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OK – I’ve now had almost 2 weeks with my Android powered phone, and several years with Windows Mobile.

It is no secret that I’m convinced Windows Mobile is badly broken and in need of a major overhaul, but how well does it do when up against Android?

I’ll be comparing the newest (and only) Android phone, with the newest Windows Mobile device; the Sprint Touch Pro.

Let me start with the basics – Look and feel/usability

Windows Mobile is not very well adapted for touch use, especially if it involves the bog standard OS as delivered by Microsoft.

Companies like HTC and Samsung have invested millions in developing their own shells for Windows Mobile that help make things a little better. However, at the end of the day however, it’s still not enough.

Even with the most recent touch interfaces (HTC TouchFlo 3D),  as soon as you leave the warm and cozy touch enabled shell, you are back in the non-touch enabled WinMo apps. There are also some silly interface flaws; in the newest phones from HTC, you’ll find a touch sensitive scroll wheel, but you won’t be able to use the wheel in most apps (without some manual hacking). For most applications in Windows Mobile, you will still need to use a stylus to control things.

Android on the other hand has touch/gesture based controls built into every app; from the music player to the email client, everything responds very well, and is even on par with the de-facto touch standard on phones; the iPhone. The Android interface is not perfect; every now and then you still run into some inconsistencies in the controls, but for a first generation phone, it’s close to perfect.

Simple actions in WinMo, like scrolling through your programs list can be a real hassle, with a lot of apps loaded, the list scrolls poorly, and the program list still insists on displaying your apps in a 3×4 matrix, with no way to sort them.

On Android, apps are listed 4×5, despite having a slightly lower resolution screen. Apps can not be sorted, but scrolling is very smooth. One cool feature in Android is the ability to display only certain apps by filtering the app name using the keyboard. Also, Android allows you to add any application directly to one of the three home screens.

The home screen on Windows Mobile is far more powerful than on Android. WinMo allows you to add all kinds of content to the Today screen, Android currently only offers a clock, app or web shortcuts, a Google search and a clock.

Applications

With a mobile OS as mature as Windows Mobile, you’d expect powerful and well developed applications. Sadly that is not the case. Almost every part of the default Windows Mobile application arsenal is horrible. Internet Explorer is so bad, that many smartphone makers install a better browser, and disable all shortcuts to Pocket Internet Explorer. Other apps in Windows Mobile have not been updated since early 2001.

Syncing

There is no clear winner here; Windows Mobile would appear to have the edge thanks to its Exchange compatibility and desktop Activesync support, but neither of those are very useful for your everyday consumer user.

The Android support for Google services has proven to be very reliable, and easy to use. My contacts, email and calendar all sync flawlessly with my Google services, without the need for any installed software on my desktop, or third party (paid) services. If you really need desktop syncing for Android, you’ll be able to find several paid and free applications for 2-way syncing with Outlook or Thunderbird.

At the end of the day, any serious business user will be better off with WinMo, or a Blackberry.

Applications

Getting applications on a Windows Mobile device is a major hassle. Some vendors offer “over the air” installations using .CAB files, while others force you to install the application using your desktop computer.

Since Android lacks any kind of desktop application, you can only install programs over the air.

The Android marketplace is amazingly easy; apps are sorted by category, and users can submit their own rating and comments about the app.

The hardware

This is another tricky one; Android is currently only available on one device (The T-Mobile G1), and Windows Mobile is available on over 100 devices. But when I compare the $179 T-Mobile G1 with the new $299 Sprint Touch Pro, I really do think that the G1 provides a better device. Everything just responds nicer, buttons are in the right place and voice quality is better. The G1 also has a much nicer screen.

There is however one major issue with the G1; its battery life is horrible. Unless T-Mobile and HTC manage to fix this soon, people are going to replace the iPhone in the worst battery life contest.

What is Android lacking?

As with any new OS, certain parts are going to be missing; On Android, there is a shortage of multimedia players (there is currently just one video player), there are no VOIP apps and there is no virtual keyboard. With just 150 applications, Android has a long way to go if it plans to catch up with Windows.

Final thoughts.

My conclusion is simple; Android is already a better mobile operating system than Windows Mobile (professional 6.1). Every part of the OS is easier to use, and on a day to day basis I simply prefer using Android over Windows Mobile. Unless Microsoft deliver a major upgrade within the next 6-9 months, their market share will start to vanish.