Exactly one month ago I wrote a column about version numbers and how Windows Mobile 6.0 is not the best name for the latest version of the Windows Mobile platform. I have to say that I also had the opinion that this new release of Windows Mobile did not have enough features. After playing with Windows Mobile 6.0 for a while I must admit that I have changed my opinion entirely. I have not been able yet to run Windows Mobile 6.0 on a real device, so I have been playing a lot with the emulator. First let me say something about the platform itself. Even though it doesn’t provide too much new functionality, the look and feel of the platform is definitely better than the previous version and it will help increasing the productivity of mobile workers. From a developer’s point of view, at first it seems that there is not too much difference between Windows Mobile 5.0 and Windows Mobile 6.0. To proof that statement, look at the version numbers of the Windows Mobile Managed API’s that ship with Windows Mobile 6.0. They are identical to the Managed API’s that shipped with Windows Mobile 5.0. A huge advantage is that both the .NET Compact Framework 2.0 SP1 and SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition are both available in ROM on the device. This will simplify deployment of applications, what you need is already on the box. At least, that was the case until a few weeks ago the .NET Compact Framework 2.0 SP2 was released. It is too bad that this update didn’t make it to the ROM image of a Windows Mobile 6.0 device, since we now have to pack this update again with our applications or assume that end users will install it on their device. A little more coordination between different product releases would have been great here. As a developer, I am really thrilled about the new device emulator that ships with the Windows Mobile 6.0 SDK. This is the best Windows Mobile device emulator ever. It runs faster than previous versions and has more configuration settings to allow us to better test applications under different conditions. I particularly like the fact that I can now emulate battery levels and look at the behavior of the device under low power situations. The new Cellular Emulator that ships with the Windows Mobile 6.0 SDK and that works together with the new device emulator is pretty cool as well. It allows us to test all kinds of cellular communications in combination with our application in a very easy way. Until know I always wanted a real device to test and debug my applications on. For final testing, it is of course still necessary to use a real device, but with the extended capabilities and much better performance, I am now perfectly happy to debug my applications on the emulator. Even if you are targeting only previous versions of the Windows Mobile platform, it is worth installing the Windows Mobile 6.0 SDK, because the new device emulator replaces the previous one, so all applications that you developed in Visual Studio 2005 can take advantage of the new emulator. It is also possible to just download the new Device Emulator 2.0, so even if you never plan to use the Windows Mobile 6.0 SDK you can still take advantage of the new emulator. I think that the new device emulator is so cool that it justifies exploring it in depth, perhaps we should organize a Webcast that only covers the device emulator and its endless possibilities. Having said that, I can now develop and debug applications using the device emulator only for Windows Mobile 6.0 applications does not mean that I don’t want to have a Windows Mobile 6.0 device. With the improved User Interface, better data entry capabilities and cool new devices that are announced, I can’t wait to have a few real devices at hand. There is only one little thing to be solved. Who is kind enough to send me one or more Windows Mobile 6.0 devices?