[jleebiker]

I know it's easy to spout doom and gloom, but I'm a realist. Don't get me wrong, I have been an evangelist for WP for YEARS, but over time, I just don't see it evolving to match user needs or even to be at parity with the other OS's. And no, I'm not talking about the # of apps out there. This article is nothing new. This argument is something that has been bantered around from time to time.

Five reasons Microsoft could become a top Android smartphone company | ZDNet

There are some reasons why MS will continue to support WP, but honestly, from a consumer standpoint, I'm going to go with what is more widely accepted and what my friends and family have more of. I can hear people saying "sheep" already, but the reality is, do I constantly want to swim upstream or do I want a smooth experience to work/play with the important people in my life? Comscore just said WP became the #3 OS out there, but they said it was because BB lost enough market share to drop to #4, NOT because WP picked up more customers. Is THAT the OS I want to partake in?

Does WP really have legs? I'm sorry to say, but I'm rethinking this whole OS.

[Michael Alan Goff]

"WP doesn't have that many users, ergo I don't know if I want to use it".

Does it have the apps you need? Does it work the way you want? If so, then how many people use it shouldn't matter. If not, then go to something else. I don't see how it would provide a bad experience, though, unless everyone you know is tied in deep with an ecosystem. Skype works on everything, for example. So does WhatsApp, I think.

You should choose your device based on what it does for you, not what others are using. If people thought that way, we'd all be using Windows Mobile 6.5 and there would have been no smartphone revolution.

[BobLobIaw]

The calculus should be fairly simple: Does WP presently suit my needs? There are no guarantees for the future--WP may take off, steadily increase market share, or slowly die. No one knows what's going to happen, so one should make the decision based on present considerations. It sounds like OP is either missing out on interactions with friends and family or suffering from an inferiority complex as a result of using the #3 OS. If it's the former, switch to the system your friends and family are using. If it's the latter, either get over it or switch if it makes you that uncomfortable.

[Michael Alan Goff]

The calculus should be fairly simple: Does WP presently suit my needs? There are no guarantees for the future--WP may take off, steadily increase market share, or slowly die. No one knows what's going to happen, so one should make the decision based on present considerations. It sounds like OP is either missing out on interactions with friends and family or suffering from an inferiority complex as a result of using the #3 OS. If it's the former, switch to the system your friends and family are using. If it's the latter, either get over it or switch if it makes you that uncomfortable.

Hit the nail on the head.

[DaT Franchise]

Its fan bases, android and apple have the vast majority of smart phone users in the world and Samsung and apple holding the most of that population hens the reason they both could rebrand and re-release the iPhone 3/ galaxy s2 and people will flock too it, that being said MS will always have a hard time in the mobile market and would seriously need step it up to take some of that away. Microsoft will never go away because of x86 but the phone os might die out if they don't step it up and I'm not talking just apps but what the os can offer. WP could be a beast very easily.

[crazy elf]

Honestly I buy and get the phones for what they can offer and do for me. I have never followed the masses, however I have tried all the OS's and each have their merits and downfalls. I just recently put down one of the best phones android has to offer , LG G2,fantastic phone, but realizing security is becoming such an issue I want to be able to use my device and feel fairly comfortable that my info isn't being sold for the highest dollar. Of course its always user responsibility to watch what your downloading and opening but Android is compromised and is it's not widespread yet, it soon will be. Blackberry is the best at security and WP is not far behind. People will start to realize that following the masses just because of the flashing lights, will lead to only one thing the, smaller contingency perfecting what was wrong in the first place.