Windows 10m - My thoughts

[Drael646464]

Phone finally arrived today. Haven't had much of a play. In its factory state so far:

*UI is beautiful - I showed my mum and she said she'd prefer that to her android phone. She was jelly. It's got nice app animations, as well as the beautiful tiles screen. Setting etc is reasonably familiar to due to windows. Whole UI has a nice polish I've not seen anywhere else.

*Maps navigation pathfinding isn't as good as bb10 (which is based on a car navigation OS, and I've had the same issues with google maps). Maps itself is fine, and the speech overlay is really good, but pathfinding seems like google maps to take you in some weird directions - may need to find another nav app

*Comes loaded with a lot of apps, some of which I don't need. Uninstalled some straight away. OS space is light - without all the partitions of Android, this seems to way in at even less than bb10 on the disk (imagine it'll grow with updates).

*Seems fluid to me, and consistent.

*All my bookmarks and contacts automatically came over from my PC, which is nice. Makes it kinda easy out of the box actually.

On the Lumia 950 itself- very light which is a nice surprise (When I got the package I was like this can't be a phone, then hefted in my hand- wow), screen and camera is beautiful, really great - only flaw that I can see is battery heat - I can see this getting hot while gaming. Oh and the speaker while loud, is a little tinny. I suppose playing music out of your phone speaker isn't ideal usually anyway, but the old phone I had was quieter but fuller.

More to come as I delve into the system.....

 

[Drael646464]

*Tried continuum with my miracast device - the connection is solid, better than my regular tablets miracast connection, low latency and doesn't disconnect. I'll definitely be using this for streaming (Netflix etc) at minimum. Pleased. look forward to the new changes when they come too.

 

[NYCMetsPDX]

Glad you finally got one, it's a really nice phone and I think you'll enjoy it for quite some time. My favorites are texting from the computer if you use Skype and Groove which I think is fantastic. Enjoy the new phone!

 

[libra89]

Enjoying your impressions! Please keep them coming! Have some fun with the camera too, as Microsoft seems to keep improving it every now and then.

 

[Drael646464]

*lots of quirks with updates and settings to learn. That was a learning curve

*got some VR apps for funzies. Just to check out. Jurrasic VR is pretty cool. 360 videos on the other hand are pretty lame on youtube. VR seems to work better if its graphics. Kinda hurts your eyes on a phone too. And even on the lush 950 screen, so many pixels. You'd defo want the computer version with mixed reality or the vive.

*like the PC intergration. Notifications, texts, cortana etc. Really nice. What I was hoping for.

*The skype app on mobile is actually really good next to android and the app store one for tablets. Runs smooth.

*Not nearly as many touch games as on a tablet. And more than half of those that are the awful freemium type with ads and in app purchases. Good enough graphics on those, just not worth the hassle. Leo's fortune, the go series, top gear drift, machinarium, Spartan, pinball games are good though. Anyone else knows of any quality paid titles, let me know, though I barely game on a phone, I'd rather play 'proper' games on my tablet.

*Plenty of other types of apps outside of banking, at least ones I use. Would like to find some more ink ones as I have a capacitive active pen.

*Had no issues with facebook. Runs fine

*Spent a bit of money on apps. Always rather go with non-freemium and its good to support the platform.

In general I am happy with the phone. There are a few downsides to the ecosystem, fortunately not ones that bother me, in terms of what I actually use. I do actually miss the physical keyboard from the blackberry of all things most. Swiping is alright, but physical keys is less mistake prone/fiddly, and less energy consuming to use. On the plus side there's more screen space for browsing etc. Some small quirks to the OS that should be fixed for everyday consumers - changing the keyboard layout for example turns off wordflow. And some other aspects to still get used to, like navigation.

Signed up to the insiders preview program. I'm anticipating a good year to be on win10m, with WoA coming for tablets, windows s nearly here, there should be some more apps coming to the ecosystem. Curious about the late summer updates, and what will happen with FCU (Like how long it'll take to get off feature2 - it was heavily implied that timeline was coming to win10m for example, which is a FCU feature).

