Paul Thurrott: Years ago, I received an invitation to participate in a Microsoft project that was codenamed Pegasus. Back then, these invites were sent by paper mail, not email, and NDAs had to be signed and physically returned before they were considered valid. It was 1996, and Microsoft was entering the market for personal digital assistants (PDAs) with a product that would go on to be called Windows CE. And yes, "CE" really did originally stand for "consumer electronics," though the software giant has been denying that for years for some reason.

Windows CE and its derivatives evolved rapidly, if fitfully, over the years. CE begat such products as the Palm-Sized PC (sued into non-existence by Palm Inc.), Pocket PC, and then Windows Mobile. That latter product has changed over time to address the needs of the market, first with cellular phone capabilities and then later with over-the-air (OTA) access to Exchange and other services, and with voice capabilities. In its fiscal 2008 year, which ended June 30, Microsoft sold something north of 18 million Windows Mobile licenses, good enough for 13 percent of the worldwide smart phone market. The company also brags about more than 18,000 applications being available for Windows Mobile devices.

Sounds pretty good, eh? There's just one problem. Windows Mobile is doomed.