WM6 vs. WM5 - Is it worth it?

[tcestes]

Hello all, only been on this forum for a few days but have found it EXTREMELY helpful and useful thus far.

I've seen all the threads about upgrading your wizard to WM6, and would like to know from all of you that have sucessfully upgraded to WM6, is it worth it? I'm a little scared about having my phone turn into a brick if I screw something up, and wonder if the wizard seems to run any quicker or slower with WM6 and if the features that WM6 has is worth upgrading to?

[paranormalenigma]

Personally I felt the same way as well, until I decided go go ahead and upgrade, and it's definitely been worth it for me - WM6 just runs faster, smoother, looks better, and is overall worth the upgrade. Upgrading my 8125 to WM6 cleared up a lot of issues I had, and I actually had much better battery life using WM6 compared to WM5. On top of that, I experienced fewer slowdowns and hangs on WM6, and honestly, most of the custom-cooked WM6 roms on here are so customized with so many extra features that definitely make the upgrade worthwhile. If you read and follow directions you shouldn't have a problem. As for me, I'm glad I upgraded to WM6 and never looked back :D

[Azimuth21]

so i am in exactly the same boat as tcestes, very intrigued by wm6 and wanting to flash, but if only there wasn't the nasty possibility of "misreading" the flashing guides as "how to make an expensive paperweight"...

I've read and followed a lot of discussions about flashing, so that isn't the issue. There's always this sense of fear of the unknown, i suppose.

[tcestes]

Can someone tell me what features are gained by upgrading to WM6? I don't want to upgrade just so I can say, "Hey, I have WM6!" lol. What's to gain, feature-wise?

[dferreira]

Actually there's a lot new on WM6...mainly new shortcuts to do things you do on WM5 too, new applications (office2007), windows live, etc... but IMHO, it makes my Wizard slower than when I have WM5... With the latest AKU (3.3), it almost the same thing as WM6 (not with that glassy look tho and cute new brand spectacular (you got the idea) icons.

My personal experience is... don't try to fix what ain't broken. Only if you are having problems, you should consider trying the cooked ROMs here ( many of them include new software and some fixes ).

[rumble291]

As soon as i got my wizard i upgraded it to WM6 compared with WM5 its alot faster and looks nicer. Rom flashing wont go wrong if you follow the instructions on this site and dont try flashing with another devices Rom. Having WM6 is good cause u can have everything on it like all the programs avaliable where as with WM5 some applications cant run on it. You can upgrade without forking out money by using Shelltool (in the Wizard Mobile 6) forum if u follow the instructions you can flash any rom to your wizard by using it. Currently i have XDA Mobile 6 r2a which is pretty good.

[user0000]

I find that WM6 has much better networking. For example my WPA2 wireless setup was impossible to connect to with my KJam/Wizard with the Imate WM5. Once flashed with WM6 it connects properly, I think it's also quicker to pickup the wireless network. The IE browser even though still a problem with most sites seems a little more compatible with pages and faster. Office is newer and even though I can't put my finger on it, it seems better.

[bilharri]

I just recently upgraded my 8125 running wm5 after many days of deciding whether or not to do it. It was definitely worth it for me. However, I must admit that I read hundreds of forum notes about upgrading roms. I'm currently running SeeNoEvil v2.0q - Thanks Wizeman! I also updated my radio to 2.69.11. The difference for me was very evident. I'm running more programs now and my wizard is still faster than before. If you guys decide to do it just read everything so you don't create a brick. Once again, I must give many thanks to Wizeman and all the talented developers here.

[funman]

Can i just add that it is well worth try WM6, It added in some new stuff and fixes some old stuff!

Flashing a phone is so simple, and it is really hard to brick your phone now!! If you just follow what is said, you have close to 0% of brinking it!

[observer_wizard]

After performing a clean hard reset (running on WM5), I did not allow my device to install all the stuff from extended rom so I would have way much more free storage space on my device.
All the stuff I needed, I installed myself manually, a well as windows live and some other stuff from WM6 that works fine on my device.

I did a lot of reg. tweaks, and added some third party apps.

Result...my device has almost everything that you guys have on WM6, and is working as fast as yours with minimum battery drain.

It is far better optimized for use with finger and D-pad than I found WM6 to be in any WM6 rom.

I see no point to upgrade this device as well to WM6.

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/3254/capture12072007085439wc5.png http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/5072/capture12072007085456xv3.png

[nothin]

After performing a clean hard reset

very nice screenshots, but i cant see point in using WA2 on wizard i.e...

[kernelguy]

1. In my stock O2 ROM, I could not figure out a way to turn off the 'advanced feature' of activesync - it tries to set up a network with the computer. With the very strict firewall that I am forced to install on my PC, I could not get activesync to work via USB. WM6 provides a simple way to turn off this feature. This may be possible in WM5 by registry tweaks, but I could not figure that out.

2. Internet sharing works well on WM6. I could not get this easily in WM5.

3. I definitely found the many ROMs on this site lighter and faster than the stock ROM on my PDA.

kernelguy

[zakhir_n]

I also have found some nicer features on custom built WM6 ROMS, that were not on stock WM5.

1. Office 2007 and support for docx, xslx, etc...
2. HTML support in emails
3. Easier shortcuts, like having a link to the folders in the Menu options for email, sms, etc...
4. Faster, more stable, more RAM, better choice of included programs.
5. Internet sharing is easier to use
6. Youtube support, and streaming media player.

