For all the talk of the Windows Phone 7 Series, you’d think it was going to save Microsoft in the mobile market. That may be true, but it’s going to be an ugly transition. I’m sure few people missed the fact that Windows Phone 7 means everything that came before is obsolete, least of all the current Windows Mobile users. It’s gone. Kaput. None of the current Windows Mobile software will function in the Windows Phone 7 ecosystem.

A lot of people say it was necessary. I tend to agree. Windows Mobile was butt ugly and ran about as fast as an 80 year-old with an artificial hip. It had no evolutionary cycle, not to stay competitive anyway. But doing away with the old has left Windows Mobile with an 8-10 month lame duck period. Development is going to grind to a halt, likely within the week. That’s going to leave a lot very unhappy users who have been loyal to the brand to this point. I guess Microsoft expects that they’ll be willing to wait until the holidays for a phone with any new features.

The message from Microsoft today was clear: Windows Mobile is dead. We’re looking at an eight month grieving period at the very least.

Now don’t panic. There’s a lot of context to be had here. I am, of course, going to start with the incendiary remarks, though. Steve Ballmer said last week that the Windows 7 launch may not be so different from Vista.

“The test feedback has been good, but the test feedback on Vista was good,” said Ballmer. “I am optimistic, but the proof will be in the pudding.” To be honest, I think the whole world is optimistic. Windows 7 is isn’t making the big leap like Vista did from XP. While plenty of things have been improved, not everything is completely different. The driver situation is pretty much under control (Nvidia has had drivers ready for months), which was one of Vista’s biggest setbacks. All things considered, I’m betting on a smooth launch.

Source: Bloomberg