.NET Musings

I upgraded to Windows Mobile 6.5 as soon as it was available through my carrier.  I went with the AT&T Tilt2 for myself and bought my wife the AT&T Pure.  The main difference is that the Tilt2 has a keyboard (which I use a lot), the Pure has a thinner form factor (important feature for my wife).

Don’t get me wrong, I love my new phone.  It is such a vast improvement over WM6.1.  But WM still lags behind all of the competition.  Everyone told me to get an IPhone or wait for the ‘Droid, but I have to admit, I’m a Windows Mobile shill.  And it’s my lifeline when I’m away from my desk (which seems to be more and more these days).

I just found out that neither phone will qualify for WM7 when it gets released.  Not pleasant.  Hopefully this have to buy a new phone with every software upgrade will come to an end (or I’ll finally bail on the platform).  Lamenting this, a friend told me to look into the SPB Mobile Shell (available here).  So, I gave it a try.

To put it simply, it’s an awesome improvement.  My phone now has multiple “home” pages, based on what mode I am currently in.  Each page is customizable with user controlled widgets.  Improved tools for productivity at work and ease of use for play.  Photo Contacts, Launcher, improved weather just to name a few options.

The software works with touch screen and non-touch screen versions.  Give it a whirl.  It will make your mobile computing so much more pleasant.

Happy Coding (and phoning)!