Where's the features from Pocket PC, Windows Mobile 2003, WM5, WM6, etc?

[cbreze]

I was a big wm fan back those many years ago and found myself very disappointed with the new wp8. I personally liked the old UI and its more varied functionality, not to even mention the total customizations that could be done with different roms. I also completely understand microsofts need to modernize and that's what they did in trying to compete with the likes of the iPhone. I was planning on getting a WP device but after checking it out pretty thoroughly I've decided to pass on it. I'm not putting w8 on my computer either tho. Just me, old school functionality all the way.

 

[SinisterDuck]

They added something like 200+ features since WM, and you're complaining about 4 that didn't make the cut?

You're acting like a Windows Phone is crippled or something. Volume control. Blah.

 

[iamtim]

Nobody is saying that Microsoft should rehash Windows Mobile. I'm saying that the underlying smartphone functionality (they're both still smartphones, right? ) of Windows Mobile should be embedded into Windows Phone so that new adopters don't feel limited in what they can do on it.

So you want Windows Mobile with a new UI... that worked SO well in WM 6.5.

(For what it's worth? I *am* a new adopter and I don't feel limited in any way, shape, or form.)

 

[anon(1019781)]

You're acting like a Windows Phone is crippled or something. Volume control. Blah.

It is crippled in a lot of ways compared to phones that Microsoft itself offered 7 to 10 years ago throughout the life of Windows Mobile 2003 to Windows Mobile 6.1

Do you not see anything wrong with that? Why are you ok with the gimping of functionality when the software maker is by no means a stranger to the smartphone market and is losing the competition against absolute newcomers?

 

[anon(1019781)]

So you want Windows Mobile with a new UI... that worked SO well in WM 6.5.

Tim, you make a lot of assumptions when you debate. Stop that. It's quite silly.

What I want is for Microsoft to make a serious effort at giving their Windows Phone userbase the features that they had in their earlier iterations of a mobile OS. As we can see from their offerings for the past 2 years, this is simply not the case. People should have basic things like separate volume controls in their mobile OS as well as the many other things that have been left behind.

(For what it's worth? I *am* a new adopter and I don't feel limited in any way, shape, or form.)

What smartphones have you owned in the past?

 

[SinisterDuck]

It is crippled in a lot of ways compared to phones that Microsoft itself offered 7 to 10 years ago throughout the life of Windows Mobile 2003 to Windows Mobile 6.1

Do you not see anything wrong with that? Why are you ok with the gimping of functionality when the software maker is by no means a stranger to the smartphone market and is losing the competition against absolute newcomers?

You seriously think a buyer is going to skip WP because they can't attach a PDF? Then they'd skip Apple too. Blah.

 

[George Ponder]

What specifically are we missing from Windows Mobile?

 

[anon(1019781)]

You seriously think a buyer is going to skip WP because they can't attach a PDF? Then they'd skip Apple too. Blah.

And mosey on over to Android.

This is an opportunity that Windows Phone has in the bag and Microsoft is dropping the ball in a lot of ways that should have been rectified with WP8 from the onset.

 

[iamtim]

Tim, you make a lot of assumptions when you debate. Stop that. It's quite silly.

I'm just replying in kind.

What I want is for Microsoft to make a serious effort at giving their Windows Phone userbase the features that they had in their earlier iterations of a mobile OS.

What you want is for Microsoft to put out the OS that YOU want for YOU. You're totally disregarding the people who are happy with Windows Phone 8 and the new direction Microsoft is taking to NOT be just another smartphone, to NOT be just another rehash of all the things they've put in smartphones for years that didn't work for them.

If that's what you want, fine, but don't begrudge those who don't want it, or are willing to try Microsoft's new mobile phone paradigm... because it just might turn out to be better than what they did before. Remember, as you said yourself, they have 12 years of mobile phone experience. Is it possible that they learned from their mistakes and are trying something new to correct them?

What smartphones have you owned in the past?

