[Opinion] Windows 10 Mobile is not going to be successful anytime soon

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Erik Murin

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Hello guys, I have read the FAQ, as I understood, there's nothing wrong in posting articles here. If I'm wrong, please corrrect me before I'm getting banned :grin:. If you enjoy staying in WindowsCentral forum, just scroll down and read, I have copied full article (except images and some text under those images), but if you want to read the article in my blog with all the visual content, you can do that by going to <redacted by Moderator> (I cannot post links just yet). This is only an opinion and I don't say that Windows 10 Mobile will not see any success. I just say it won't success soon. Anyway, I'm waiting for any comments.

Microsoft has recently launched its new mobile operating system or simply an update for Windows Phone 8 – Windows 10 Mobile. At first glance you could say that it looks cool – it has Continuum, universal apps, improved user interface, new Microsoft Edge browser, and so on. You’d say, it’s quite a big update and Microsoft should be back to the mobile game soon. You are not right. Windows 10 Mobile is not going to give Microsoft any more market share anytime soon and let me tell you why.

Microsoft cannot catch up with the hardware

Nokia Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL, two new flagship devices with Windows 10 Mobile, were launched in 2015 November. Both these devices have pretty similar specs – QHD AMOLED screen, 3 GB of RAM, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (Lumia 950) or 810 (Lumia 950 XL) processor along with 32 gigs of expandable storage. These specs sound really good for a 2015 flagship device, but the problem is that 2015 has almost ended. It doesn’t mean that Snapdragon 808 and 810 will instantly become obsolete, but we are going to get new devices with Snapdragon 820, Samsung’s Exynos 8890 or/and MediaTek Helio X20 processors including 4 gigs of RAM pretty soon. Microsoft really won’t launch a new flagship just a few months after they have launched Lumia 950 with 950 XL because that would be stupid.

That wouldn’t be a huge deal for Apple or even Samsung as these companies have loyal fans and most of their buyers do not really look at the specsheet, but keep in mind that at least for the moment almost every potential Microsoft’s flagship’s buyer is a geek or tech enthusiast. And tech enthusiasts want to have the newest, the greatest, the fastest and Microsoft is not able to provide that. The only thing that Microsoft could do is lowering the price a lot. Only then they will be able to retrieve at least some interest.

Windows 10 Mobile is still buggy as hell

I haven’t tried Windows 10 Mobile myself yet (although Microsoft has promised me that I will get my review unit soon), but I have seen some reviews of Lumia 950/950 XL, for example, the one by Michael Fisher, and they are all telling the same – Windows 10 Mobile is incredibly buggy.

I loved Windows Phone 7 for its stability, performance and perfectionism and back in the time, I was thinking that Windows Phone will become a major player in the mobile market because of this reason. Well, that didn’t happen probably because nobody was updated to Windows Phone 8. The other problem with Windows Phone 8 was those stability issues. Some WP8 phones, especially the low-end ones, were (and still are) incredibly laggy and unstable because of unknown reasons. The reason why I praised Windows Phone 7 so much was not common anymore.

But Windows 10 Mobile?.. Why it stutters, lags and crashes on high-end hardware? Why loading apps sometimes takes so long? Why it’s less optimized for mobile than it was? Why the Windows 10 Mobile on 950/950XL looks like it’s still on a beta stage? A good start is half way to success, a bad start is half way to Firefox operating system’s destiny.

Microsoft won’t attract Android or iOS users with so few apps

For the moment, Windows 10 Mobile has the same number of apps as the Windows Phone 8. Maybe even a bit less. I know that Microsoft is working on making Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile more attractive for developers, but Windows 10 Mobile is not going to catch up with the apps coming year (and maybe never, who knows?), that is simply impossible.

As people buy smartphones because of apps, they won’t buy Windows 10 Mobile devices. People need Snapchat, usable Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, YouTube apps! Oh, where are games? Where are premium apps and games that we have on iOS or Android? Oh, developers don’t make them because nobody buys them because most Windows Phone users are Lumia 630/530 users and they don’t have money for premium apps? Yes. Ppeople don’t buy premium Windows Phone devices because there are way too few apps on this OS? Exactly. Microsoft is in a closed circuit. Nobody buys Windows phones because nobody creates apps. Nobody creates apps because nobody buys phones.

Microsoft is in a very difficult situation with apps. I don’t know if they can solve the problem. Making Windows run Android apps is not a solution. It would ruin Microsoft’s ecosystem, nobody would make native Windows apps as there would be almost no point in doing that. That would also make Windows look stupid as there would be inconsistency between Windows 10 Mobile and Android’s apps designs.

What should Microsoft do? I don’t know. I hope that this Microsoft’s idea of unified OS with unified apps will help them to attract developers. Otherwise, Windows 10 Mobile will only attract Windows Phone’s fans.

Windows 10 Mobile is not going to be successful anytime soon. But let’s give it some more time.

Microsoft Windows 10 Mobile looks quite bad right now and I can guarantee you that it is not going to be successful anytime soon because Microsoft has been doing too many things wrong. They are always saying to us “Wait a little bit more.” They keep us waiting. We expected Windows 10 Mobile to be something amazing and we got almost the same thing under a different layer.

However, let’s give it more time. I said the same about the Windows Phone 7, 7.5, 8, and 8.1. But I’m saying that again. This is probably the last time I’m saying this, because if Microsoft will not get back on their feet now, they will never do. Microsoft, we are patiently waiting. But one day our patience might be over and you will have to back off. If you will not catch up with the hardware, give us appealing pricing, solve the bugs including the sluggishness of the OS and if you won’t bring us apps, we won’t bring you the money, we won’t buy the devices and you will have to go with Palm and Mozilla.
 
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Erik Murin

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There's almost nothing new and that's my point. These problems are old and Microsoft cannot solve them. If I would be writing this article about a year ago, I would change almost nothing, that is the main reason why Windows Phone (now Windows 10 Mobile) cannot compete with Android and iOS. Microsoft is adding new features, but they should solve these old problems first.
 

Visa Declined

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Hey look, you wrote a bunch of words. The ones that really stood out to me were...

I haven’t tried Windows 10 Mobile myself yet

So at that point, I stopped reading. It's obvious you're only here to try and rattle a cage or two, and they have a word for people who make posts like this. I'm sure you can figure it out, since you were smart enough to figure out the future of Windows Mobile all by yourself.
 

areithropos

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Another redundant article; so many opinions, so many I-do-not-knows.
True, they failed in the past and pay the price now.
I still think, they have to go on regardless of the success of their mobile branch. Why?

If they cancel it, their app ecosystem becomes less attractive, most people will only use apps on their Android and iOS and maybe synchronize here and there a few bits with their PC if Windows 10 is present there.
But why should they buy apps only usable on their PC if there is no mobile version of them?

Microsoft is unable to force people to use their phones, they can only convince them in the long run (within some years) to try one in the future. But most people I have met on the street do not simply buy new phones just because they are awesome.

Also, Microsoft is unable to force developers to give apps to Windows.

Android apps for Windows? What good did they do to BlackBerry?!

Some people look on my Lumia 930 and see the Start Screen and say: "What is this? I will never get used to this!"
They fear change.
Thus, my assumption is if one wants a quick solution for all problems then this one asks for only one thing and that is: copy Android on mobile and integrate Android into the PC; and dump Windows apps altogether.
 

Erik Murin

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So many reactions, cool! Negative reactions - not so cool! However, a discussion is always a good thing.
So at that point, I stopped reading. It's obvious you're only here to try and rattle a cage or two, and they have a word for people who make posts like this. I'm sure you can figure it out, since you were smart enough to figure out the future of Windows Mobile all by yourself.

You are right, I didn't try W10 Mobile yet, but do I have to try it to see the problems I have mentioned here? If an OS has problems that you can see without trying it, that's not good. I mean, these problems are so big that some people don't even want to try Windows 10 Mobile! I expected this kind of comments, this is a Windows fans and users forum, it's absolutely normal. But as I have written before, it's not a prediction or verdict, it's only an opinion.
 

cba191

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An "opinion" article with no hands on experience is a waste of everyone's time. I don't read road tests on cars not driven by the author. Why do it on a phone? Are there problems with 10? Absolutely. But if Microsoft sticks with 10, unlike the 7, 8, 8.1 filler OSs, they may pull it off. What's hurt them imho is with every new OS, there was already talk of the next one.



Wait a second. Your "tech blog" consists of that one article? No offense, but that doesn't lend you much credibility.
 

Erik Murin

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Android apps for Windows? What good did they do to BlackBerry?!

Some people look on my Lumia 930 and see the Start Screen and say: "What is this? I will never get used to this!"
They fear change.
Thus, my assumption is if one wants a quick solution for all problems then this one asks for only one thing and that is: copy Android on mobile and integrate Android into the PC; and dump Windows apps altogether.
Android apps on Windows would absolutely destroy Windows ecosystem, this would be good only for Google, but Microsoft needs native apps. Not to mention the design problems that Windows would face with Android apps.
 

Erik Murin

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An "opinion" article with no hands on experience is a waste of everyone's time. I don't read road tests on cars not driven by the author. Why do it on a phone? Are there problems with 10? Absolutely. But if Microsoft sticks with 10, unlike the 7, 8, 8.1 filler OSs, they may pull it off. What's hurt them imho is with every new OS, there was already talk of the next one.



Wait a second. Your "tech blog" consists of that one article? No offense, but that doesn't lend you much credibility.

You can write about a car just by looking at it, you can already have an opinion about it from looking at presentations, specifications, others' reviews, so on.

Absolutely, that's my first English blog post. I'm a tech journalist from Lithuania, I write in some Lithuanian websites, journals and so on. I'm well-known tech enthusiast here. But I have never done that in other countries before and this blog is probably the only place where I can write about tech in English. Because who wants a non-native speaker to write in their websites and journals? Nobody :).
 

ortizang

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I agree with the guys, you really have to use windows 10 before writing about it. It does have some bugs but the experience you get when using it is amazing.
 

areithropos

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You can write about a car just by looking at it, you can already have an opinion about it from looking at presentations, specifications, others' reviews, so on.

