing IEM6 of not being competitive with that when it's living locally on the device is a little insane.
bocardo @ Nov 20th 2008 6:18PM
you do know that, before opera mini, there was opera mobile. and that the latest versions of it are, as you said "living locally" on the device.
opera mobile is much better that opera mini, it even supports activex plugins like flash if available (though considering they are written for ie...)
so yes, opera is working now on older devices
from the opera site (not counting the 9.5 beta which is like the diamond browser):
Opera Mobile for Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile 2003 Pocket PC, version 8.65
Windows Mobile 2003 Smartphone, version 8.65
Windows Mobile 5/6 PPC, Professional, Classic, version 8.65
Windows Mobile 5/6 Smartphone, Standard, version 8.65
Windows Mobile 2003 Pocket PC, version 8.60u2
Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC, version 8.60u2
Opera Mobile for S60
S60 3.x, version 8.65
S60 2.x, version 8.65
MikeWard1701 @ Nov 20th 2008 7:40AM
The problem with Microsoft and WM is its always been a case of "toot little, too late".
WM is always playing catchup, occasionally succeeding, and very rarely inroducing something new.
PIE is a perfect example of this. They've had the opportunity to update this several times, but have failed. Now we have Opera, Skyfire, and soon Firefox. MS have lost all hope of winning back the experienced WM users who have discovered these much needed replacements to PIE.
Same goes for Windows Media Player, limited functionality to start with, slow to non-existant updates. Again, programs like Core player step in to fill the holes MS doesn't.
Another problem with WM is that carriers tweak it so much that you can't guarantee a uniform experience or that all versions, of say WM6.1, have the same standard apps. Windows update was intro'd in WM6 but I have not yet, once, got it to work and discover any updates, most probably because they're not there.
MS are always going to have some kind of market share in the mobile world, WM has been around so long that its built up a sizeable and dedicated consumer base. At the moment, it cant be beat for the sheer number of apps, games, and developers working on the platform.
But unless MS pull its finger out and makes major changes in WM, the frequency and way we update it, and the way carriers distribute it. They'll soon see that share soley made of hardcore WM fans who can't/won't switch to an alternative. New users will be few and far between as word of live update from apple and android spreads, they'll hop on their respective bandwagons, knowing that any issues they may have, are more likely to get fixed, sooner rather than later.
Tony @ Nov 23rd 2008 3:22AM
This is IE 6 mobile .cab for WM ripped from the released emulator images of Windows Mobile 6.5. Works on my Sprint Touch pro
http://rapidshare.com/files/149008275/FIXED_MS_IE_8.cab.html
Tony @ Nov 23rd 2008 4:18AM
im sorry i meant WM 6.1.4 Professional