MOBILE OPERATING SYSTEM Mobile Phones or Cell Phones as they are commonly called, have become an essential part of our daily life. Life is unthinkable without a cell phone today. Everybody, from an auto-rickshaw driver to the CEO of a multinational company, owns a cell phone. The cell phone craze has led to immense competition among the companies manufacturing these devices. Every company wants the better of its competitors and wants to dominate the market. Cell phones have gradually transformed into smartphones . A smartphone or a PDA is a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities, often with PC-like functionality (PC-mobile handset convergence). There is no industry standard definition of a smartphone. For some, a smartphone is a phone that runs complete operating system software providing a standardized interface and platform for application developers. For others, a smartphone is simply a phone with advanced features like e-mail, Internet and e-book reader capabilities, and/or a built-in full keyboard or external USB keyboard and VGA connector. In other words, it is a miniature computer that has phone capability. Growth in demand for these advanced mobile devices has led to the production of a wide range of smartphones from various companies, each unique or incremental in its features such as a processing power, RAM , Storage, Display , Input Methods etc. The software which allows the smartphone to make use of all these functionalities and allows for interoperability among the various components is called a Mobile Operating System. A Mobile Operating System, also known as a Mobile OS, a Mobile platform, or a Handheld operating system, is the operating system that controls a mobile device—similar in principle to an operating system such as Linux, Macintosh, Unix & Microsoft Windows that controls a desktop computer or laptop. However, they are currently somewhat simpler, and deal more with the wireless versions of broadband and local connectivity, mobile multimedia formats, and different input methods. Due to increasing competition and demand for increasingly smarter smartphones, an array of Operating Systems have found their way onto Mobile Devices. Each of these operating may differ from one another in one or more aspects like functionality, Graphical User Interface,

Hardware intercommunication etc. The increasing importance of mobile devices has triggered floppy competition among technology giants. There are about 12 major mobile operating systems currently available in the market. They are:

1. Symbian OS from the Symbian Foundation2. RIM Blackberry OS from Research in Motion3. iPhone OS from Apple Inc

a. Windows Mobile from Microsoft Corporationb. Android from Google Incc. Linux Operating Systemd. Palm webOS from Palm Inc

4. Palm OS/Garnet OS from Access Co5. Bada from Samsung Electronics6. Maemo From Nokia7. LiMo from LiMo Foundation8. MeeGo from Nokia & Intel Inc

All these operating systems provide the end user or the customer with an array of features over and above the essential features of a mobile phone.However, the most common features of all mobile operating systems are as follows:

1. A Graphical User Interface2. Ability to make and receive calls3. Support for SMS, MMS, e-mail and other messaging methods4. Storage of user data and files5. Connectivity like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Infrared, GPRS, WAP, HSPDA,USB,GPS,

FM Radio etc6. Camera & Video Recorder7. Miscellaneous utilities like calendar, calculator, notes, to-do, converter etc8. Synchronisation ability9. Multimedia abilities like image viewing & editing, audio & video playback,

gaming etc

10. Support for various input methods like numeric keypad, QWERTY keyboard, touch screen and gestures

11. Easily customisable as per user requirements12. Live Widgets13. Support for various types of hardware and easy scalability14.Computer Connectivity

Over the years the list of both the list of operating systems and the list of the features that they offer will only increase and soon we may see mobile devices substituting both desktops and laptops as the primary devices for day to day computing. With increasing demand for mobility and the number of users on the mobile grid increasing by the day, that day is not far when mobile devices will grow into an enormous industry and cell phones will perform all functions that today only desktops and laptops can perform. The processing power, RAM, display size, battery capacity and longevity are all increasing with each passing day and so is the software that supports them. Mobile Operating System is the future of Operating Systems which offer functionality like any other desktop or laptop operating system without compromising on portability. It’s just like the entire PC in your pocket.

The major emphasis in this text is being given to the windows mobile operating

System.

