Mini-Microsoft giving up on Windows Mobile, getting iPhone

On the eve of the Windows 7 launch, the anonymous “Mini-Microsoft” employee blogger has resurfaced to offer his take on the state of the company, the new operating system, CEO Steve Ballmer, and more. It’s a mixed bag, but the part that stands out most is this: Mini is getting an iPhone. And he’s not happy about it.

The blogger, whose site serves as a virtual water cooler for Microsoft employees, explains that he has been a loyal customer of Microsoft’s mobile platform since the days of the Pocket PC, all the way up through the Windows Mobile 6 release. But his disappointment with Windows Mobile 6.5 is making him defect.

“I hate it,” he writes. “I hate to think that I’ll be installing Apple software on one of my computers because their PC software is so inelegant and buggy (check Watson). I hate that I’ve been so loyal to the PocketPC platform and Windows Mobile but I’ve finally had my chain yanked for the last time. I’m not buying a 6.5 device only to have it abandoned when 7 comes out. Microsoft is doing nothing to convince me that it’s going to get any better. We suffer through rumors that Pink is imploding and issues with Sidekick data doing disappearing acts while our CEO has conniption fits over Microsofties sporting iPhones. Dude, this is why.”

That last part, of course, was a reference to Ballmer’s now-infamous reaction when he saw a Microsoft employee taking his picture with an iPhone at the company’s annual meeting.

Presumably, Mini will be smarter than to brandish his new mobile phone when the chief executive walks by. But that incident and Mini’s switch underscore the larger issues the Windows Mobile team is grappling with, even among the company’s own employees. – Techflash

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