I'm nervous about getting a windows phone...

RavenSword

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I was worried about the app situation when I switched from apple. But for the most part its completely a non-issue. I rarely come across an app I want that isn't here, or a perfectly good alternative. And if you think about it, when the iphone came out there wasn't even an app store, and no apps at all, all things come in their own time.

I would now say I am very unlikely to ever switch back.

Apple has long since stopped being 'cool', the only people that think that now are people who couldn't afford to ever buy into them before, and these days anyone can afford to.

I certainly get a lot more comments about my phone since I switched to a 920 (and now a 1520) than I ever got with an iphone.

The only way to be cool is to be different, which used to be the way apple sold their toys, but now that everyone and their dog has one, how is that being different? :)

I understand what you are saying. It is nerve racking because you do hear a lot of bloggers and 'tech people' say that MS should just give up on mobile and work on the next big thing. Or my favorite....just use Android. Life is all about taking risks and at times the biggest risks have the biggest rewards. Amazon has the Lumia 520 for $60, an opportunity to try out WP.

The app situation at least on W8.1 is pretty bad and apps that are there....mlb.tv for example are unusable. Build is this week and rumors are that new WP8.1 hardware will be announced later this month, wait and see what happens.

We'll, I picked up a 520 at target today for 64.99. Looking forward to using it. I need to make sure to give it more than a few days though.

Again, here's hoping apps continue to improve.
 

Cleavitt76

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I'm gonna pick up a 520 and give that a go. :)

Good move. Just remember that the 520 is basically a "throw away" phone so don't base your judgments on the hardware. It's a great phone for what it is (my daily driver), but it's no flagship. I would also keep an eye on the news about the Windows Phone 8.1 release which is a major update that will be coming out any day now. I think it will be worth the effort to get it loaded on your "test phone" so you can evaluate the OS as it will be going forward. More info here: http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...9-developer-preview-program-what-exactly.html

As others have said, MS has no intention of ditching Windows Phone. WP is a significant part of Microsoft's "One" strategy. They have altered Windows, their websites, Xbox, and many of their other products to align with Windows Phone. That isn't something they are doing on a whim. It's a massive investment for MS. Anybody that tells you that Microsoft is going to walk away from Windows Phone is completely clueless.

The app situation for Windows Phone has gotten exponentially better in the past year and it is trending upwards. For every dev that jumps ship from Windows Phone (for now) there are probably a hundred that are getting on board. It hasn't happened as quickly as many of us Windows Phone users would like, but it is definitely headed in the right direction. If you have any special niche apps that you can't live without you might want to check the store and see if something equivalent is available: Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)

As far as MS and their "stigma", MS has a long history and they have been a huge part of both the consumer and enterprise computing world. Any company that has been so involved in such a competitive, fast growing, and world changing industry is going to have some controversy. People tend to focus on the negative and take the positive for granted. They also tend to like to hate on the established leader which has traditionally been MS (and still is in most areas of computing). I'm not saying that MS doesn't deserve some of their reputation, but I am saying it's greatly exaggerated and their innovation is often overlooked. The thing is, Apple and Google have been leading in mobile for a while and I know quite a few people that are starting to get bored with their products and annoyed by their business practices. Eventually people are going to start to view iStuff and Google/Galaxy as the "status quo" and they will start hating on them too. That is just the way trends work. Besides, following what everyone else is doing just makes a person less interesting and more generic.

Anyway, good luck with your Windows Phone journey.
 

theefman

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WP isn't going anywhere. MS NEEDS WP or they could end up losing a lot of their customer base, and that could end up eroding their enterprise business down the road. It's critical for them to at least have modest success in the mobile OS landscape, and they are getting there.


Actually with their new focus on services and supporting all platforms with their services Microsoft doesn't really need WP. Office, Xbox live (coming), Skype, onedrive, outlook are all available on other platforms and with the small market share of WP and even the surface devices Microsoft could can all their hardware and focus solely on servicing ios and android and not feel any negative effect. This of course is their own fault but its the unfortunate reality for Microsoft and WP.
 

Cleavitt76

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Actually with their new focus on services and supporting all platforms with their services Microsoft doesn't really need WP. Office, Xbox live (coming), Skype, onedrive, outlook are all available on other platforms and with the small market share of WP and even the surface devices Microsoft could can all their hardware and focus solely on servicing ios and android and not feel any negative effect. This of course is their own fault but its the unfortunate reality for Microsoft.

Their focus is on devices and services, not just services so Windows Phone, Surface, and Xbox are all a big part of that strategy.

Also, the fact that their services are available on nearly all devices is not a "fault" nor is it "unfortunate". It's called diversification and it is quite intentional. For me, it's one of the biggest selling points for the MS ecosystem. They provide open and cross platform services to complement their software/devices as opposed to being locked into Apple's proprietary world or dealing with Google's anti-competitive services. Just because MS could shut down major aspects of their business strategy and still be a successful company doesn't mean that it would be wise to do so. It's also worth pointing out that Microsoft's competitors have almost no diversification. Nearly all of Apple's revenue come from the iPhone and the iPad (a big iPhone). Nearly all of Google's revenue is from advertising. That could very well turn into an "unfortunate reality" for them someday.
 

RavenSword

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Good move. Just remember that the 520 is basically a "throw away" phone so don't base your judgments on the hardware. It's a great phone for what it is (my daily driver), but it's no flagship. I would also keep an eye on the news about the Windows Phone 8.1 release which is a major update that will be coming out any day now. I think it will be worth the effort to get it loaded on your "test phone" so you can evaluate the OS as it will be going forward. More info here: http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...9-developer-preview-program-what-exactly.html

As others have said, MS has no intention of ditching Windows Phone. WP is a significant part of Microsoft's "One" strategy. They have altered Windows, their websites, Xbox, and many of their other products to align with Windows Phone. That isn't something they are doing on a whim. It's a massive investment for MS. Anybody that tells you that Microsoft is going to walk away from Windows Phone is completely clueless.