A comparision of the market share of the operating systems for the years 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 is tabulated below:

Worldwide Smartphones Sales by Operating System in 2007-08 & 2008-09

Operating System

2009 Units Share(in thousands)

2009 Market Share Percentage

2008 Units Share(in thousands)

2008 Market Share Percentage

Symbian 80,878.6 46.9 72,933.5 52.4Research In Motion(RIM) Blackberry OS

34,346.6 19.9 23,149.0 16.6

iPhone OS 24,889.8 14.4 11,417.5 8.2Microsoft Windows Mobile

15,027.6 8.7 16,498.1 11.8

Linux 8,126.5 4.7 10,622.4 7.6

Android 6,798.4 3.9 640.5 0.5WebOS 1,193.2 0.7 NA NAOther OS’s 1,112.4 0.6 4,026.9 2.9Total 172,373.1 100.0 139,287.9 100.0

2008 Market Share(in %) 2009 Market Share(in %)0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

SymbianRIM Blackberry OSiPhone OSMicrosoft Windows MobileLinuxAndroidWebOSOther OS

Worldwide Market Share of Smartphones in 2007-08 & 2008-09

Introduction:

Windows Mobile is a compact mobile operating system developed by Microsoft, and designed for use in smartphones and mobile devices.

The current version is called 'Windows Mobile 6.5'. It is based on the Windows CE 5.2 kernel, and features a suite of basic applications developed using the Microsoft Windows API. It is designed to be somewhat similar to desktop versions of Windows, feature-wise and aesthetically. Additionally, third-party software development is available for Windows Mobile, and software can be purchased via the Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

Originally appearing as the Pocket PC 2000 operating system, most Windows Mobile devices come with a stylus pen, which is used to enter commands by tapping it on the screen. Microsoft announced a completely new phone platform, Windows Phone 7 Series, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on February 15, 2010. Phones running Windows Mobile 6.x will not be upgradeable to version 7.[3]

Windows Mobile's share of the Smartphone market has fallen year-on-year, decreasing 20% in Q3 2009. It is the 4th most popular smartphone operating system, with a 7.9% share of the worldwide smartphone market (after Symbian, BlackBerry OS and iPhone OS). In the United States, it is the 3rd most popular smartphone operating system for business use (after BlackBerry OS and iPhone OS), with a 24% share among enterprise users.

Operating System:

Windows Mobile is built on the Windows CE kernel. Windows CE is optimized for devices that have minimal storage—a Windows CE kernel may run in under a megabyte of memory. Devices are often configured without disk storage, and may be configured as a “closed” system that does not allow for end-user extension (for instance, it can be burned into ROM). Windows CE conforms to the definition of a real-time operating system, with a deterministic interrupt latency. From version 3 and onward, the system supports 256 priority levels and uses priority inheritance for dealing with priority inversion. The fundamental unit of execution is the thread. This helps to simplify the interface and improve execution time. The first version, known during development under the code name “Pegasus”, featured a Windows-like GUI and a number of Microsoft's popular applications, all trimmed down for smaller storage, memory, and speed of the palmtops of the day.

Since then, Windows CE has evolved into a component-based, embedded, real-time operating system. It is no longer targeted solely at hand-held computers[6]. Many platforms have been based on the core Windows CE operating system, including Microsoft's AutoPC, Pocket PC 2000, Pocket PC 2002, Windows Mobile 2003, Windows Mobile 2003 SE, Windows Mobile 5.0, Windows Mobile 6, Smartphone 2002,

Smartphone 2003, Portable Media Center and many industrial devices and embedded systems. Windows CE even powered select games for the Dreamcast, was the operating system of the Gizmondo handheld, and can partially run on modified Xbox game consoles.

A distinctive feature of Windows CE compared to other Microsoft operating systems is that large parts of it are offered in source code form. First, source code was offered to several vendors, so they could adjust it to their hardware. Then products like Platform Builder (an integrated environment for Windows CE OS image creation and integration, or customized operating system designs based on CE) offered several components in source code form to the general public. However, a number of core components that do not need adaptation to specific hardware environments (other than the CPU family) are still distributed in binary only form.

Windows Mobile is best described as a subset of platforms based on a Windows CE underpinning. Currently, Pocket PC (now called Windows Mobile Classic), SmartPhone (Windows Mobile Standard), and PocketPC Phone Edition (Windows Mobile Professional) are the three main platforms under the Windows Mobile umbrella. Each platform utilizes different components of Windows CE, as well as supplemental features and applications suited for their respective devices.

Pocket PC and Windows Mobile is a Microsoft-defined custom platform for general PDA use, and consists of a Microsoft-defined set of minimum profiles (Professional Edition, Premium Edition) of software and hardware that is supported. The rules for manufacturing a Pocket PC device are stricter than those for producing a custom Windows CE-based platform. The defining characteristics of the Pocket PC are the digitizer as the primary human interface device and its extremely portable size.

