I have never been a great fan of Windows Mobile on mobile phones. Probably it is because I started  using Windows Mobile on embedded systems a long time ago in my previous jobs and at the time it was not so impressive.

If we look at Windows Mobile phones on the market today we see that it basically run on high end mobile phones, usually smartphones or PDAs. Unfortunately it needs a very good chipset to provide you with the right speed and responsiveness and this basically lead to higher prices on the final product.

The Window Mobile user interface has been the same for ages and it stands still even in new version of the operating system. Apart from minor changes I do not really see anything different from the past. It seems that Microsoft concentrated more on adding functionalities than on building an eye candy system for the end user.

I think that the one millione 3G iPhones should tell something. I know, this is a semplification of the problem but let me go for it.

I would like you to have a look at these two pictures:

The first one is the idle screen you can see on the new HTC Touch Diamond, while the second one is coming from a great application from Vito Technology, iWindowsMobile.

Both these applications are great applications and they basically hide the default Windows Mobile idle screen with their own implementation.

Does the success of these two application should tell Microsoft something?

Well, if one of the major Windows Mobile handset manufacturer and one of the best software houses developing software for Windows Mobile see an opportunity to delivery to the end user a better idle screen and they hit the market with success I definitely think there is something wrong with the Operating System they are using.

That kind of experience should be the standard offered to OEMs.