Microsoft has long been a major player in the Smartphone software industry. In fact they were one of the first (just behind Palm). However, in recent years, they have seen a slew of attacks from other players. Blackberry has become the defector king for those concerned about security and messaging. Android has come out of nowhere to court some of Microsoft’s major partners, whereas Apple has created a Smartphone that even a baby could use. Palm on the other hand has shocked everyone with their Pre, the one device that can truly be called an iPhone killer.

With the new onslaught Microsoft has sought to ramp up production on its Windows Mobile platform. Windows Mobile 6.5 is supposed to be the next step just before Windows Mobile 7 which will finally bring long awaited features such as multi-touch, better browsers, etc, to the fledging platform. So how does it stack up? Is it a worthy upgrade from Windows Mobile 6.1?

Windows Mobile 6.5 is not a radical change from version 6.1. Rather it’s more like what Snow Leopard is to Tiger on the Mac OS (sorry Mac fans). Design wise, it has been reworked and many of the outdated icons and menus have been replaced.

In the latest craze for touch UI’s, Microsoft has updated the UI of Windows Mobile to be more finger friendly. Menu text is bigger, icons are also larger and more spaced and in general the UI seems more on the lines of a design that were thought out sans a stylus.

The “Today Screen” has been reworked and now resembles that of the Zune HD. For those still stuck in 2003, the old “Today Screen” is still there, but we will say the new version is a whole lot better. Speaking of UI, there is also a new addition to the improvements which include a “Honeycomb” Start screen which as it would sound would remind you of a bees hive honeycomb. As we said before, the outdated icons are gone and have been replaced with more moderns ones.

The lock screen has been reworked. Microsoft has implemented a design that allows you to go right to the location you wanted when you unlock your screen. For instance when you get a new text message or email the lock slider changes so that when you unlock you phone it carries you right to your inbox for you to read your message.

One of the bigger additions to Windows Mobile 6.5 has been the revamped Internet Explorer. We will be frank, it’s not up to par with the iPhone web browser but Microsoft deserves credit for reworking their crappy excuse of a browser to include better zoom and pan features as well as full support for HTML and a new JavaScript engine. It would be interesting to see how feature rich the web browser is in Windows Mobile 7.

Windows Mobile 6.5 has gotten a marketplace as well. Windows Marketplace is Microsoft’s version of the App Store, App Catalog or Android Marketplace. The store is available on Windows Mobile 6, 6.1 and 6.5 devices. While not the best designed application store, is does provide a way for Windows Mobile users to get all the apps they want in one place.

Overall the improvements of Windows Mobile are great. Microsoft has really made an effort to speed up the development of Windows Mobile and version 6.5 is a worthy upgrade. It might not carry all the fancy animation as webOS or the iPhone but it is still one of the most mature Smartphone brands and deserves a look.

The only thing you should have a problem with, is deciding which one of the many Windows Mobile 6.5 devices suits your style.