 

[anon(50597)]

Glad you got your phone, been waiting for you to jump in the fold. I'm sure you'll be busy playing around for a while so keep letting us know how it goes.

Sent from mTalk on my SP4

 

[Drael646464]

I think my summary would be something like this.

Pro's -
UI is best in class
Interopability is with Windows PC's is best in class
Some apps of highest quality - skype, fresh paint, office type applications (mostly MS stuff)
Plenty of apps for most social networking, photo editing and so on - enough utlility apps for all but the more demanding "app power user"
Continuum is a boss feature, handy for streaming, gaming and the like, not just productivity (still a limited number of compatible apps though).
Notifications less crowded vs android
Strong peripheral compatibility
Cortana voice commands for texting etc
Remote desktop
Xbox intergration

Neutral
Pretty much any smartphone does VR video, and that's all smartphone VR is good for (VR has a long way to go, and smartphone's ain't it)

Cons
Limited number of games - and the freemium ones are as annoying as they are on android
Some small quirks of OS need ironing out, not so bad for a technical minded person, but could be off putting for casual users
Less mobility apps - banking, niche chat apps (lastpass will get you into banking with one password, but no "at a glance" account balance, and all the major chat platforms are there)
Multi-tasking is more limited than android (not that it's a central use to most people)
Maps app like google maps has bad pathfinding
Poor IoT, wearable compatibility

Good for: A good OS for people deep in the MS ecosystem provided they are not heavy app users or IoT hobbyists, could also be good for xbox enthusiasts, IT professionals who want mobile access to their desktop, and potentially useful as a mobile streaming platform (especially if Kodi comes to continuum). Would be good for the casual user, but for missing banking apps, and the odd quirk that needs ironing out.

No good for: impressionable teenagers, novelty app lovers, heavy travellers, app "super users", and not as useful for people invested exclusively in non-MS platforms. With a few more mobility apps, some power user apps from desktop, and some kinks worked out, its not too far off people useful to more people however.

Room to improve:

WoA will likely bring devs over for apps that are missing (mobility), including games IMO, and with some more console crossovers and a bit of bugfixing/ironing out, it could be on its way as a more broad appeal OS (If then MS turn back to mobile and give it some love). Some cheaper options for continuum (ie continuum compatible dongles/docks), and a few more compatible apps could make this a more consumer friendly feature, for general entertainment rather than just productivity. Could use a UI for this.
Cortana skills certainly could add a lot of extra functional appeal, especially with dual mics.
Some inking capability could improve the appeal quite a bit too. Hardware partnerships with IoT/wearable makers ideal, but at this stage not essential (mainly fitness bands are the only popular one).
The UI is really a star feature, and I hope they bring as much FDS as possible to the platform, to make it really stand out from its peers. With FDS, it could make the others look like windows 3.1

Should companion well with Andromeda when it comes out (something I might check out, as I do like portability in a cellular device)

There could be some benefit to running win32's - for games, especially if MS ever brings an xbox controller touch overlay to the platform, and for continuum - which is not just for productivity, but could also be used for games/streaming with a controller.
Initially without using the phone I didn't think so, but there are many touch applications I can use on my tablet that I can't on the phone, and with a controller overlay, there would be even more.
It would make both xbox titles and PC titles much easier to port too, basically operating as a bridge between pc/tablet and phone apps.
I have spoken out against the usefulness of WoA, but rather than simply running win32 as is, or running photoshop in continuum, I can see it could have its real uses for bringing apps a little easier across the divide.

And continuum doesn't need to be the niche prosumer/enterprise thing its sold as - it could be a basic portable entertainment interface. I think if they implement cshell, they should give PC, console and continuum users the choice of a basic entertainment interface or a PC one - this way continuum could be used as a basic entertainment device by the masses. Basically an OS toggle somewhere - big screen = entertainment or productivity. In entertainment mode the trackpad would work like a menu selection rather than a mouse.

