If you want to get a soft copy of the new 61 page (PDF) Windows Mobile 6 Reference Manual, head over to Jason Langridge’s blog (Microsoft’s Mr. Mobile) for a download link. The manual describes 6’s features in various categories. The New Features By Audience section starts on PDF page 4 and is categorized by Mobile Operators, OEMs, Business Customers, IT Professional, and Developers. Note Consumers is not a category considered at all. The bad news is that reading the first four columns of features may put you to sleep. The good news (features) tends to be in the Developers column. If developers take advantage like AJAX support, SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition, and the new Sound API, we should see some interesting 3rd party apps in the future. But, out of the box, 6 doesn’t look like anything to write home about (and remember, I say this as a person who likes Windows Mobile).

There are a lot of screencaps to illustrate the features as they are described in detail throughout the rest of he document.

Let’s hope we see something more interesting in Windows Mobile 7. Maybe, the Apple iPhone and Nokia  N95 will inspire Microsoft. Until then, 6 depends on the talent and marketing skills of 3rd party developers to make the platform interesting.