In my opinion, the WM5 carrier ROMs had a low amount of program and storage memory, and a bad choice of included programs.

Upgrading to any custom built ROM whether it be an AKU 2, 3, or WM6 ROM was smarter just because you would be getting better programs with more RAM and storage memory. WM6 includes some features that I listed above, so that is why I believe its the way to go.

However, if these things don't matter, and you are happy with everything your phone currently does, don't bother. There are some bugs, and things you may not want to deal with, and if you aren't interested in the features WM6 has to offer, I agree in not going through the trouble of upgrading and finding the ROM that best suites your needs.

That's my 2 cents...hope it helps.

[MichaelTV]

What are the bugs you notice in WM6, if I may ask? Any better than the bugs in WM5? :P

[edit] Thanks for the info =D Sticking with WM5...

[jasongw]

What are the bugs you notice in WM6, if I may ask? Any better than the bugs in WM5? :P

I loved WM6, but the fact that the damn wizard misses half or *more* of its calls when using a WM6 rom is simply unacceptable. It's a PHONE, after all, if it doesn't receive calls I might as well just carry an actual phone and use this as a PDA, separately.

I really wish that call issue would get worked out, because if it did I'd upgrade in a heartbeat, but the bottom line is that the Wizard is a PHONE, and it needs to be able to receive calls reliably.

With WM6, it doesn't.

[jasongw]

After performing a clean hard reset (running on WM5), I did not allow my device to install all the stuff from extended rom so I would have way much more free storage space on my device.
All the stuff I needed, I installed myself manually, a well as windows live and some other stuff from WM6 that works fine on my device.

I did a lot of reg. tweaks, and added some third party apps.

Result...my device has almost everything that you guys have on WM6, and is working as fast as yours with minimum battery drain.

It is far better optimized for use with finger and D-pad than I found WM6 to be in any WM6 rom.

I see no point to upgrade this device as well to WM6.

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/3254/capture12072007085439wc5.png http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/5072/capture12072007085456xv3.png

Do you have a copy of this image in a downloadable/flashable form? Or how about, worst case scenario, a list of the apps you used and how to set it up like that? Your screens rock!

[observer_wizard]

very nice screenshots, but i cant see point in using WA2 on wizard i.e...
I use WA2 because of it's specific features that I can't get from any other software or reg tweak :P

Do you have a copy of this image in a downloadable/flashable form? Or how about, worst case scenario, a list of the apps you used and how to set it up like that? Your screens rock!
It takes some work to get this done.
I use a diferent dialer (zPhone), a new dark htc phone pad, windows live function, WA2 with dark vista skin (pretty modified, removed start menu and a lot of other things out of my way because I don't nead them...I can get to start menu when I press date for two seconds...etc.), modified iLauncher with modified black .tsk theme to get those tab's feeling on iLauncher, I moved SPB suite addon on bottom, removed tray, done a lot of reg tweaking, and replaced some WM apps with better ones.
For example...uder "Dict" lies Lingvosoft dictionary, under "Video" lies Core player, under "music" lies PocketMusic, under "Photo" lies Resco photo viewer, under "Record" lies Virtual Recorder, and so on (Resco explorer, PhatPad, Omega 1-Calc, Reg editor, Picsel Browser, SKTools, Bluezard, several GPS Navigational software, Opera, Stopwatch, several technical engineering programs...etc.).

Also modified Hard buttons...check http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/77/mojvariogm8.jpg
Removed markings ftom butons and changed their function's...so now top left button minimises an app, while the right one closes the running application.
Voice button is activated only after I hold it for 2 sec, while if I only press it it is then used for screen rotation...etc.



As you can see, I have done some work on the device, and for me there is no WM6 that serves me better than the system I have now.

Tried it before but...had a problem with incoming call's, some of option buttons and tabs missed text in them...phone sometimes restarted on it's own etc.

I do not want to see any of WM6 rom's again until (or if) an official one comes out.

My device is now stable as hell, fast as it can be, and has a very easy to use interface.

There is no one that can make me go back on some home made WM6 rom :P

[xdawiz]

I just recently upgraded my 8125 running wm5 after many days of deciding whether or not to do it. It was definitely worth it for me. However, I must admit that I read hundreds of forum notes about upgrading roms. I'm currently running SeeNoEvil v2.0q - Thanks Wizeman! I also updated my radio to 2.69.11. The difference for me was very evident. I'm running more programs now and my wizard is still faster than before. If you guys decide to do it just read everything so you don't create a brick. Once again, I must give many thanks to Wizeman and all the talented developers here.

Hi bilharri.

Can I know from where did u get the Radio rom.I am now running:


ROM Version:10.1.0.811WWE
ROM Date:8/11/06
Radio version:02.07.10
Protocol version:413.1.03

Thinking of changing my Radio ROM.Hope what you have is a new version than what i am currently on.

Thankyou.

[xdawiz]

I loved WM6, but the fact that the damn wizard misses half or *more* of its calls when using a WM6 rom is simply unacceptable. It's a PHONE, after all, if it doesn't receive calls I might as well just carry an actual phone and use this as a PDA, separately.

I really wish that call issue would get worked out, because if it did I'd upgrade in a heartbeat, but the bottom line is that the Wizard is a PHONE, and it needs to be able to receive calls reliably.

With WM6, it doesn't.

Experiencing the same problem here.What radio ROM version do you have ?Lets try to figure out a solution cause the performance is far better compared to WM5.So cant roll back