Windows Mobile 6.1 had been getting a bit long in the tooth. Not much had changed from the user's view since 2005 when WinMo 5 launched. WinMo 7 is what people are waiting for, but in the mean time, Microsoft released an update to the platform that had the most radical changes since WinMo 5 was released without the desktop style menu system. Microsoft appeared to give up on 6.5 even before it launched.Back in September, Steve Ballmer was admitting that Microsoft really "screwed up" with WinMo 7 and said he wished it had already been launched. that isn't exactly a glowing recommendation for WinMo 6.5 which was due to launch just days later in early October.

Why did Microsoft give up on 6.5 so quickly before the first device had even sold? Rob Enderle has written an article on how sometimes big companies just don't get marketing. He points out that when the iPhone shipped, it was bigger than most other smartphones, far more expensive and lacked 3G. He points out the iPhone was almost obsolete the day it shipped in 2007.

WinMo 6.5 has a number of great devices running it, like the HTC HD2, which runs the 1GHz Snapdragon processor. There are other innovations being rolled out by device makers and Consumer Reports ranked WinMo 6.5 just barely below the iPhone and above the rest of the competition.

WinMo 6.5 never had a chance when the company responsible for it basically left it for dead as it continues to pump WinMo 7. Why would Microsoft shoot itself in the foot like that? You'd think a company that recognizes the quickest way to kill interest in a current version is to start talking up the next version would know better. This is especially true with phones as more often than not, you can't by an upgrade, but instead have to buy a new phone. Who wants the current old and busted phone when the new hotness is just around the corner?