First I gotta make a statement: I love Microsoft technologies. I recently migrated to Vista (as regular visitors know very well) and in my professional life for most of my time I build software based on Microsoft’s outstanding achievements. So this is not another “blame Microsoft for everything they do” blog post – rather it’s a statement to express my disappointment.

A couple of weeks ago my BlackBerry 7250 broke. I never really liked that device because of it’s strange form factor, it’s total lack of anything entertaining and it’s somewhat strange user interface.

Anyway, I had to go for a new handheld and visited the T-Mobile (Germany) website to see what they had to offer. I immediately got appealed by the T-Mobile MDA Vario II. Not only was it a visually way more appealing device than everything I knew from RIM but it also shipped with Windows Mobile 5.0.

The last time I have been using a mobile OS from Microsoft has been years ago so I was keen to see what their latest Windows Mobile version had to offer. Not to mention that as a .NET developer I kind of found the idea to finally use the .NET Compact Framework on my own device intriguing.

A quick Google-check on BlackBerry service availability for the T-Mobile device and I went to one of their stores and got one. (First annoyance: The price point. Selling it at nearly 700 Euros this handheld had to be the very, very, VERY best on the market!)

FAST FORWARD

I have been using the T-Mobile MDA Vario II for almost six weeks now. Correction: I desperately tried to use it. Honestly, I never experienced so much harassment with a device as with this one.

Here is the (not complete) list why:

• Windows Mobile 5.0 is slow. And I am not saying that it is sometimes a bit slow. It’s always slow. Switching from your today screen to your inbox easily takes between 5-10 seconds. Ever wanted to look up a flight reservation number quickly at the airport and your device just does not respond?
• Windows Mobile 5.0 is unstable. There was no – and I mean no single – day without at least 2-3 required soft resets. Even with no additional software loaded to the T-Mobile MDA Vario II it simply frooze hundreds of times. Oddly enough it also happend while I was in calls.
• The BlackBerry Connect Service sucks big time. Even though nobody from T-Mobile makes any effort to let you know before you purchase but here are some simple facts:
• The BlackBerry Connect Service for the T-Mobile MDA Vario II does no wireless sync of your addressbook. I fact it only syncs your calendar and email. Coming from a real BlackBerry this is ridiculous.
• The BlackBerry Connect Service does not support attachements larger than 60k. Have you ever recevied a PowerPoint or PDF file that was smaller than 60k?
• The BlackBerry Connect Service connects through the GPRS interface. RIM’s devices have been optimized for this. Windows Mobile Devices have not. Running BlackBerry Connect Service on the T-Mobile MDA Vario II reliably drains the battery. Your no-call standby time will go down to less than 7 hours.
• The BlackBerry Connect Service is even more unstable than Windows Mobile 5.0. For no obvious reason it stopped 5-10 times a day.
• PocketOutlook is everything but Outlook on a mobile device. If you expect a great calendar and a well organized inbox – forget it! In fact there are some great 3rd party apps out there mimicking a real PIM solution on Windows Mobile. If you want to spend the at average 40 Euro extra all is fine…
• No profiles. Used to have a set of profiles to quickly switch ring tones, alarm settings, etc.? They’re gone in Windows Mobile land. Stop searching, they are not there. You need to spend another 25 Euros to get a 3rd party app which introduces profiles – and more stability issues.
• Syncing with the PC is a nightmare. Even Windows Vista’s Mobile Device Center (which at the time of this writing was still in Beta 3) does not solve the many issues with syncing that I still knew from my PocketPC times years ago. “It’s all Microsoft. It should work like a charme.” Yap, it should!
• Just installed a 2 GB MiniSD Card to expand your devices memory and free up some device memory for the slow OS? Sorry man, you cannot force your Pocket Outlook to store emails on that freshly added memory. Windows Mobile 5.0 always stores emails on the device memory. But this is what memory expansion is thought for, isn’t it? Yes, it is. But not with Windows Mobile.
• There are no dial keys. I do like touchscreens when it comes to navigating a web page or an application which has been thorougly designed with the touchscreen in mind. However, the lack of haptical response makes it extremely difficult to quickly dial when you’re in a hurry. I’ll never buy a phone without dial keys again.

I could continue this list forever. But I won’t.

Two days ago my BlackBerry Pearl arrived. Setting it up took 10 minutes. Syncing some 1.000 contacts (over the air), my entire business calendar, bookmarks, notes, etc. took 30 more minutes.

The BlackBerry operating system is fast. It’s just amazingly fast. I did not have to charge the battery for three days in a row. And I had a total talk time of almost 5 hours already!

From a usability standpoint I never used a better mobile device. Everything is just exactly where you expect it. The media support (music, pictures, video) are great. The built-in camera is just fine. The dialing options including a perfectly working non-training voice dial feature for my entire address book are perfect.

And for the first time in my BlackBerry life all of this is packed in the visually most appealing device BlackBerry ever manufactured.

I am so happy my BlackBerry is back. If there could be one advice for the Microsoft Windows Mobile program managers: Get a BlackBerry Pearl and learn how it’s done right.