It's widely acknowledged by users, media, and even Steve Ballmer himself that Windows Mobile is in dire need of a ground-up revamp, and it's happening, but not quite yet. That's Windows Mobile 7 you're looking for, and realistically, it's not going to be in your pocket for at least another year. That leaves Microsoft in a bit of a pickle: how do you facelift version 6.1 -- which is already a facelift of 6, which in turn was a facelift of 5 -- just enough to eke another year or two of life out of it? Is it even possible?

I'd like to think that 6.5's stunning failure to innovate is a symptom of a neglected project—maybe Microsoft just needed something, anything to hold people over until the mythical Windows Mobile 7 comes out, whatever it is. But as Steve Ballmer himself has plainly admitted, it's worse: Microsoft has simply lumbered in the wrong direction for two years, letting everyone, save maybe Nokia, fly right past them.

Back in April of 2008, Microsoft released Windows Mobile 6.1. It was a minor release that mainly delt with changes to the Standard Edition and its sliding panel home screen. This time it's the Professional Edition's turn as you'll see plenty of changes in Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional Edition and not too many in the Standard Edition. While we have been covering many different builds of Windows Mobile 6.5 on Pocketnow, what you'll see here is the production version that is available today on many new phones.