The SmartPhone platform is a feature rich OS and interface for cellular phone handsets. SmartPhone offers productivity features to business users, such as email, as well as multimedia capabilities for consumers. The SmartPhone interface relies heavily on joystick navigation and

PhonePad input. Devices running SmartPhone do not include a touchscreen interface. SmartPhone devices generally resemble other cellular handset form factors, whereas most Phone Edition devices use a PDA form factor with a larger display.

Versions of Windows CE:

1.0 Released in 16 November 1996 [MSCE1]. Codename "Alder".

Devices named "handheld PC" (HPC).

2.0 Released in September 1997 [MSCE2]. Codename "Birch".

Devices named "Palm-sized PC". Real-time deterministic task scheduling. Architectures: ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, StrongARM, SuperH and x86. 32-bit color screens. SSL 2.0 and SSL 3.0.

3.0 Released in June 2000 [MSCE3].] Codename "Cedar".

Major recode that made CE hard real time down to the microsecond level. Base for the Pocket PC 2000, Pocket PC 2002 and Smartphone 2002. Priority levels was increased from 8 to 256. Object store was increased from 65 536 to 4,19 million allowed objects. Restricted access to critical APIs or restricting write access to parts of the registry.

4.x Released in January 2002 [MSCE4]. Codename "Talisker/Jameson/McKendric".

Driver structure changed greatly, new features added.

Base for "Pocket PC 2003". Bluetooth support. TLS (SSL 3.1), IPsec L2TP VPN, or Kerberos.

5.x Released in August 2004. Adds lots of features. Codename "Macallan".

Automatic report of bugs to the manufacturer. Direct3D Mobile, a COM-based version of Windows XP's DirectX multimedia API. DirectDraw for 2D graphics and DirectShow for camera and video digitisation support. Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) support.

6.0 Released in September 2006. Codename "Yamazaki".

Process address space is increased from 32 MB to 1 GB. Number of processes has been increased from 32 to 32 768. User mode and kernel mode device drivers are possible. 512MB physically managed memory Device.exe, filesys.exe, GWES.exe has been moved to Kernel mode. SetKMode and set process permissions not possible. System call performance improved.

Common Features:

Windows Mobile for Pocket PC carries these standard features in most of its versions:

Today Screen shows the current date, owner information, upcoming appointments, e-mail messages, and tasks. (Is now Home screen in later WM6.5 builds)

The taskbar shows the current time and the volume. Office Mobile a suite of Mobile versions of Microsoft Office

applications Outlook Mobile comes with Windows Mobile. Internet Explorer Mobile is an Internet browser developed by

Microsoft for Pocket PC and Handheld PC that comes loaded by default with Windows Mobile and Windows CE for Handheld PC.

Windows Media Player for Windows Mobile. Client for PPTP VPNs. Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) which in mobile phones allows

attached computers to share internet connections via USB and Bluetooth.

Coherent file system similar to that of Windows 9x/Windows NT and support for many of the same file types.

Ability to multitask.

There are three versions of Windows Mobile for various hardware devices:

Windows Mobile Professional runs on 'Windows Phones' (smartphones) with touchscreens

Windows Mobile Standard runs on 'Windows Phones' with regular screens

Windows Mobile Classic which runs on 'Windows Mobile Classic devices' (Pocket PCs).

Windows Mobile Classic devices (Pocket PC)

A 'Windows Mobile Classic device' is a Windows Mobile personal digital assistant (PDA) that does not have telephone functionality. It was formerly known as the Pocket PC. It was the original intended platform for the Windows Mobile operating system. These devices consisted of both standalone Pocket PC devices without mobile phone capabilities, and those that included mobile phone capabilities. The most current name of Windows Mobile intended for use on Pocket PCs is officially "Windows Mobile 6 Professional" for devices with mobile phone capabilities and "Windows Mobile 6 Classic" for devices without mobile phone capabilities.

Windows Phone

The 'Windows Mobile' (Microsoft's term for its range of smartphones) became the next hardware platform after the Pocket PC to run Windows Mobile, and debuted with the release of Pocket PC 2002. Although in the broad sense of the term "Smartphone", both Pocket PC phones and Microsoft branded Smartphones each fit into this category, it should be noted that Microsoft's use of the term "Smartphone" includes only more specific hardware devices that differ from Pocket PC phones. Such Smartphones were originally designed without touchscreens, intended to be operated more efficiently with only one hand, and typically had lower display resolution than Pocket PCs. Microsoft's focus for the Smartphone platform was to create a device that functioned well as a phone and data device in a more integrated manner.