In many ways its a unique proposition windows on a mobile, that could very much have broad consumer appeal if a few things pan out, depending on how they do. The tablet, Cortana, desktop and xbox connections are kind of key

 

[NYCMetsPDX]

And continuum doesn't need to be the niche prosumer/enterprise thing its sold as - it could be a basic portable entertainment interface. I think if they implement cshell, they should give PC, console and continuum users the choice of a basic entertainment interface or a PC one - this way continuum could be used as a basic entertainment device by the masses. Basically an OS toggle somewhere - big screen = entertainment or productivity. In entertainment mode the trackpad would work like a menu selection rather than a mouse.

Huge agreement here, the most use I have gotten from the Continuum feature was streaming the NCAA tournament to a conference room TV here at work. Also, since Xbox One S controllers hook up to the phone directly, I use the NesBox app (Might have been removed from the store for legal reasons...) to turn my phone into a nostalgia gaming system. More work directed and less for the general consumer I use Citrix on a daily basis so the update to that as a UWP is huge for me.

Side note, the Go series (as you mentioned) and "Test Chamber" (Free to try, costs to purchase the full game) are pretty much my Windows go-to games.

 

[Krystianpants]

Android Nougat is way better than w10m at this point. Honestly. You can get windows 10 launchers that make it exactly like windows 10m. Even simulate live tiles. Though I dislike live tiles personally. You can change the app drawer, the settings. Everything will look like windows 10m.

You showed your mom a non default w10m screen. You need to do tweaking to make windows 10m look decent just like you can with android.

The only disadvantage android has at this point is the update model. But even Samsung Dex is much better than continuum. I tried it at an MS store and man it made my 950xl feel ancient. Android Nougat has pretty much changed android and it's super fast, amazing fluid animations, great transitions and great apps. Windows mobile has nothing to compete with. Even features that android has are way beyond MS. Something simple as restricting only a specific app from using mobile data and allowing wifi only. I have seen so many questions asked about how to do something in windows mobile and only to be told you can't when it's possible on android.

Again, I love my 950xl but I feel I rushed into it because of the hype MS is good at creating. I paid full price on day one only to be plagued by issues for a full year. By the time they got stuff together the price had dropped beyond belief. MS just used hardcore fans to be able to get telemetry and work on perfecting the arm side of their code as well as data for the vast amount of different carriers out in the wild.

The only thing that is still great on my device is the camera. It's not the best out there, but it still battles with the flagships.

 

[anon(50597)]

Android Nougat is way better than w10m at this point. Honestly. You can get windows 10 launchers that make it exactly like windows 10m. Even simulate live tiles. Though I dislike live tiles personally. You can change the app drawer, the settings. Everything will look like windows 10m.

You showed your mom a non default w10m screen. You need to do tweaking to make windows 10m look decent just like you can with android.

The only disadvantage android has at this point is the update model. But even Samsung Dex is much better than continuum. I tried it at an MS store and man it made my 950xl feel ancient. Android Nougat has pretty much changed android and it's super fast, amazing fluid animations, great transitions and great apps. Windows mobile has nothing to compete with. Even features that android has are way beyond MS. Something simple as restricting only a specific app from using mobile data and allowing wifi only. I have seen so many questions asked about how to do something in windows mobile and only to be told you can't when it's possible on android.

Again, I love my 950xl but I feel I rushed into it because of the hype MS is good at creating. I paid full price on day one only to be plagued by issues for a full year. By the time they got stuff together the price had dropped beyond belief. MS just used hardcore fans to be able to get telemetry and work on perfecting the arm side of their code as well as data for the vast amount of different carriers out in the wild.

The only thing that is still great on my device is the camera. It's not the best out there, but it still battles with the flagships.

We all have different experiences, wants, and needs. The OP just got his new W10M phone and is excited to tell us his feelings. Lets let him enjoy it for a bit.

