Taking the No Reboot Challenge with Windows Mobile

In my recent post about stability, I talked about Windows Mobile and how it is a stable platform. The source of all that instability is poorly written 3rd party applications. To help prove my point, I’m taking on the “No Reboot Challenge”. The idea is simple, no more reboots of my phone for any reason and let’s see how long I can go before it starts acting funny or crashing. Furthermore, I won’t be killing or stopping any process’s. I’ll leave that up to Windows Mobile and Microsoft to see if they truly know best when it comes to managing memory on the device. The only applications that I will close are ones that have an Exit option in the menu.

To get the ball started on the right foot, I’m going to hard reset my device so I can be sure that there’s nothing weird hanging around in there. I’m doing this on a Samsung BlackJack II with a near final build of Windows Mobile 6.1. From what I’ve been told, this is what will be shipped on upcoming BlackJack II’s from AT&T. If you’re following along and taking the challenge with me, it doesn’t really matter what version of Windows Mobile you have on your device. I just ask that it’s the production ROM and not something that’s been cooked up and downloaded from the internet. The changes added into those illegal ROMs could easily be a source of instability.

After hard resetting the device, I need to ActiveSync it with my laptop to get all my Contacts, calendar, etc.. synced to it. Also, there are a couple applications that I can’t do without. So I’ve installed the following: Ilium’s eWallet, Sling Media’s SlingPlayer Mobile, Modaco’s Smartphone GPS Utility, and Microsoft’s Live Search. I use these applications on an almost daily basis and can’t imagine being without those. I also need to add my the data settings for my network so I can actually use data on the device. The last thing to do is configure email on the device. I’ve added 2 email accounts and both are set to pull email from the last 3 days and will do that every 60 minutes.

That’s it – that’s all the changes / additions I’ve made to the default configuration of this device. From now on I won’t reboot the device or close programs. I’ll be making updates to this post on a regular basis over the coming weeks reporting on how things are going. The success of my mobility is in the hands of Microsoft.

UPDATE (August 20 @ 10:10pm) – Everything has been going very well so far. I always forget how much there is to setup and configure on a freshly reset device. I went to use my JawBone Bluetooth headset only to learn that it hasn’t been paired with the phone since it was reset. Not a big deal, but it does make it a little hard to use. I also noticed that my mobile favorites had not synced back to the device. If I recall, this is a bug with the Windows Mobile Device Center. Annoying, but again, not the end of the world.

I’ve included a screen shot of the task manager so you can see what applications are running on the device. The items that are below the fold are Ilium’s Screen Capture tool and the Task Manager itself.

Examining the Stability Problems in Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile is a buggy and unstable mobile operating system that requires daily, or if you’re lucky, weekly reboots to keep it running smoothly. You should install a close button replacement tool that will actually force applications to close instead of just the smart minimize that Windows Mobile does by default because Microsoft can’t seem to figure out how to manage memory on a mobile device.

Those words are pretty strong and perhaps a little harsh. Do people actually believe that Microsoft’s mobile operating system is that bad in managing memory? I would like to think that it’s not true. Every day I deal with customers who are managing hundreds or thousands of Windows Mobile devices and on a regular basis people ask me how they can force a reboot of the device on a given schedule. Most people that ask for this are looking to force the reboot in the middle of the night, or every Tuesday / Thursday / Sunday, or some other schedule that they’ve come to believe will magically fix all of their problems.

The real question is: why do they need to do this? I don’t question that they might be having problems with stability. In fact, I’m certain that a reboot will help them out. Most feel that Windows Mobile can’t cut it and requires the reboot just to clean up leaks in memory and whatnot. Ultimately allowing them to run their applications without crashes and hangs that they were experiencing before the reboot.

Is scheduling a reboot for the device really the best approach? Perhaps trying to determine the source of the problem and correcting it would be a better. While I do get request about forcing a reboot, there are plenty of other customers that never reboot their devices and almost never run into problems. What’s the difference? Why are some able to run for days/weeks/months without ever having to reboot the device. While others can’t seem to make it a couple days without the need to reboot. Is it the device? Perhaps one hardware manufacturer has done a better job than another? Possible, but unlikely. From the talks I’ve had with customers, the reboot crowd are not all running one type or make of device. It doesn’t matter if the device is a rugged device from Motorola, Intermec, or Honeywell, or if it’s a consumer device from HTC, Samsung, or Motorola.

Could it be Microsoft? [ ..Read More.. ]