Everybody realises that software requires hardware on which to run. And, if the performance of the hardware falls short, even the most carefully crafted code will also disappoint.

Conversely inadequate software will handicap even the most innovative hardware.

Yet up to now few commentators have thought the problems associated with Windows Mobile might be caused solely by inadequacies in the handsets on which the OS has been installed.

But yesterday, in an all day meeting with financial analysts and investors Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division, raised precisely that possibility.

Conceding that it had been a “challenging year” Bach was quoted by The Wall Street Journal as saying: “To date, we haven’t done as good a job as I would like building relationships and getting the right integration with our hardware partners.”

“You’re going to see dramatic improvement in integration,” he announced.

In other words, had Microsoft only been able to get the right integration with the likes of HTC, LG and Samsung, then Windows Mobile would not have lost market share.

Bach told analysts: “If your point is we haven't advanced Windows Mobile as fast as we like, I think the answer is that's true."

"You are going to see that change," he added.

He then went on to take direct aim at Apple.

“You will have a very rich browsing experience on (Windows Mobile) 6.5 devices. It will give you access to more websites than you will be able to get to on an iPhone that will work actively and work well. It really is a much better experience," he promised.

Given the opprobrium that invariably greets any mobile installation of Internet Explorer, this is indeed a bold claim.

To be fair Bach did admit: “We've made a lot of changes on the team in the last 12 months and that is starting to bear fruit."

But nobody really expects anything more than incremental improvements on earlier versions of Windows Mobile once 6.5 is released this autumn. So the offer of Flash is the only probable explanation, and that alone is unlikely to improve significantly upon the iPhone experience.

Of course it is no surprise that Bach should refuse to accept that Apple is the only fruit.

“The fundamentals of our strategy,” he proclaimed, “are based on the idea of choice and selection. It is our view that one model, one type of phone is not going to build volume into that critical mass that we think we need to make the business successful.

“We have people who are going to want Qwerty keyboard, touch keyboard, big screen, people who want small screens. People who will make trade offs on battery life to do media.

“So it is our view we need to work closely with Samsung, LG, HP, HTC, Sony Ericcson and others to build a broad selection of phones with different price points and different functionality.”

Noticeably Bach made no mention of Toshiba. But then, following almost universal agreement that the functionality of the TG01 has been seriously impaired by the choice of Windows Mobile as the operating system, it is perhaps to be expected.

Equally, in continuing to try to be everything to everybody, Bach risks a constant chorus of “Jack”, “Trades”, “Master” and “None”.

That said, Bach did claim: “You’ll see our execution rhythm pick up and the quality of our execution improve.”

We can only hope that in talking about the quality of execution, Bach was directly referring to the performance of the Windows Mobile application, rather than its integration.

Because the fact remains, even good code needs to walk before it can run.