Microsoft Mobile: From Pocket PC to Windows Phone 8

Microsoft Mobile UI

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   1. Pocket PC

   
   

   
   

   The granddaddy of Microsoft’s mobile UI, the Pocket PC first appeared in 2000. It was powered by the Windows CE OS. In the early days, there were two different versions of the device — one with a mobile phone and one without.

   
   

   Photo courtesy of Lorenzarius, via Wikimedia Commons

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   
   
   


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   2. Windows Mobile

   
   

   
   

   Before there was Windows Phone 7, there was Windows Mobile. Microsoft first used the name for an OS in 2003. It initially powered Pocket PC devices, but eventually expanded to other brands. The final version, Windows Mobile 6.5, appeared in September 2009 — about a year before Windows Phone 7 dropped.

   
   

   Photo courtesy of Joshualam, via Wikimedia Commons

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   
   
   


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   3. Microsoft Mobile UI Evolution

   
   

   
   

   Here’s a snapshot of Microsoft’s mobile UIs from 2001 to 2009.

   
   

   Brianreading and Koman90, via Wikimedia

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   
   
   


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   4. Windows Phone 7

   
   

   
   

   The first devices running the Windows Phone 7 OS — HTC Surround and Samsung Focus — hit the market in November 2010. Eventually the OS. Eventually Nokia and others released devices running Windows Phone 7.

   
   

   Photo coutesy of Anuj Biyani, via Flickr

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   
   
   


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   5. Windows Phone 7.5

   
   

   
   

   With the codename “Mango,” this was the most sizable update to the Windows Phone 7 OS. Microsoft announced the update in May 2011 and began rolling it out later that year, in September. It brought “hundreds of new and improved features” to the OS, according to Microsoft.

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   
   
   


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   6. Windows Phone 7.8

   
   

   
   

   Since Windows Phone 7 devices will not be eligible to be upgraded to Windows Phone 8, this update will be rolled out to WP and 7.5 devices. The update includes the new WP 8 start screen.

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   
   
   


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   7. Windows Phone 8

   
   

   
   

   Microsoft revealed the specifications for the Windows Phone 8 in June. In the photo, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Stephen Elop, president and CEO of Nokia, hold up Nokia phones run by the Windows Phone 8 OS.

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   
   
   

Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/29/microsoft-mobile-history/

Microsoft Mobile: From Pocket PC to Windows Phone 8

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