Windows Mobile over the years:

Pocket PC 2000

Pocket PC 2000 Today Screen.

Pocket PC 2000, originally codenamed "Rapier", was released on April 19, 2000, and was based on Windows CE 3.0. It was the debut of what was later dubbed the Windows Mobile operating system, and meant to be a successor to the operating system aboard Palm-Size PCs. Backwards compatibility was retained with such Palm-Size PC applications. Pocket PC 2000 was intended mainly for Pocket PC devices, however several Palm-Size PC devices had the ability to be updated as well. In addition, several Pocket PC 2000 phones were released, however Microsoft's "Smartphone" hardware platform was not yet created. The only resolution supported by this release was 240 x 320 (QVGA). Removable storage card formats that were supported were CompactFlash and MultiMediaCard. At this time Pocket PC devices had not been standardized with a specific CPU architecture. As a result, Pocket PC 2000 was released on multiple CPU architectures; SH-3, MIPS, and ARM.

Aesthetically, the original Pocket PC operating system was similar to Windows 98, Windows Me, and Windows 2000 operating systems.

Features/built-in applications for Pocket PC 2000 included the following:

Pocket Office

o Pocket Wordo Pocket Excelo Pocket Outlook

Pocket Internet Explorer Windows Media Player Microsoft Reader Microsoft Money Notes, a note taking application Character recognition support Infrared (IR) File beaming capability

Pocket PC 2002

Pocket PC 2002 Today Screen.

Pocket PC 2002, originally codenamed "Merlin", was released in October 2001. Like Pocket PC 2000, it was powered by Windows CE 3.0. Although targeted mainly for 240 × 320 (QVGA) Pocket PC devices, Pocket PC 2002 was also used for Pocket PC phones, and for the first time, Smartphones. These Pocket PC 2002 Smartphones were mainly GSM devices. With future releases, the Pocket PC and Smartphone lines would increasingly collide as the licensing terms were relaxed allowing OEMs to take advantage of more innovative, individual design ideas. Aesthetically, Pocket PC 2002 was meant to be similar in design to the then newly released Windows XP.

New features/built-in applications included the following:

Enhanced UI with theme support Spell checker and Word count tool in Pocket Word Savable downloads and WAP in Pocket Internet Explorer Virtual Private Networking support Synchronization of folders MSN Messenger Terminal Services Windows Media Player 8 with streaming capability Microsoft Reader 2 Palm OS support for file beaming Improved Pocket Outlook Digital rights management (DRM) support in Microsoft Reader

Windows Mobile 2003

Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Today Screen

Windows Mobile 2003, originally codenamed "Ozone", was released on June 23, 2003, and was the first release under the Windows Mobile banner. It came in four editions: "Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Premium Edition", "Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Professional Edition", "Windows Mobile 2003 for Smartphone" and "Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Phone Edition". The last was designed especially for Pocket PCs which include phone functionalities. The Professional Edition was used in Pocket PC budget models. It lacked a number of features that were in the Premium Edition, such as a client for

L2TP/IPsec VPNs. Windows Mobile 2003 was powered by Windows CE 4.20.

New features/built-in applications included the following:

Support for add-on keyboards Enhanced communications interface with Bluetooth device

management Bluetooth file beaming support Bluetooth headset support Pictures application with viewing, cropping, e-mail, and beaming

support Jawbreaker game Enhanced Pocket Outlook with vCard and vCal support Improved Pocket Internet Explorer Windows Media Player 9.0 with streaming optimization SMS reply options for Phone Edition MIDI file support as ringtones in Phone Edition

Windows Mobile 2003 SE

Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, also known as "Windows Mobile 2003 SE", was released on March 24, 2004 and first offered on the Dell Axim x30. This was the last version which allowed users to backup and restore an entire device through ActiveSync.

New features/built-in applications included the following:

Portrait and Landscape switching for Pocket PCs Single-Column layout in Pocket Internet Explorer VGA (640×480), 176х220, 240x240, 480x480 Screen resolution Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) support

Windows Mobile 5

Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC Today Screen

Windows Mobile 5.0, originally codenamed "Magneto", was released at Microsoft's Mobile and Embedded Developers Conference 2005 in Las Vegas, May 9–May 12, 2005. Microsoft plans to offer mainstream support for Windows Mobile 5 through October 12, 2010, and extended support through October 13, 2015. It was first offered on the Dell Axim x51. It used the .NET Compact Framework 1.0 SP3 — an environment for programs based on .NET.