From first smartphone to most recent: BlackBerry 7105, BlackBerry 8700, Verizon VX6900 (rebranded HTC Touch), iPhone 2, T-Mobile G3 (rebranded HTC something, the first "real" Android phone), iPhone 3G, Samsung Captivate, BlackBerry 8810, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, Nokia Lumia 920 (only for a week), HTC 8X (only for a week), and Nokia Lumia 820.

 

[WPmunkey]

I think the real issue here is user error

 

[SinisterDuck]

Maybe 50 of them would mosey. Tops. I'm sure MS is shaking in their boots.

And maybe MS didn't want that bag. That's why there's choice. If those 4 things it doesn't have are so important, move along.

It's kind of sad to whine about what we don't have and discount all we do.

 

[anon(1019781)]

What specifically are we missing from Windows Mobile?

Ringer profiles, custom notification sounds, bluetooth file transfer, mass storage mode, file manager, no ability to create and save playlists, no way to block calls, no native sending of contacts, and a bunch of other things that even dumbphones can do but Windows Phone does not.

Microsoft took Windows Mobile and basically made their version of the iPhone. What they should have done is taken all of iPhone's strengths and none of its weaknesses in order to fend off BOTH iPhone and Android in the smartphone market.

 

[anon(1019781)]

I'm just replying in kind.

I've made no assumptions.

What you want is for Microsoft to put out the OS that YOU want for YOU. You're totally disregarding the people who are happy with Windows Phone 8 and the new direction Microsoft is taking to NOT be just another smartphone, to NOT be just another rehash of all the things they've put in smartphones for years that didn't work for them.

A Windows Phone that has all of the legacy features that Windows Mobile had and updated them to work intuitively with the Metro UI would have worked for everybody. Nobody would feel left out unless they didn't care for the UI. However, on this very forum, you'll see a lot of threads where people get upset at Windows Phone's shortcomings. Why? Because Microsoft is staying too close to the Apple way of doing things rather than keeping some of the old Windows Mobile way of doing things.

The only reason Microsoft failed in the past was because their phones were too expensive, bulky, ugly, and too limited and detached in how you interacted with their devices. Apple solved that problem for them with the touch capacitive glass-covered UI. Instead of just taking that UI paradigm alone and making their version of it with the extra freedom and functionality of their tried and true Windows Mobile devices, they played it safe by copying pretty much everything Apple is doing with their platform....back in 2007

From first smartphone to most recent: BlackBerry 7105, BlackBerry 8700, Verizon VX6900 (rebranded HTC Touch), iPhone 2, T-Mobile G3 (rebranded HTC something, the first "real" Android phone), iPhone 3G, Samsung Captivate, BlackBerry 8810, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, Nokia Lumia 920 (only for a week), HTC 8X (only for a week), and Nokia Lumia 820.

Those old Blackberries did a lot of things that your Windows Phone can't and you don't feel limited in any way? Really? I came from a Blackberry and I wasn't content with any smartphone other than BB until I finally got Android 4.0

 

[Long Syntax]

The loss of some legacy features is for the same reason we don't need local sync for outlook. For others its because MS spent the time unifying their core products around the same win 8 kernel in hopes of leveraging their huge windows user base. Admittedly this was at the expense of getting all the features they wanted in the final build - things like a central notification center. Only time will tell if this strategy pays off.

 

[SinisterDuck]

. . . I came from a Blackberry and I wasn't content with any smartphone other than BB until I finally got Android 4.0

Then why are you here?

 

[anon(1019781)]

Then why are you here?

I am platform agnostic. I would jump ship to any platform that does the most for me. Also, the Mobile Nations passport made it easy for me to come here and criticize all 3 major platforms. Android however, does get these least criticism from me. I would like Windows Phone to be a good middle between Android and iPhone, but its skewing too far to iPhone-status circa 2008 for me to make it my daily driver.

 

[iamtim]

rather than keeping some of the old Windows Mobile way of doing things

Have you looked at the results of your very own poll so far?

