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When Windows Mobile 6 (WM6) was officially announced back in February, we learned that in addition to yet-to-be-released devices, Microsoft's new mobile operating system (OS) would also be available on the T-Mobile Dash for both new units and as an upgrade for existing owners. That upgrade is finally here and available at www.t-mobile.com/wmupgrade, free of charge to anyone with a T-Mobile account. (In addition to the Dash, you can also get the WM6 upgrade for T-Mobile's now discontinued MDA.)

Getting the Upgrade
We had some initial difficulties accessing the software from T-Mobile's download page, as our first attempts using Firefox 2.0.0.3 failed to display the download link. Trying again with Internet Explorer 7 got us the link, but when we entered our 10-digit phone number as prompted, we were taken to T-Mobile's phone shopping page rather than one we could download the upgrade from.

The upgrade site had barely been up for48 hours at the time of our download attempt, and T-Mobile technical support confirmed they were having some site problems (which hopefully have been resolved by the time you read this). T-Mobile's suggestion to delete the browser cache, history, and cookies, didn't rectify the problem for us, but we were ultimately able to download the upgrade (as well as an updated manual in PDF format) from another system by using either Firefox 1.5 or Internet Explorer 6.

T-Mobile provides a link to illustrated step-by-step upgrade instructions at support.t-mobile.com/knowbase/root/public/tm23435.htm, and the same document is available in the form of a Read Me file included with the update.

Upgrade Process
Upgrading the Dash is a destructive process—installing Windows Mobile 6 wipes the device clean, so data must be backed up beforehand (we used ActiveSync to do it) and any personal applications will have to be re-installed.

Although we don't think too many people will mind, it's also worth noting that T-Mobile doesn't offer an archived copy of Windows Mobile 5 (WM5) for download on its support site or any way to back up your Dash's old operating system. In other words, once you upgrade, there's probably no going back—at least not without jumping through many hoops.

After downloading the approximately 40 MB file, we connected the Dash to a PC with the USB cable and launched the upgrade, which informed us that it would upgrade the Dash from software version 1.11.531.1 to 1.22.531.4 and that the process would take about 10 minutes. It took less than five for the upgrade wizard to complete and the Dash to reboot, but we got a bit of a scare when several minutes after the reboot (and certainly more than 10 since beginning the upgrade process), the Dash was still displaying a static T-Mobile splash screen and appeared to be hung up. T

There was no progress bar or any indication on the Dash itself as to whether the upgrade has successfully completed or not, so after waiting a few more minutes we popped out and replaced the battery. After several more minutes and a couple of automatic reboots, our Dash was running WM6 and ready to use. (Following the upgrade, you won't be able to sync the Dash with XP systems running any version of ActiveSync prior to 4.5.)

UI and Features
For better or for worse, the WM6 user interface is almost identical to its predecessor and thus will be instantly recognizable to anyone that's used WM 5. The new Home screen looks very familiar, though the background wallpaper is a darker blue that seems to improve the overall visibility and contrast of the screen (especially of the white text).

Still and video camera controls are pretty much the same as the previous version of the Dash software, as is the the Windows Media Player, though there is a plug-in you can use to make the application accessible right from your Home screen.


WM6 Home Screen

The usability of the Dash's volume touch strip control has been greatly improved with the upgrade. Instead of simply responding to any touch (whether it be intentional or inadvertent) it now responds only to a sliding motion—slide upward to increase volume, and downward to decrease it. All in all, it's far more usable and much less prone to unintended activation than it was before.

The Windows Mobile 6 upgrade also brings the Dash several new utilities and applications. Gone is the ClearVue suite of document viewers, replaced by Microsoft Office Mobile which works with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files and will let you not just view documents but perform basic editing on them as well (it won't, however, let you create entirely new documents, and for the moment doesn't support the XPS file format used by Office 2007).


Word Mobile

To view - but not edit - PDF files the Dash includes Adobe Reader LE.

Windows Mobile 6 also provides integration with Windows Live services, so Live account holders can access and synchronize Contacts, Mail, and Messenger—the last two formerly known as Hotmail and MSN Messenger. (Those who prefer to IM via AIM, Yahoo or ICQ can still do so.)


Live Search Results

You can use Live Search to look up local businesses and obtain maps and driving directions, and add a search bar to the Home screen to make Web searches more convenient.


Live Search Map results

Mobile messaging via Outlook is also improved with Windows Mobile 6, as it now supports HTML e-mail. E-mail references to Web pages or phone numbers are conveniently hyperlinked you can easily jump to the page or dial the number. (Remote images aren't downloaded by default support, so you must download them on a per-message basis.)

Another handy new feature is the ability to filter your inbox contents by typing in the sender or subject you're looking for—as you enter the information, the list narrows down to only conforming messages.

Those using the Dash to access a corporate e-mail account based on an Exchange 2003 or 2007 server can access additional mail features including the ability to flag messages, set an out-of-office reply, or search contacts in a company directory.

The T-Mobile Dash's WM6 upgrade (incidentally, what used to be Windows Mobile Smartphone Edition is now officially named Windows Mobile Standard) isn't a revolutionary leap over version 5, and to call it an evolutionary step is also a bit of a stretch. It's a incremental upgrade to be sure, but nevertheless a worthwhile one, particularly since it's available at no cost.