Sent from mTalk on my SP4

 

[nate0]

Android Nougat is way better than w10m at this point. Honestly. You can get windows 10 launchers that make it exactly like windows 10m. Even simulate live tiles. Though I dislike live tiles personally. You can change the app drawer, the settings. Everything will look like windows 10m.

You showed your mom a non default w10m screen. You need to do tweaking to make windows 10m look decent just like you can with android.

The only disadvantage android has at this point is the update model. But even Samsung Dex is much better than continuum. I tried it at an MS store and man it made my 950xl feel ancient. Android Nougat has pretty much changed android and it's super fast, amazing fluid animations, great transitions and great apps. Windows mobile has nothing to compete with. Even features that android has are way beyond MS. Something simple as restricting only a specific app from using mobile data and allowing wifi only. I have seen so many questions asked about how to do something in windows mobile and only to be told you can't when it's possible on android.

Again, I love my 950xl but I feel I rushed into it because of the hype MS is good at creating. I paid full price on day one only to be plagued by issues for a full year. By the time they got stuff together the price had dropped beyond belief. MS just used hardcore fans to be able to get telemetry and work on perfecting the arm side of their code as well as data for the vast amount of different carriers out in the wild.

The only thing that is still great on my device is the camera. It's not the best out there, but it still battles with the flagships.

I think you forget you are comparing Apples to Something when you put Android against Windows. or iOS against Windows or vice versa. It is here for those who need and enjoy Windows 10 Mobile. I too know that is like to have a slick fast Android device. But I know to what it is like to have the Android fragmentation experience which you pointed out or the dredded google data miner at my every finger tip. But windows is not without its shortcomings and just like iPhones is to the die hard Apple user the Windows mobile phone is to the Microsoft fan.

Android is interesting that way too that you can make every aspect of it look like a Windows 10 Mobile device. Pretty sweet actually. There is even a 'Glance' like app and it is super good. What Microsoft has done though with the OS is Global. They had to basically catch up 10 years though from where mobile went and they did not. Though they are not done and may never be.

 

[nate0]

@Drael646464
this whole time I thought you were already a Windows mobile user...

Why did you choose the 950 over any other?

 

[Drael646464]

Android Nougat is way better than w10m at this point. Honestly. You can get windows 10 launchers that make it exactly like windows 10m. Even simulate live tiles. Though I dislike live tiles personally. You can change the app drawer, the settings. Everything will look like windows 10m.

You showed your mom a non default w10m screen. You need to do tweaking to make windows 10m look decent just like you can with android.

The only disadvantage android has at this point is the update model. But even Samsung Dex is much better than continuum. I tried it at an MS store and man it made my 950xl feel ancient. Android Nougat has pretty much changed android and it's super fast, amazing fluid animations, great transitions and great apps. Windows mobile has nothing to compete with. Even features that android has are way beyond MS. Something simple as restricting only a specific app from using mobile data and allowing wifi only. I have seen so many questions asked about how to do something in windows mobile and only to be told you can't when it's possible on android.

Again, I love my 950xl but I feel I rushed into it because of the hype MS is good at creating. I paid full price on day one only to be plagued by issues for a full year. By the time they got stuff together the price had dropped beyond belief. MS just used hardcore fans to be able to get telemetry and work on perfecting the arm side of their code as well as data for the vast amount of different carriers out in the wild.

The only thing that is still great on my device is the camera. It's not the best out there, but it still battles with the flagships.

I've been pretty clear in my pro-cons that 10 has its advantages and disadvantages. iOS and android too. There is no phone OS that has every ability and quality of every other phone OS. There are most certainly things you can do in windows 10m that you can't do in android (some of which I have listed), and things you can do in iOS that you can't do in android (handoff, for example).

