HTC plans to release the Dream phone later this year as well as families of Android powered smartphones in the coming years. Android empowers HTC to now have an open source operating system that will cost them zero dollars in licensing fees, plus the freedom to tweak, modify and deploy as they see fit. Unlike their relationship with Microsoft, the company has to pay licensing fee per device that’s running Windows Mobile with little say in what they can modify to the core OS. Well that’s about to change with Android.Android phones are starting to slowly come out of the woodwork with no official production ready models being announced yet. However there is an event in London involving HTC on May 6th, a company that vowed to release the first Android phone. They are also known for making some of the best Windows Mobile handsets that are on the market. So the question is, how does Microsoft feel about this, and more specifically, how will manufacturers like HTC keep the peace within their own companies?

Monday, Apr 14th 2008 by James Allan Brady for SlashGear

It just wouldn’t make sense for mobile phone manufacturers like HTC to make the exact same phone twice just offering your choice of Android or Windows Mobile, it would kind of be nice, but exclusive handsets tipped to one OS or the other are what really moves units. For example, would the XPERIA X1 be such a big deal if it wasn’t running the next generation of Windows Mobile software? Maybe, but I’d guess not.

At the same time, the HTC Dream, when its released, will likely be the pinnacle of HTC’s design and manufacturing capabilities, but will never officially see the Windows Mobile OS on its precious little ROM chips. So, how does that make Microsoft feel that occasionally, their top manufacturers are going to choose to put and open source mobile OS on their phones instead of opting to install Windows Mobile on the device?

Personally I could care less if Windows Mobile got any more attention until the release a completely new version of the mobile OS that isn’t complete shite, however, my personal opinion matters little. So, do you the readers think that Microsoft will stop working with vendors that manufacture Android handsets, or if they will Coexist peacefully in natural harmony together? Lastly, how many of you would like to see an OS option on the mobile handset purchases negating the need to choose a phone based on OS instead of features?