Microsoft building Windows Mobile 7 from the ground up

It looks like Microsoft’s next major update to the Windows Mobile platform will be a drastic departure from the Windows Mobile we all know and, um, love. Windows Mobile 6.5 does include some touch-optimized features, but it’s far from being the mobile platform that will capture the attention of consumers being offered slick touch-optimized interfaces like the iPhone OS, Android OS, and WebOS. To that end, it looks like Microsoft has realized that they need to take a different tack on how Windows Mobile is designed. A recent job posting from Microsoft indicates that the folks in Redmond are looking to hire a Principle Development Manager to help build a new Windows Mobile from the ground up.

The job posting reads:

Windows Mobile 7 will change the way you view your phone. We aren’t just building a me-too iPhone or RIM competitor; we’re changing the way customers use and experience their device. In the OS Platform team we are responsible for the OS, file systems, security, hardware platforms and drivers, networking & connectivity, location framework and updateability. In other words, we build the foundation upon which the rest of Windows Mobile is built.

Microsoft is apparently still in early development with Windows Mobile 7. So early, in fact, that Microsoft is still looking to design and build the future Windows Mobile 7′s core components – the  stuff upon which Microsoft will “build the foundation upon which the rest of Windows Mobile is built.” It’s safe to assume that Windows Mobile 7 will look and work nothing like the current WinMo platform.

The WinMo design overhaul would explain WinMo7′s delay in getting to market. Microsoft would do well to get Windows Mobile 7 into production as soon as possible. iPhone OS 3.0, WebOS and an updated Android OS are all breathing down Microsoft’s neck.

[Via: WMExperts]