We've all seen pictures and even video of Microsoft's new Windows Mobile 6.5 platform that shows big fat menus that even the pudgiest of fingers could manipulate. I was worried though that this feature might only be skin deep, but it seems MS has made a real effort to make the feature available throughout the device.For anyone that has used Windows in the last fifteen years has seen some really old UI features carried forward into new operating systems. When NT 4.0 adopted the Windows 95 UI, it didn't take too much digging in the Control Panel to find UI features carried forward from Windows NT 3.x. Even today, when I go to add an MS Access database as an ODBC source in Windows Vista, I get a Windows 3.x dialog box to navigate my way to the right file.

Engadget has posted an image of a settings dialog that is familiar to Windows Mobile users. I don't think it has materially changed since Pocket PC 2000 was launched. For WinMo 6.5 though, gone are the tabs that only a stylus could love. They've been replace by finger swipeable screens.

I'm sure not every system configuration screen is like this - it would be a pleasant surprise if the WinMo team had the time to fix all of them. It is nice to see they've gone to the effort to fix more than just the home page and start menu areas. If nothing else, it means more time can be spent on WinMo 7 in areas where it really counts, like multi-touch, rather than Control Panel screen redesigns.