Windows Mobile 5.0 included Microsoft Exchange Server "push" functionality improvements that worked with Exchange 2003 SP2. The "push" functionality also required vendor/device supportWith AKU2 software upgrades all WM 5.0 devices supported DirectPush.

WM 5.0 featured increased battery life due to Persistent storage capability. Previously up to 50% (enough for 72 hours of storage) of battery power was reserved just to maintain data in volatile RAM. This continued the trend of Windows-based devices moving from using RAM as their primary storage medium to the use of a combination of RAM and flash memory (in use, there's no distinction between the two apparent to the user). Programs and frequently accessed data run in RAM, while most storage is in the flash memory. The OS seamlessly moves data between the two as

needed. Everything is backed up in the flash memory, so unlike previous devices, WM5 devices do not lose any data if power is lost.

With Windows Mobile 5.0, OS updates were released as Adaptation kit upgrades. AKU 3.5 is the most recent release for WM 5.0.

Further new features and built-in applications included:

New version of Office called "Office Mobile" o PowerPoint Mobileo Graphing capability in Excel Mobileo Tables and graphics insertion in Word Mobile

Windows Media Player 10 Mobile Photo Caller ID DirectShow support Picture and Video package, which converged the management of

videos and pictures Enhanced Bluetooth support Global Positioning System (GPS) management interface Default QWERTY keyboard-support Error reporting facility similar to that present in desktop and server

Windows systems ActiveSync 4.2 with 15% increased synchronization speed

Windows Mobile 6

Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard Today Screen

Windows Mobile 6, formerly codenamed "Crossbow", was released on February 12, 2007 at the 3GSM World Congress 2007. It comes in three different versions: "Windows Mobile 6 Standard" for Smartphones (phones without touchscreens), "Windows Mobile 6 Professional" for Pocket PCs with phone functionality, and "Windows Mobile 6 Classic" for Pocket PCs without cellular radios.

Windows Mobile 6 is powered by Windows CE 5.0 (version 5.2) and is strongly linked to Windows Live and Exchange 2007 products. Windows Mobile 6 Standard was first offered on the Orange's SPV E650,] while Windows Mobile 6 Professional was first offered on the O2's Xda Terra. Aesthetically, Windows Mobile 6 was meant to be similar in design to the then newly released Windows Vista. Functionally, it works much like Windows Mobile 5, but with much better stability.

New features/built-in applications include the following:

320x320 and 800x480 (WVGA) screen resolution support Office Mobile support for Smartphones Operating System Live Update Improved Remote Desktop access (Available for only certain

Pocket PCs)

VoIP (Internet calling) support with AEC (Acoustic Echo Cancelling) and MSRT Audio Codec

Windows Live for Windows Mobile Customer Feedback option Enhanced Microsoft Bluetooth Stack Storage Card Encryption (encryption keys are lost if device is cold-

booted). Smartfilter for searching within programs Improved Internet Sharing HTML email support in Outlook Mobile Search ability for contacts in an Exchange Server Address Book AJAX, JavaScript, and XMLDOM support on Internet Explorer

Mobile Out of Office Replies with Microsoft Exchange 2007 Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) support for select operators Server Search on Microsoft Exchange 2007 .NET Compact Framework v2 SP2 Preinstalled in ROM Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition Preinstalled in ROM OneNote Mobile as a companion to Microsoft Office OneNote Office Mobile 6.1 announced[30] with support for Office 2007

document formats (pptx, docx, xlsx).

Windows Mobile 6.1

Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Today Screen

Windows Mobile 6.1 was announced April 1, 2008. It is a minor upgrade to the existing Windows Mobile 6 platform which brings with it various performance enhancements, a redesigned Home screen featuring horizontal tiles that expand on clicking to display more information, although this new home screen is featured only on Windows Mobile Standard edition. This feature was inexplicably left out of the Professional edition. Several other changes such as threaded SMS, full page zooming in Internet Explorer and 'Domain Enroll' have also been added, along with a "mobile" version of the Microsoft OneNote program and an interactive "Getting Started" wizard. Domain Enroll is functionality to connect the device to System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008, a product to manage mobile devices. There are other differences as well. The most prominent difference for the user is that the Standard version (like earlier versions) still creates automatic links for telephone numbers in Tasks and Appointments, which allows for the easier click and dial of stored telephone numbers within these Outlook items. For some reason, the Professional version has eliminated this important feature. Windows Mobile 6.1 also featured improved bandwidth efficiency in its push-email protocol "Activesync" of "up to 40%", this reduced data usage was the cause of considerably improved battery life in many devices.

