Microsoft has lost market share over the past year, much of that . It also faces stiff competition from RIM Blackberry, Symbian, and Google Android. It's a tough market and Windows Mobile currently of it.

Some have predicted that the new Windows Mobile will be due to a combination of waning interest in the Windows Mobile platform and the fact that an even bigger release, Windows Mobile 7, is expected less than six months later. I think it is premature to expect Microsoft to concede the mobile operating system war, but I also think that winning it should not be Microsoft's ultimate goal.

Good, bad, or indifferent, Microsoft has a dominant share of the desktop operating system, office productivity application, e-mail server, and web browser markets. Mobile phones- or at least smart phones- are essentially miniature laptops with very tiny keyboards. Windows Mobile is the one mobile operating system capable of delivering a consistent look and feel between the desktop and the mobile device, but- if market share is any indication- that alone is not enough to convince corporate decision makers.

Other mobile operating systems recognize that many customers rely on Microsoft servers and applications and strive to provide the tools necessary to connect with and use those services. Most smart phones provide some means of connecting with Microsoft Exchange Server to retrieve corporate email. When the original iPhone came out the was listed as one of the primary reasons it couldn't be used in a business context.

Mobile devices built on operating systems other than Windows Mobile also endeavor to provide tools that enable users to at least view, if not create and edit, Microsoft Office files such as Word docs and Excel spreadsheets. With an increasingly mobile workforce it helps to be able to store and work with Microsoft Office files from the mobile phone so that a laptop isn't required or as a backup if the laptop is lost or stolen.