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MS only makes the OS. What makes the platform great will be the devices the OEM's build and the software thats written to exploit its features e.g.:
DirectX support has now been added. By 2007 most devices will probably have 3D accelerators, and we will be playing 2002 desktop quality games on your WM5 PDA's
WMP10 and playforsure support is built-in. Its up to the OEM's to built a great device platform on top of this. The SDA music is a start, and the 4GB HTC Muse is another sign of whats to come.
.NET CF allows easy code portability, and this will make WM5 PDA's great for the vertical market. We should also see a lot more desktop software (like skype etc) being ported to handheld devices.
Standardization of API's (such as camera and bluetooth) will lead to the development of a lot of innovative software, such as already present on the Symbian platform.
Persistent storage finally allows for WM PDA's that only need as much care and feeding as a laptop, and we know those are sufficiently easy enough that they are wildly popular right now. The development of NAND chips that are cheap and 25 times faster will also eliminate the inherent lag due to using slower flash chips.
WM5 is finished, but the hardware and software development of the platform has hardly started.
There are still supporters of alternate platforms that contend that MS is planning to drop WM and replace it with cut-down Vista. At least this news will give them pause for thought.
Surur
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