Windows Phone Thoughts: Rumour: No Windows Mobile 2003 Update for Motorola MPx200?

I saw this posted by James Rainey in the Smartphone newsgroup yesterday, and this post has started quite a fierce discussion there. This is a rumour, and should be treated as such, but to be honest it doesn't surprise me all that much - it's hard enough getting Pocket PC OEMs to offer upgrades, but when it comes to phones that are even more of a commodity, and often sold at a loss to the carrier, the thought of users keeping their phone for several years versus buying a new one probably isn't very appealing to the carriers.That said, in the message below you'll see that the tech from Motorola is saying that the reason Motorola isn't releasing patches is because Microsoft has switched over to Smartphone 2003. I think this is misdirection to some extent: Motorola chose to bring a previous-generation OS product to the market while other phones were shipping with Windows Mobile 2003. It would be like Dell shipping a computer with Windows 2000 - it would have a shortened shelf life right out of the gate. Now it may be accurate that there isn't a newer 2002 build than what Motorola has, and that 2002 bugs aren't being fixed in favour of 2003 development and bug fixing. This presents an interesting scenario: does Microsoft have the obligation to provide fixes for an "old" OS when they're focusing on developing a new one? For comparison, when Microsoft started shipping Windows XP, Windows 2000 security patches and bug fixes continue to flow. Microsoft knows they can't simply stop supporting Windows 2000, because so many customers out there have it. But it seems they're taking that approach with Smartphone 2002 doesn't it? I don't think Motorola has much say in this - if AT&T wanted Microsoft to provide fixes, Microsoft probably would. Or would Microsoft just say "The fix is Smartphone 2003"? Possibly. :wink:Ultimately, if no Windows Mobile 2003 upgrade is offered by AT&T, it will be their call, not Microsoft's. Smartphones are built on flash ROM, which means the entire OS can be updated easily. AT&T may look at the cost to profit ratio of offering an upgrade and simply say "It's not worth it - we want people to buy new phones from us". Harsh, but true - we're all at the mercy of the carriers here.At any rate, here's the message:"I've just spoken to Mike (I.D. # 80206 / 877-331-6456 ext 2237) at 2nd Level Support for Motorola. He confirmed that Motorola has made a decision NOT to patch existing or known issues with this phone. Below is the physical address we can write to for complaints.Motorola Executive Complaints1307 Algonquin Rd.Schaumberg, IL. 60196WHY aren't they addressing this? Because SmartPhone 2002 development has stopped since 2003 is now the defacto standard by Microsoft. Motorola suggested people write to complain. This is disgusting. The MPx220 which he indicated comes out in Februaryfixes these issues with SmartPhone 2003 but the phone is heavier, has acamera (which I DON'T want) and has an external antenna (which I DON'Twant)."