The No Reboot Challenge

We're a bit late to this party, but it's a good party, hopping even, what with Mike Temporale and Christopher Spera (for whom it's not going so hot) in on the action. Here's the deal:

In order to show that Windows Mobile isn't as crashy as its reputation, let's see how long we can go with our Windows Mobile devices without rebooting. Bonus points for doing it without force-quitting anything.

This will be a tough one for yours-truly to take part in as I always use my main phone to test software (otherwise it's not much of a test) and I'm always testing software that I don't fully know or trust. I'm also an inveterate lover of Beta software, so there's that too. Nevertheless, I'm in too, guys, call me the outlier: No resets or force quits (or even using “X to close!”) on a Treo Pro and I'm going to leave stuff like the SEVEN Beta and Opera 9.5 Beta on and will keep using them. I expect the occasional need to force quit apps every now and then, but I'm hoping to make it a few days before a force quit and at least a week before a reboot.

Still and all, anecdotally speaking I know for a fact that I've gone over a week without resetting my Motorola Q9h even though it was loaded to the gills with 3rd party software, Beta or no. Certainly I've had more stability on Windows Mobile than I have with the latest iPhone ROMs (and I'm not the only one).

Willing to join in? If you are, comment on this post with your device, notable software, and start time. Head on back to this post and comment again if you've had to reset or force quit an app. We'll check back in two weeks and see how everybody did. Heck, keeping track of this is hard, so we'll give away a 20% Off WMExperts Store Coupon to 2 participants chosen randomly from the comments here.

Bonus: Predictions? I predict that WM Standard devices will last longer than WM Pro devices. Just putting that out there.

...Ready ...Set ....GO!

WC Staff
16 Comments
  • Excellent! Bringing my relatively virgin Q9h to the party.
  • Does that include the automatic reset that Sprite backup does in the evenings?
  • [quote=phrogpilot73;1488935]Does that include the automatic reset that Sprite backup does in the evenings?
    I was about to ask the same thing.
  • OOOOH. Tough one! That reset would completely nullify the test, don't you think?
  • Yup, kind of makes it pointless.
  • C'mon ... We're using Windows Mobile, we should be used to living dangerously! Automatic backup now ... off!
  • LOL if windows mobile is living dangerously then POS is playing russian roulette with a two shooter......
    I've gone weeks with a reset so I'm game!
  • Start as in now? So the last two weeks sans reset don't count?
  • There is no way I will do the autobackup off - the data I collect and work with is just too important. That said, I have had 1 reset since taking possession of the 800W. Stability - not a problem. The ONLY real issue I have is the alarm problem - sometimes it does and sometimes it does not.
  • Hi Dieter & everyone else!
    Thanks for joining in the challenge. I've been running for 7 days now without any reboots or forcefully killing any applications. Oh, and I agree, I think the Standard devices will last longer than the Pro ones.
    Cheers!
  • im in treo 750 loaded with stuff and like you dieter i will be testing a lot of buggy software
  • Crap ... I'm no longer "Master of my Windows Mobile domain," with apologies to George Kostanza.
    But what am I supposed to do if Opera won't open? Use PIE?
  • @Phil - I always considered Opera a pretty stable app. I'm a little shocked that you're having problems with it. That sucks.
  • I'll give it a shot on my Sprint Touch. I have a ton of stuff on it, including the Skyfire beta. Mostly I run PIE and a twitter app plus Kinoma, and lots of push email. Starting........NOW! (12:23am, 8/28/08)
  • My Mogul (a/k/a Mongrel) freezes every night on the charger. :(
    We both need a soft reset in the morning- it with a stylus and me with a coffee!
  • dam 3g got stuck and i had to reboot two days after i took the challenge...then my iphone froze. lol