I don’t think that the iPhone users of the world really realize how easy we have things anymore.  Apple has made things so seamless that no matter what computer or operating system you use, as long as you have iTunes installed, you are ready to go.  Read on past the break for my very quick venture back into Windows Mobile world and how after tonight’s fiasco, I’m thanking God that Apple gave us the iPhone.

So, the background, I used to be a Windows Mobile user all the way back to the iPaq HX4700 and my first Windows Phone was the Cingular 3125.  Here are the devices I’ve gone through, all of which I still have with one notable exception which lead me through tonight’s events.
1. Cingular 3125
2. Cingular 8125 – given to brother after his Samsung Sync broke into 2 pieces
3. AT&T Tilt
4. iPhone 3G and the iTunes harmony that comes with it

Now, any Windows Mobile user knows that to sync your phone with your computer, you need Activesync for Windows XP or Windows Mobile Device Center (WMDC) for either Vista or 7.  Our family computer is running Windows 7 RC and serves as the computer for everybody except myself, I have my own laptop.  Having seen before online that Windows 7 will prompt you to install WMDC when it recognizes a Windows Mobile device, I told my brother to go ahead and plug in the phone and Windows 7 will do all the work and then he would be able to download music onto his MiniSD card.  Well, we had to manually download WMDC from the Microsoft website after using Google to search for it.  After downloading and installing WMDC, I had him unplug and plug back in the 8125.  No dice, still no driver install.  So we go ahead and reboot the computer and plug the device back in AGAIN.  Still no luck.  After attempting 3 different USB ports, all of which were attempted before installing WMDC, one last ditch effort was to crawl on the floor behind the computer and use one of the rear USB ports.  This finally got Windows Update to start searching for a driver for the phone.  Well, that still didn’t fix things.

You would think that a Windows Mobile device would have no problems communicating with a Windows OS.  Well, it looks like I was proven wrong tonight.  Yes, I do realize that the Cingular 8125 (HTC Wizard) is a fairly old device however it is running Windows Mobile 6.1 thanks to the geniuses at XDA Developers so communication with Windows 7 shouldn’t be an issue.

This brings us to Apple.  I don’t care if you are running Windows XP, Vista, or 7.  I don’t care if you are running Tiger, Leopard, or Snow Leopard.  The iPhone and the iTunes environment just flat out work.  Apple has provided us with a seamless syncing experience that I think we take for granted day in and day out.  As long as your Windows PC has iTunes installed, you can seamlessly sync (or now tether) your iPhone and you never think twice about it.  To our loyal readers, take a second and thank Apple for everything that they have done to make the iPhone experience as seamless and easy as possible.

On a personal note, this entire post/rant was brought to you by the .mp3 file extension.  All we were trying to do was sync some music to my brother’s 8125 and this sparked not only frustration, but much shouting was exchanged over whether or not I could get it to work.  It turns out that the 8125, WMDC, and Windows 7 really don’t like each other enough to cooperate for household peace.

Adam Wyss (74 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook