Mary Jo Foley on GDR2 and GDR3

[Villain]

disheartening

my wants are simple and should be basically easy.

- Fix the storage... 16gb's I defended as enough without the need of an micro SD made me feel foolish for defending.
- Option to disable SMS toast notifications when locked (or at least a 3rd party app that can block)
- Notification center or a more customizatable Me tile.
- Custom Sound Profiles (usually have my device on silent so I can live without)


nothing insane... pretty basic wants

 

[lippidp]

The Mary Jo article also says that Microsoft is focusing on bringing in important apps and new devices. I think many people will be happy to hear that.

 

[D0gsballs]

I love how firstly that article is all conjecture and rumour, yet every single response is negative and acts like it's gospel.

Also, how many updates do Apple release a year? One major and a few very minor ones. It's exactly the same with Microsoft here. You can't expect constant roll outs of updates because of the amount of testing that has to be done, and stuff will always slip the net. You can test as much as you like but until it is in the real world you won't get a true idea of whether there are bugs because users always find a way to use software in a way it wasn't intended.

 

[broar94]

^^ They have to code only for WP8 and not for multitude of devices like how Android is so fragmented. There is only two types of Hardware for WP8: S4 1Ghz/512MB(Lumia 520/620/720, HTC 8S), S4 1.5Ghz/1GB(Lumia 820,920,928, Avtix S, HTC 8X). And even the apps that are available in the Marketplace has to be certified by MS, hence ensuring no low quality/malware apps running around. The user experience remains the same across all devices right?

 

[vish2801]

The Mary Jo article also says that Microsoft is focusing on bringing in important apps and new devices. I think many people will be happy to hear that.

And what it has to do with giving features ??? That's pathetic excuse...

 

[Ludwig1976]

I think MS is doing fine with the updates, we are getting 3 in one year including one big one. I feel that blue for the most part will bring in all the requested features. WP is stronger than ever now and things can only go upward rather than down.

WP has less features then any other mobile OS and has needed THREE updates focused exclusively on bug fixes in just one year.
This is a symptom of a poor OS, not of a strong one.

As concern about going upward rather then down.. well.. I think Blue will not introduce any new features or just few ones. WP is obviously focused on UI and not on features.

 

[SnailUK]

WP has less features then any other mobile OS and has needed THREE updates focused exclusively on bug fixes in just one year.
This is a symptom of a poor OS, not of a strong one.

And?

WP8 was a huge rewrite of WP, not just an evolution like iOS/Android. Such a huge rewrite of an OS is bound to introduce stability issues, and lets be honest, we know for sure large percentages of that we also device specific.

 

[ammarmalik2011]

And?

WP8 was a huge rewrite of WP, not just an evolution like iOS/Android. Such a huge rewrite of an OS is bound to introduce stability issues, and lets be honest, we know for sure large percentages of that we also device specific.

That rewrite was only 'under the hood' work. The NT kernel was already written for Windows 8, all they had to do was port it on the phone. The part that the user will interact with largely went unchanged. Things like notification center, rotation lock, separate volume profiles etc etc is what an end consumer cares about; not whether the OS has an NT kernel or not. Someone walks into a shop these are the things he will see.

 

[ammarmalik2011]

I love how firstly that article is all conjecture and rumour, yet every single response is negative and acts like it's gospel.

Also, how many updates do Apple release a year? One major and a few very minor ones. It's exactly the same with Microsoft here. You can't expect constant roll outs of updates because of the amount of testing that has to be done, and stuff will always slip the net. You can test as much as you like but until it is in the real world you won't get a true idea of whether there are bugs because users always find a way to use software in a way it wasn't intended.

Except that Apple updated the OS according to what the people wanted. When there were cries about the lack of a notification center, that is exactly what was included in the next iOS version. After iOS6 people complained about the same old looks, and guess what, rumour has it that iOS7 will have a revamped UI. I don't remember anyone asking Microsoft to shift to an NT kernel. Do you? I do remember a vast majority of people asking for volume profiles, rotation lock and notification center. It looks as if Microsoft is completely oblivious to what the people are demanding. They're locked up in their own world.

 

[vish2801]

Except that Apple updated the OS according to what the people wanted. When there were cries about the lack of a notification center, that is exactly what was included in the next iOS version. After iOS6 people complained about the same old looks, and guess what, rumour has it that iOS7 will have a revamped UI. I don't remember anyone asking Microsoft to shift to an NT kernel. Do you? I do remember a vast majority of people asking for volume profiles, rotation lock and notification center. It looks as if Microsoft is completely oblivious to what the people are demanding. They're locked up in their own world.

I disagree with you here, MS has to listen to dev community, too. NT has more potential than CE. But that major shift must not justify lack of some basic features...

 

[peacefulberry]

Um.... I don't think it will happen very soon. The Windows Devices don't have back button, which plays a very important role in Windows Phone devices. To unify them, either Windows Team adds a back button, or Windows Phone team removes it from a future update.

You mean Windows Phone doesn't have a forward button? My phone has a back button that gets used at least 100 times a day! Lol! Now, if you're taking about an exit button for apps, there's none of that yet...hopefully soon.

Update: I'm sorry were you taking about other Windows devices besides phones? Sorry, I misunderstood you...

 

[ammarmalik2011]

I disagree with you here, MS has to listen to dev community, too. NT has more potential than CE. But that major shift must not justify lack of some basic features...

By all means listen to the developer community. But the people who will buy your phone at the end of the day aren't developers, but the average smartphone user.

 

[Johnny Tremaine]

I would rather the updates be done right, than rushed out the door and done half assed.

???
You would think that we're talking about a tiny startup with limited resources and few employees.
This is Microsoft, as in the giant multi-national, multi-Billion Dollar software concern, with unlimited resources, budget, and pool of employees. The same Microsoft that spent around a Billion just on marketing Windows Phone.
So, yeah.

 

[SomethingSomethingDarkSide]

By all means listen to the developer community. But the people who will buy your phone at the end of the day aren't developers, but the average smartphone user.

People won't buy your phones unless the apps are there

 

[fardream]

People won't buy your phones unless the apps are there

To get apps on your platform, MSFT should stop developing features for windows phone?

 

[jlzimmerman]

Allegedly, the Windows Phone team thinks that the current base phone operating system is largely good enough for now.

For now, I would agree. Apple has had the same UI on the iPhone for almost 6 years now. Make a stable, reliable, and highly functional platform and the masses will bow to your feet year-after-year.
There are bigger fish to fry at the moment like fully-baked apps, market share, and Enterprise support (EAP, VPN, etc...).

 

[jlzimmerman]

How do I tell Microsoft to include Rotation lock(or screen orientation lock) in their next update? Anyone knows? Thank you!

Feature Suggestions: Hot (27661 ideas)

 

[eric12341]

[WARN] If we cannot discuss this in a civil manner then this thread will have the same fate as the last one on this topic[/WARN]

 

[Angry_Mushroom]

I did see one major update that I've wanted. "Updates" to Xbox music.

 

[Jupast]

I would rather the updates be done right, than rushed out the door and done half assed.

I'm assuming they have more than three people working on Windows Phone. Exactly how much time do they need to implement some of the most requested features? Another year? Two?

Seriously, how hard can it be to add custom email/sms tones (for example) when custom ringtones is already sitting right there in the People Hub. Even Thurrott is getting fed up with this teams lack of action, and he loves Windows Phone, even has an excellent online Book about it. If he's losing patience, is it any wonder so many other people are.

I sincerely hope we get some surprises in GD2 that they're just not mentioning.