Absolutely, that's my first English blog post. I'm a tech journalist from Lithuania, I write in some Lithuanian websites, journals and so on. I'm well-known tech enthusiast here. But I have never done that in other countries before and this blog is probably the only place where I can write about tech in English. Because who wants a non-native speaker to write in their websites and journals? Nobody :).
And I use Windows 10 myself on my Lumia 930 and most things work; I have problems only with Cortana and with the keyboard in Edge but neither makes Windows 10 unusable.
It is still not released for all devices, only people tell themselves in their head that it is kind of released and blame Microsoft then for every bug be it as small as one can be.
 

cba191

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You can write about a car just by looking at it, you can already have an opinion about it from looking at presentations, specifications, others' reviews, so on.

Absolutely, that's my first English blog post. I'm a tech journalist from Lithuania, I write in some Lithuanian websites, journals and so on. I'm well-known tech enthusiast here. But I have never done that in other countries before and this blog is probably the only place where I can write about tech in English. Because who wants a non-native speaker to write in their websites and journals? Nobody :).

Fair enough.
I've seen some beautiful cars with great specs, only to be told they drive like crap. But were I in the market for a car like that, I would still want to drive it to see if it was true. And even if it was true, there might be something about it that spoke to me. There is something about the Windows OS that sets it apart from Android and iOS. There is nothing I find intriguing in those.
 

Erik Murin

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I agree with the guys, you really have to use windows 10 before writing about it. It does have some bugs but the experience you get when using it is amazing.
I will try to get my hands on Lumia 950 (or 950XL) as soon as Microsoft will have these devices in Lithuania and I will do an honest review of both Windows 10 Mobile and the phone. But as I have mentioned, you don't need to have something to have an opinion about a thing. Of course, that opinion might change after trying the thing myself.

And I use Windows 10 myself on my Lumia 930 and most things work; I have problems only with Cortana and with the keyboard in Edge but neither makes Windows 10 unusable.
It is still not released for all devices, only people tell themselves in their head that it is kind of released and blame Microsoft then for every bug be it as small as one can be.
The biggest problem that there are bugs on Lumia 950 and 950XL - when Apple or other manufacturer releases a new flagship, it's usually bug-free (at least software-wise). And these 2 devices are like a new face for Microsoft mobile division. Now Microsoft's face looks like without makeup :D.
 

Erik Murin

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Fair enough.
I've seen some beautiful cars with great specs, only to be told they drive like crap. But were I in the market for a car like that, I would still want to drive it to see if it was true. And even if it was true, there might be something about it that spoke to me. There is something about the Windows OS that sets it apart from Android and iOS. There is nothing I find intriguing in those.
The main thing I like about Windows Mobile/Phone is that unified experience. All apps look and feel the same. Meanwhile, on Android or iOS, you have to look for the buttons, you open the app and you are looking for something, wasting your time. On Windows, you open the app for the first time and you already know where everything is. But that's not enough for everyone. There are too many cons that outweigh the pros of Windows Phone/Mobile for most of the people.
 

Slovenix

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Microsoft's concept is perfect. It's just that people are sick of waiting.. And honestly I'd like to see way more customization, custom keyboards and all these things. So developers could get creative at all. However of course that's not possible because of the nature of Windows in the first place.

Then when get to the most important part it's the performance. Still buggy here and there, UI inconsistency, APPS, still lacking tons of features which people have been asking for years to come. And yet again it's like "It will come in next update" Aka Redstone..

I know that one of the charms of Windows OS are supporting 2 years old devices and especially low end hardware, however it seems that this is just slowing and limiting Microsoft's power of introducing something new in software that would require better specs in the first place. And come on, there are so many Android devices with better specs at the same cost.
 

elindalyne

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It's times like this I really wish there was a voting system like Reddit... Use the software before you knock it. The tech specs are also fine. If anything the new Lumias have garnered a lot more attention than they have in the past. Check out the daily posts in the WindowPhone sub about people switching from Android or iOS.
 

XcZachx20

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Hey look, you wrote a bunch of words. The ones that really stood out to me were...



So at that point, I stopped reading. It's obvious you're only here to try and rattle a cage or two, and they have a word for people who make posts like this. I'm sure you can figure it out, since you were smart enough to figure out the future of Windows Mobile all by yourself.

I did the same thing. A good amount of us have watched and helped windows 10 (pc and mobile) grow from the beta, the improvement they've made is great and we can except more. I agree for the purchase of consumers and not people willing to test the OS , windows 10 mobile was more buggy than anyone wanted. But the fact that you stated that you haven't even used the OS gives me my opinion that you're just being a parrot what you read and hear elsewhere, not void to me.
 

920Walker

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Don't knock it if you haven't tried it.

You lose all credibility by not yet using the OS, basically calling the hardware "dated", hardware you have not even used, and using the word "stupid" as you did.

Best of luck with your tech journalist career. Some changes to your research methods are advised, using the tech first to start.
 
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