Aside from the visual and feature distinctions, the underlying CE versions can be used to differentiate WM6.0 from WM 6.1. The version of Windows CE in WM 6.0 is 5.2.*, with the final number being a 4 digit build ID (e.g. 5.2.1622 on HTC Wing). In WM 6.1, the CE version is 5.2.* with a 5 digit build number (e.g. 5.2.19216 on Palm Treo 800w).

Windows Mobile 6.5

Windows Mobile 6.5 Today Screen

Windows Mobile 6.5 was never part of Microsoft's mobile phone roadmap, and has been described by its chief executive, Steve Ballmer, as an unwanted stopgap until the multi-touch enabled Windows Mobile 7 arrives in 2010. Version 6.5 is an upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.1 that was released to manufacturers on May 11, 2009, and the first devices running the operating system debuted in late October '09. This incremental update includes some significant new added features, such as a revamped GUI, though is generally regarded as a minor upgrade. It also includes the new Internet Explorer Mobile 6 browser, which has an improved interface over previous versions. Microsoft unveiled this version at the 2009 Mobile World Congress in February, and several devices now run this Windows Mobile version, those devices running Windows Mobile 6.5 onwards are marketed as "Windows phones". Along with Windows Mobile 6.5, Microsoft announced several Cloud computing services codenamed "SkyBox","SkyLine","SkyMarket". "SkyBox" has been confirmed as My Phone, while "SkyMarket" has been confirmed as Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Some aspects of the user interface have been redesigned with the home screen resembling that of Microsoft's Zune player and the sliding panel interface of Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard. This version was designed mainly for easier finger usage. Whilst this version of Windows Mobile does not

natively support capacitive screens, mobile manufacturers have been able to successfully implement it on their devices

Several phones currently running Windows Mobile 6.1 are updatable to Windows Mobile 6.5.

Windows Mobile 6.5.1

Builds of Windows Mobile 6.5.1 have already been leaked and unofficially ported to several Windows Mobile phones. Windows Mobile 6.5.1 will bring a more finger-friendly user interface, including icon based soft buttons (rather than text based), an updated contacts app, Microsoft (rather than the mobile carrier) support for A-GPS, improved threaded text messaging, and performance improvements.

Windows Mobile 6.5.3

Windows Mobile 6.5.3 Today Screen

On February 2, 2010, the Sony Ericsson Aspen with Windows Mobile 6.5.3 was officially announced, making it the first Windows Phone 6.5.3 smartphone. Since November 2009, several 6.5.3 builds had leaked (28nnn) and had been unofficially ported to some Windows Mobile phones.

Windows Mobile 6.5.3 brings a more finger-friendly user interface with several new ease of use features such as support for multitouch,

complete touch control i.e. no need for a stylus, and drag and drop start menu icons. Touchable tiles now replace soft keys." Internet Explorer Mobile 6 has also received some major updates including decreased page load time, improved memory management and gesture smoothing.

Windows Mobile 6.5.5

Several builds of Windows Mobile 6.5.5 have leaked since January 2010 and have been unofficially ported to some Windows Mobile phones. It has few new features such as Office Mobile 2010 and threaded emails view.

Windows Phone 7 Series

The Start screen of Windows Phone 7 Series

Windows Phone 7 Series, originally codenamed "Photon", is an upcoming version of the Windows Phone operating system developed by Microsoft. It is planned for release by "holiday" 2010.

Windows Phone 7 Series was initially intended to be released during 2009, but several delays prompted Microsoft to develop Windows Mobile 6.5 as an interim release. During the Mobile World Congress

2010 in Barcelona, Microsoft revealed details of Windows Phone 7 Series, which features a new operating system and integration with Xbox Live and Zune services.

It is rumored that phones running Windows Mobile 6.x will not be upgradeable to 7 Series.

Microsoft Pink

Project Pink evolved from Microsoft's purchase of Danger Hiptop in 2008. Details are scarce, but a ZDNet source said that Project Pink will bring an entirely new software stack and services. Some reports say that the new mobile phone platform will be based around the Zune media device.

