Windows Mobile 5 & Vista RC1

If you have Windows Mobile 5 and Vista RC1 you might find that the Windows Mobile Device Center is missing from Vista RC1. As a matter of fact, you won’t even be able to get your device to be recognized by Vista RC1, it will keep on prompting you for a “Generic Serial” driver when you plugin your device. This was not the case in previous versions of Vista and there are some great details on why/what/who/where at Mel Sampat’s blog.

There’s just one little problem. If you try Windows Update today, it will not detect the WMDC download. This is because one additional step needs to be performed to allow this detection to take place. Unfortunately that step is restricted to internal Microsoft beta testers at this point. The friendly Program Manager for WMDC, Lydia O, sits in the office next to mine. So I asked her what was preventing external RC1 testers from using WMDC. She explained that they’re still working on some critical issues which make it necessary to restrict public testing. Judging from the steady stream of people walking in and out of her office all day, it looks like Lydia’s team is working as hard as possible to resolve those issues and release WMDC publicly to Vista RC1 testers very soon. We don’t want to keep you from enjoying the great WMDC experience, but it simply isn’t available externally at this time. When it’s ready, it will automatically show up in your Windows Update list without any further action on your part. WMDC will certainly be ready in time for Vista RTM and hopefully long before that – sometime in the next few weeks.

Mel also points out that the Windows Mobile Device Center download for Vista RC1 is available as a separate download on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile site. WARNING: still a beta but if you’re running Vista that’s not a major concern now is it? On the positive side, the feature set for mobility on Vista looks very impressive:

• Streamlined setup – A simplified new partnership wizard and improved partnership management.
• Robust synchronization – Synchronization of business-critical data such as e-mail, calendars, contacts, tasks, favorites, and files.
• Photo management – Picture management helps you detect new photos on your Windows Mobile powered device, tag and import them to the Windows Vista Photo Gallery.
• Media synchronization – Use Microsoft Windows Media Player to synchronize and shuffle music files on your device.
• File browsing – A new device browsing experience enables you more quickly browse files and folders and open documents on your device directly from your PC.
• Enhanced user interface – A simple and compelling user interface helps you to quickly access critical tasks and configure your device.