Hello all! We're simultaneously fresh and exhausted from the first public release of Windows Live for Windows Mobile (visit http://wl.windowsmobile.com on your mobile browser) aimed at users who do not already have this on their device. We have seen some great feedback from customers all over and wanted to address some of the confusion around the nature of this release.
This release is not intended as an update to the existing version on your device. For those that are encountering or installing this product for the first time, it should truly be a delightful experience (or we're not doing our jobs) -- push Hotmail, Windows Live contacts on your device, and uploading pictures to your Space. Several of you that have already used this product in a previous incarnation or already have it on your phones, however, are asking us:
With the rising popularity of staying connected in general, and mobile instant messaging in particular, operators now typically have their own plans for how they offer such services (including Windows Live Messenger), and so we consciously excluded Messenger from the publicly available download so as to not conflict with those plans.
Ok, here's the deal: Mobile operators typically work with OEMs (such as HTC or Samsung) to select specific devices with specific features that make business sense. Windows Live for Windows Mobile is one such feature. It is entirely likely you may have bought a cool-awesome phone that included the complete version of Windows Live for Windows Mobile, including Messenger. This release is aimed at those unlike you who do not already own such a device.
This is partly for business reasons and partly for technical ones. Your prior "installation" of Windows Live for Windows Mobile with Messenger may actually have been burned in ROM, and the new version without Messenger that you are installing over this is a downloadable one with an installer. The newer version of the product may have changes to underlying functionality that are incompatible with the old version of Messenger installed in ROM. There are also technical challenges (outside the scope of this poor blog entry) in mixing in-ROM files with files in user memory. Finally, there is still the business conflict issue mentioned above.
If your old install was a ROM-based one that came with your device, you should simply be able to navigate to Start->Settings->Remove Programs and select "Windows Live" to uninstall the new product. You may be asked to reboot your phone in the process, and if not, may want to just in case. After this, you should see an icon for Messenger under Programs as before, like so:
This is fundamentally a release to enable those without a device containing Windows Live for Windows Mobile pre-installed to get a taste of the functionality -- Hotmail, Contacts and Spaces (but not Messenger). It also contains some bug fixes to support and perform better on the newer crop of Windows Mobile devices.
Most certainly not. If you have a newer Windows Mobile device containing Windows Live in ROM, it is very likely that you already have what you need. If you find that you are facing issues with any of these services using the version currently on your phone, please contact your mobile operator directly, or Microsoft Support at http://support.live.com.
With the never-ending stream of newer and hotter Windows Mobile devices cropping up (a good thing!), we're on our toes to ensure that our product works on every one of them. Thus it is entirely likely that you are encountering a device-specific issue that we have not seen before. Please contact your mobile operator directly, or Microsoft Support at http://support.live.com for help with the issue.
This will likely happen in a future release. You can be sure you will hear more right here on this blog when it's time. Or not. We can't really say.