Project Pink is being developed inside Microsoft's Premium Mobile Experiences (PMX) division. Microsoft brought in employees from Danger Inc., with the intention of infusing industry talent and mobile experience into the project. The goal is said to be to create a mobile platform far superior to that of the Danger Sidekick. Reports say that Project Pink was originally going to be based on Windows Phone 7 Series, however, due to delays with Windows Phone 7 Series, it will now be built directly upon Windows CE. It will feature the Zune marketplace, and use XNA as a game platform.

The new platform is aimed at producing phones designed for users who are heavily into social networking and instant messaging. The technology acquired from Danger Hiptop has been described as a family of mobile devices running a bespoke operating system as part of a client-server system that is then licenced to mobile carriers.

Microsoft is said to be working on two new handsets based on Project Pink, codenamed Turtle and Pure, possibly to debut at the Consumer

Electronics Show. The Microsoft designed phones will be manufactured by Sharp and co-branded.

Developing Software for Windows Mobile:

Third-party software development is available for the Windows Phone operating system. There are several options for developers to use when deploying a mobile application. This includes writing native code with Visual C++, writing Managed code that works with the .NET Compact Framework, or Server-side code that can be deployed using Internet Explorer Mobile or a mobile client on the user's device. The .NET Compact Framework is actually a subset of the .NET Framework and hence shares many components with software development on desktop clients, application servers, and web servers which have the .NET Framework installed, thus integrating networked computing space (a.k.a. "The Cloud").Microsoft typically releases Windows Phone Software development kits (SDKs) that work in conjunction with their Visual Studio development environment. These SDKs include emulator images for developers to test and debug their applications while writing them. Microsoft also distributes Visual Studio 2008 / 2005 Professional Editions, and server / database counterparts to students as downloads free of charge via its DreamSpark program.Developer communities have used the SDK to port later versions of Windows Phone OS to older devices and making the OS images available for free, thus providing the devices with the current feature set. Microsoft has tolerated this procedure for some time but decided in February 2007 to ask developers to take their OS images off the net, which in turn raised discussions. At the same time Microsoft offered upgrades to Windows Mobile 6 versions to manufacturers for free.[Lazarus, Lexico, NS Basic and Basic4ppc provide an alternative development environment, allow for development on the desktop, which is then downloaded to the device. NS Basic as well as development on the actual device itself.Some 3rd party development tools such as Basic4ppc use the .NET Compact Framework. Basic4ppc applications can be developed on both the desktop and on the device itself. This is possible only for the couple last

years. Prior to the release of Windows Mobile 2003, third-party software was developed using Microsoft's eMbedded Visual Tools, eMbedded Visual Basic (eVB) and eMbedded Visual C (eVC). eVB programs can usually be converted fairly easily to NS Basic/CE. or to Basic4ppc.There is also a Python port named PythonCE and a GCC port, CeGCC.Satellite Forms is a RAD tool that can produce Windows Phone compatible applications that use an RDK runtime engine. Extension libraries extend the functionality for various hardware.On 5 July 2009, Microsoft opened a third-party application distribution service called Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

Advantages of Windows Mobile:

Built on the experience of Microsoft Windows, Microsofts Desktop Operating Systems

Variety of Features Available in various form factors & input methods Can be ported to several devices Skinnable and user customisable Availability of third party apps in abundance Stability & Security Very good syncing abilities Constantly developed and maintained

Disadvantages of Windows Mobile:

Lack of mutlitouch and gesture support Not finger friendly and user experience therefore take a hit Need for stylus to operate the touchscreen The kernel of Windows Mobile has not been upgraded in over 6

years, so 6.xx uses the same kernel as 5.xx which was released way back in 2004, so common features have not been upgraded in a long time.

The OS cannot be directly upgraded by the users and customers depend on telephone operators for updates which leads to delays

Impossible to use on a capacitative touch screen

Is a laggard when compared to other operating systems OS is not optimized for modern processors and hardware The UI feels dated and underrated

Conclusion:

Windows Mobile comes from the stable of Microsoft, the worlds biggest manufacturer of Desktop Operating Systems. Until now, Windows Mobile has been a big mistake for Microsoft but with Windows Mobile 7 Series, Microsoft is once again hoping to capture the huge smartphone market which is better captures by rival competitors like Symbian, Blackberry & Apple. Nonetheless, it is a very capable OS and if Microsft tunes the strings right, Windows Mobile may very well emerge as the frontrunner in all Mobile Platforms.