Google certainly puts a lot of coding feature work into their advertising platform *cough* I mean mobile OS, but its not for me, never will be. I'm not really big on google these days, or android, and I've never been big on apple. I don't like googles attitude to its customers, I find the little cartoons and such patronizing, I see a lot of ad creep, like free-to-air TV, in places like search and youtube, and within google services themselves - while there are many apps, most of them are terrible, and to me it just seems like a platform that will go even more downhill, the more google feels like it has a captive audience, like free-to-air TV did. Wait for compulsory longer ads on youtube, ten ad listings at the top of every google search, larger embedded ads in every google service, and lots of annoying pop-ups everywhere. As a consumer, I don't much like the way its going, and can't in good conscience support it.

Besides that, that there's reasons I wish to stay away from it, there's nothing really drawing me to it. There's nothing that I do with a phone, that android does better in their OS.

If win10m didn't exist, I'd probably die a little inside, and buy an iPhone (even with the nightmare of interopability and apples equally horrible attitude to its consumers, shudder). At least there's some quality paid apps/games on ios, to make up for the dearth of freemium stuff and their profit model isn't centered on advertising. Then again, I could always try sailfish!

Fortunately that's not the case tough, there's more work being done on win10m, and MSFT has more planned for mobile with Andromeda, a new non-candybar slab form factor of pocket cellular device as we know now, so I don't have to worry about the other platforms, I can just use the one I selected and enjoy

And you can use the phone OS that you enjoy

For me, the new and interesting thing, with the new and interesting features, is windows10m. I've plenty of experience with windows on a desktop, and android on multiple devices. I've gone app mad on android. I've played with lots of apps launcher. I've still got a load of paid apps in the playstore I'll never use. The exciting frontier for me, is the one I have charging next to me. There are hmm, five android devices in my house atm, several of them brand new. They hold little interest to me.

The first day of using my phone it was 100% stock/factory, didn't install apps or do updates, nothing (when I showed my mum). Just logged in, and used it. Didn't have the time. I've been super busy really, even after installing updates and apps, and playing with a little VR the other nighte, I've just been at work all day using my phone, as well a phone (replying to texts directly from the notification is something I discovered you can do today - that's really cool)

Still feels like a novel space. Its a good feeling

It's rare these days I have that sense of discovery with tech. VR though with mixed reality is something i'd like to get into eventually. Has a long way to go though, the phone experience is poor.

I'm glad you have that enthusiasm about android though. It can be fun, being engaged with the direction of technology, and these things can be great toys and great tools - plus there is some quality hardware out there in the mobile space. That AR zenphone looks interesting for example.

 

[Drael646464]

@Drael646464
this whole time I thought you were already a Windows mobile user...

Why did you choose the 950 over any other?

Nah, I've had bb10 and android devices. Since getting properly into win10 on pc and tablet, and following Nadella's direction, I became a fan of the vision. I also work with mobile devices (android and windows on tablets), so that got me more actively engaged with tech news and tech future.

I thought now would be a fun time to get into win10m too, given WoA and windows s will breath a bit of life into the app situation, andromeda and some exciting platform features lie around the corner. Next one to two years will be interesting years indeed for MSFT platforms.

As for why the 950 - alcatel doesn't come with the right frequencies for my country. Moly phone either, or .Ace jade primo - although only the moly phone appealed, it didn't have insider support.

The x3 is beyond my budget, although surely a great phone. Didn't want the XL, as this phone is plenty big enough for me (I like small phones). Seemed wiser getting something with more ram, and continuum capability rather than the 650/550 which are a little long in the tooth spec-wise (1g is a little low, and 8gb storage especially), and the pre-windows 10 phones like the 930 are apparently buggy on win10.

That really only left the 950, which is a lovely phone, modern, fluid, great display and light in the hand. I've had a little time to use it as my daily driver today at work - the navigation is better than I thought, it's working well for me.

Happy to have the phone (Really enjoyed the reply on notification feature today - get a notification, tap it, reply inline - that's super handy)

 

[Doug_M]

Glad to hear you're digging the 950 as I have one on order myself and am an iOS and BB10 refugee (webOS before that). I've had a few Android phones but there is something off about them to me and while I love my iPad, my iPhone left me wanting for something special like webOS or BB10. I bought a cheap 920 to explore and experiment with that I've upgrade to win10m. Only had it a week when I decided to buy the 950. Windows 8.1 Phone and win10m are definitely in the same class as webOS/BB10 when it comes to unique, useful and engaging OSes that are a joy to use.

