At the Mobile World Congress 2010, Microsoft had introduced its Windows Phone 7 operating system and also talked about the devices based on the software. At present, the company is dominating the PC operating system’s market, but only building momentum in the world of mobile operating systems with the new WinMo 7 software.

Earlier also the company had tried many times to rule the mobile segment with its innovative products, but could not built products like Apple’s iPhone. Here, the feature discusses its various mobile products that failed to rule mobile world.

WinPad, or Microsoft at Work for Handhelds

In 1990, Microsoft had worked on devices based on the alpha versions of the Windows CE operating system. One among them was WinPad, which is a PDA-like operating system. The company also indicated in 1994 that it had yet to complete code on WinPad. It was said that the devices based on WinPad use a Polaris chip with a 386 core and powered by Windows 95-like operating system called Microsoft at Work. However, the company had scrapped the WinPad platform due to its troubles at work.

Palm-sized PCs

Microsoft had launched a new category in 1996, called Handheld PCs, which can be compared to present netbooks. Also, they were known as Palm-sized PCs and powered by a version of Windows CE operating system. But, the Palm-sized PCs never took off and only laid the concept of the Pocket PC platform.

Windows XP Tablet Edition

Microsoft had launched its Windows XP operating system in 2000. The software was adopted by masses and to encash more from the new release; the company had designed a version for tablets, called Windows XP Tablet Edition. With the new software, the company had introduced Pen computing with the use of Stylus, handwriting analysis and voice recognition. However, due to high prices, lack of power management and heat release from the device created negative impression in the users mind.

Redmond giant had refreshed its tablet edition in 2005, but could not succeed in satisfying the expectations of the users.

Ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs)

In 2006, the company had created much hype with its "Project Origami." It was rumored that the device was some kind of Windows based gaming device that would compete with the PlayStation Portable. The company also showcased a device, called the Oqo model 02, which is claimed to be the smallest fully functional computer. In 2009, Microsoft had introduced few experimental models for the UMPCs, which was similar to the tiny netbooks released by ASUS, called Asus EEE PC.

Microsoft’s Project Pink

From last year, it has been rumored that the company is secretly working on ‘Project Pink’ to compete with Apple’s iPhone. Now, after the release of new operating system for mobiles, the rumor is in news again. It is expected that the company will merge the project pink with Windows Phone 7.