Windows Phone Thoughts: WMDC With Office 2010 64 bit? Maybe, Maybe Not

By now most of you know that Office 2010 is in an open beta for anyone to download. I was perusing the release notes when I ran across something in the Outlook 2010 section that bothered me a bit.

• Programmability / Add-ins:Windows Mobile Device Center (WMDC) no longer operates when 64-bit Outlook 2010 is installed on 64-bit Windows.
• Upgrading 32-bit Outlook 2007 to 64-bit Outlook 2010 could also result in data loss during first sync with WMDC.
• The WMDC will not be upgraded to work on 64-bit Windows when 64-bit Outlook 2010 is installed.

All of the fixes and workarounds revolve around retaining a 32 bit version of Office 2010 rather than a 64 bit version. I cannot tell if this is a temporary issue during the beta phase or a permanent one. If the latter, it means WMDC is nearing the end of its life. I think Windows 7 is the last 32bit OS Microsoft will release for desktops and it is likely that the next version of Office may be 64 bit only as well.

Before anyone jumps up and asks why anyone is using WMDC anyway, just remember, not everyone has a cloud solution to sync with and even if they do, some apps like eWallet or PocketBible still require WMDC to do record level syncing with its desktop counterpart. I am sure those apps and others are headed towards online syncing, but in the meantime, if you still need WMDC, keep the above warnings in mind when deciding between a 32 bit and 64 bit version of Office.