 

[Drael646464]

Glad to hear you're digging the 950 as I have one on order myself and am an iOS and BB10 refugee (webOS before that). I've had a few Android phones but there is something off about them to me and while I love my iPad, my iPhone left me wanting for something special like webOS or BB10. I bought a cheap 920 to explore and experiment with that I've upgrade to win10m. Only had it a week when I decided to buy the 950. Windows 8.1 Phone and win10m are definitely in the same class as webOS/BB10 when it comes to unique, useful and engaging OSes that are a joy to use.

I do miss my hard keys. I can't type essays on virtual keyboard I look at my old BB, and I think - I still want you for emails.

But, it really is somehow pleasurable and engaging isn't it? Those handy features and that all at your finger tips qualities. The 950 is a nice phone, camera is a beauty. Agreed that there's something special about an OS that has some unique design and thought put into it.

I recommend updating to the latest insider preview build as soon as you are able, as the initial stock set up was a bit buggy for me om the 950 (Bluetooth for example didn't work right). All that came right with the updates, and insider preview, being they are doing purely bugfixes, is a good place to be for now.

 

[nate0]

When I first tried Windows on mobile it was on an iPAQ using Windows Mobile 2003. But the iPAQ was used only for note taking. I was still an Android user at the start. Then I moved from Sprint to VZW and my wife was the first to end up on a Windows phone with the Samsung ATIV SE. From there I ended up noticing the UI and usability. I am a constant doer. Always doing something all day. So for me it is all about usability and productivity. I found Email on the Windows Phones very simple and very intriguing/easy to use. I am big on email and honestly I moved to a Lumia ICON just to experience the Email app (Outlook) in Windows 8 mobile. I then took to the mobile platform from then on, I know and explore much on the windows mobile device. I am one of those guys that roots his Android device just to see if it is possible, or installs custom ROMs. So I am the same (to an extent) with Windows devices. I am not out to be a crook with it just more curious how things work and how to customize anything. Windows 10 mobile is very secure much like its little brother OS WP8 was and still is and that is Microsoft's doing... Windows 10 mobile is actually grown a huge amount since 2015. So I feel whoever touches the platform with a newer device these days, will if they do walk away, walk away with more positive then negative.

 

[PerfectReign]

Enjoy the 950. I am flip flopping between my 950xl and Elite X3. I do use Continuum pretty much daily. My only issue is the app gap. But then that's what they said about the Apple IIe compared to the Vic 20

 

[Doug_M]

I do miss my hard keys. I can't type essays on virtual keyboard I look at my old BB, and I think - I still want you for emails.

I've got a Bold 9900 I keep throwing my SIM card into just for the keyboard and one-handed usability. But my carrier doesn't offer BIS which really puts a damper on the experience. If I were an android fan I'd be saving for a Keyone.

I recommend updating to the latest insider preview build as soon as you are able, as the initial stock set up was a bit buggy for me om the 950 (Bluetooth for example didn't work right). All that came right with the updates, and insider preview, being they are doing purely bugfixes, is a good place to be for now.

Thanks for the tip. What ring should I subscribe to or does it matter at this point in the lifecycle?

 

[Drael646464]

I've got a Bold 9900 I keep throwing my SIM card into just for the keyboard and one-handed usability. But my carrier doesn't offer BIS which really puts a damper on the experience. If I were an android fan I'd be saving for a Keyone.



Thanks for the tip. What ring should I subscribe to or does it matter at this point in the lifecycle?

Preview I think. Fast ring folk still have issues.

Yeah, I'd be looking at keyone too if I liked android. I've there's ever a windows phone like that I'll be very interested. But for now, I'll just type less, and maybe use the blackberry for business e-mails/as a business phone when my start-up picks up.