Impression on Window Mobile 6.5 Standard (Non-touchscreen)

I was pretty excited when I heard news that my HTC Snap is available for ROM upgrade from Window Mobile 6.1 to Window Mobile 6.5. After all the hype about Window Mobile 6.5 being comparable with the iPhone OS, that it has great User Interface and is one of the biggest updates in Window Mobile's history, I was really excited to get my phone updated. Of course, I do have my reservations because HTC Snap is a non-touchscreen smartphone, and I doubt there will be much changes to it.

And I was right. It is quite disappointing, since I was at least expecting a change in the User Interface. All in all, Window Mobile 6.5 Standard is quite disappointing from a consumer's point of view. There isn't much change that justify the hype of 6.5. They should really call this upgrade a 6.1b, because at first glance, there is no changes at all. The home screen is still the same, the Start screen with all the applications is still the same, the general interface of the phone remains the same. The only noticeable difference is the font. Somehow, the font is different. It looks more classy and rigid, but it feels smaller than the previous font in 6.1. This is bad news because it is already so hard to look at wording on such a small screen. This font change is universal, which means all the font in the applications will change to the new font.

No fancy user interface for 6.5 Standards. Above is the 6.5 Professional, for touchscreen phones.

Another obvious addition in 6.5 Standard is the new apps, which are 'Marketplace', 'Microsoft My Phone' and 'Search Widget'. 'Microsoft My Phone' is quite useful, as it backups your phone and has some other features too, such as locating your lost phone or sharing photos online. My 'Search Widget' isn't really working, as it acts as a normal Bing search, not a widget search. 'Marketplace' is a ok addition, just that there isn't really much apps in it for now.

Apart from this, I don't think there is any more visible changes. Performance is still the same as 6.1. Very disappointing. I was at least expecting a user interface upgrade. Looks like Microsoft is neglecting the non-touchscreen phones for now.