Those old Blackberries did a lot of things that your Windows Phone can't and you don't feel limited in any way?

I have a soft spot for the 8700 form factor but other than that, IMHO, the BB OS has always sucked... it's only strength was the push email, but having to run a separate server for it (whether a full BES server or the BIS service) was balls and created an additional point of failure in the system. With EAS, there is nothing any of the BBs I had did that ANY other phone I had didn't do better and easier. So, to answer your question, no.

 

[SinisterDuck]

Ringer profiles, custom notification sounds, bluetooth file transfer, mass storage mode, file manager, no ability to create and save playlists, no way to block calls, no native sending of contacts, and a bunch of other things that even dumbphones can do but Windows Phone does not.

You should illuminate us on what the "bunch" is. Being vague is not helpful, but since you admittedly only like to criticize, I'm not expecting much.

You can also scratch off "no native sending of contacts" as that's in WP8.

 

[jdevenberg]

To put it as simply as I can, all those features make for a complicated, unintuitive phone experience. It takes a lot of work to get a lot of those features right, and doing them poorly will make your product a failure.

That is why Windows Mobile failed. By all accounts, it was a much more capable OS than iPhone OS was in 2007/2008, but because it was complicated and difficult to use, it failed. Microsoft decided to start with less features and do them exceptionally well, then add features over time, and also do them exceptionally well, when it started its new OS. Since they realized that the consumer market was where the money was, especially with more companies going BYOD, so they went with features that were more important to consumers. Your average consumer thinks Facebook integration is cool and doesn't care if they can attach a PDF to an email. They care more about a good browser than separate volume controls (I would like those for the record)

I really can't think of a ton of features that Windows Mobile had that Windows Phone lacks. More file types for email attachments, separate volume controls, and what else? They both have customizable home screens that provide a variety of info at a glance. Both have multi-tasking (different approaches, but both have it). Both have touch screens. Most users don't need different ringer profiles, most are fine putting it on vibrate when they don't want sound and don't need different ring tones at work than they do in private. File managers and making playlists are tedious to use on phones and most people do not use them when they are present. Almost every feature you listed is a niche feature that most people do not use. Microsoft wanted to make an OS that would be great for the majority of people out of the box, not an OS that could be everything to everyone. If you need that level of personalization on a phone, get and stick with Android. It is much closer to WM than WP is. I disliked WM and I dislike using Android. Believe it or not, a lot of people want a phone to be SIMPLE, not complicated. The only reason Android is number one is it undercuts iOS on price and beat Windows Phone to market. If Android and Windows Phone had come to market the same day, Windows Phone would have slaughtered Android because it offer an experience that, for your general consumer, is vastly superior.

 

[thekonger]

In case you guys weren't aware, Microsoft has been making smartphones since the year 2000, 7 years before the iPhone came out. It had TONS of features to compete with the featureset of Symbian, Blackberry, and Palm Treo.

I can see why Google and Apple don't have all the features of those smartphones since they entered the smartphone market late, but why is Microsoft not putting the 12 years of features they've had in all those mobile platforms into Windows Phone? Where's the separate volumes? Where's the notification center? Where's the advanced email functionality? Why can't I directly attach a PDF to an email in WP8?

Is anybody out there old enough to remember that Microsoft was rolling out stylus-based smartphones WAYYYYY before the iPhone? Why are all those features suddenly gone? Why has Windows Phone been out for 2 years already and Microsoft still hasn't put those 12 years of legacy smartphone features into Windows Phone? Don't you guys think that Windows Phone could take off so much faster if Microsoft took advantage of those 12 years of features and rolled out the most feature packed smartphone on the market, making both iPhone and Android look like toys in comparison?

Where's all of this?

View attachment 24375

Seriously, guys, why are we suddenly ok with a company who has made advanced smartphones for 12 years suddenly roll out a smartphone with very few legacy smartphone features the same way Apple did with the iPhone?

Because WP8 leap-frogged Android and iOS.