The app situation for Windows Phone has gotten exponentially better in the past year and it is trending upwards. For every dev that jumps ship from Windows Phone (for now) there are probably a hundred that are getting on board. It hasn't happened as quickly as many of us Windows Phone users would like, but it is definitely headed in the right direction. If you have any special niche apps that you can't live without you might want to check the store and see if something equivalent is available: Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)

As far as MS and their "stigma", MS has a long history and they have been a huge part of both the consumer and enterprise computing world. Any company that has been so involved in such a competitive, fast growing, and world changing industry is going to have some controversy. People tend to focus on the negative and take the positive for granted. They also tend to like to hate on the established leader which has traditionally been MS (and still is in most areas of computing). I'm not saying that MS doesn't deserve some of their reputation, but I am saying it's greatly exaggerated and their innovation is often overlooked. The thing is, Apple and Google have been leading in mobile for a while and I know quite a few people that are starting to get bored with their products and annoyed by their business practices. Eventually people are going to start to view iStuff and Google/Galaxy as the "status quo" and they will start hating on them too. That is just the way trends work. Besides, following what everyone else is doing just makes a person less interesting and more generic.

Anyway, good luck with your Windows Phone journey.

so since I can't really judge performance or hardware since this is a low end phone, should I just use it to get a feel for the OS and apps?

and am I still going to easily be able to continue using my iPad and other non windows devices? Or is it going to get to s point where I'll replace the iPad with a surface or something?
 

cknorthpole

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I say like this. Buy a relatively cheap Nokia Lumia and try it out for a few months. If you like it then invest in a "proper" WP.

Personally I used android before WP came out. But when WP was announced I ordered my self a HTC trophy and I've been using WP ever since. Although during this WP time I've bought a nexus 4 (had it for a month before I sold it and got back to WP) iPhone 5 (same thing but I think it wa for two weeks or so) and a nexus 5 which I only had for two weeks as well.
So from now on I'm done with trying android or IOS, I'm gonna stick with WP since I know that I will return to it anw after just a few weeks.

One thing to mention is that I've been using google services like docs, drive, mail services (like my "go to" services) etc but I'm still enjoying WP a lot more then ios or android. And now I have switched to outlook and and I have even bought more space on onedrive. I'm also enjoying MS cloud storage, email and office services more then then I used to like googles.

So in other words, if I where you I wouldn't hesitate to try out a WP device. I think you would like it, like most ppl that actually tries it does.
 

anon(8150199)

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Too bad, Microsoft used to have a web page that simulate Windows Phone 8 (and teach you how to use in the process), I tried it when I was about to get my L520 (my first Windows Phone)
 

ShreyansShah

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so since I can't really judge performance or hardware since this is a low end phone, should I just use it to get a feel for the OS and apps?

and am I still going to easily be able to continue using my iPad and other non windows devices? Or is it going to get to s point where I'll replace the iPad with a surface or something?
it's never have to u know. it will be u want to replace.
i know we r quite behind iOS in many things n apps, but be sure, its gonna be alright.
always remember, iOS was also very small in the beginning, before growing.
even an olympic champion was a baby crawling once. time change and it changes everything.

another thing is u cannot compare 5S with Lumia 520, it's like comparing someone's chapter 20 with other's chapter 2.
when i bought my first lumia 800, i compared (hardware) Lumia 800 and iPhone 4. almost similar hardware and price was half.
i tried lumia, and now, i am using a second Lumia, and surely in a time, i will be upgrading, it will be Lumia only. it's innovation that we have to trust.
even apple accepted some facts about WP were good, basically the simplicity and fluid the OS is. they officially declared that and build iOS 7 with those basics.

there will be issues on migrating from iOS to WP, but nothing that u can't handle. u may be missing something, but some gains also.
go on, try it.
 

bionicgt

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That was my same fear before I got Lumia 625 but Im now happy and like they said it's a non issue as most apps that I NEED are there unless you want something that you can't really live without and there's not alternatives then think about it BUT I don't see the big problem...GO FOR WP
 

bionicgt

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PS: For local news and banking apps, well it happened to me too, my bank has Android app BUT I can still access an incredible mobile version on the browser, absolutely no problem there, same functions and the "app" doesn't crash cause with my old Xperia at least, the app wouldn't run as fast as the browser version does, same for local news, you can check many things, but anyways :) ...
 

Reebs Reebs

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I'm gonna pick up a 520 and give that a go. :)

Just remember you're buying a $50 phone... Your experience will be much better if you pick a phone with better specs. I did the move to WP same way as you. From HTC Sensation to 521. The 521 was ways better than the HTC sensation at the time... Now I upgraded to 925 and it's a great step up. You will certainly get what you pay for. If you have $200 to invest and you're on T-Mobile, pass the 521 to the 925 directly... That of course, is if you can afford it.
 

MARKjotep

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I used symbian > BB > ios > android then lastly WP!!! i never looked back! WP is way simpler and better.. one thing im missing (wich is not a big deal since I can use my laptop) Torrent/File Download and File Manager(e.g. x-plore)!!!

I dont know! I guess the only phone That Id replace my 920 would be 930!!! and A PHONE IS NOT A PHONE WITHOUT GLANCE!! HAHAHAHA.


one thing I advice my friends who are curious about WP. "Try It" ;)
 

rain620

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I used symbian > BB > ios > android then lastly WP!!! i never looked back! WP is way simpler and better.. one thing im missing (wich is not a big deal since I can use my laptop) Torrent/File Download and File Manager(e.g. x-plore)!!!

I dont know! I guess the only phone That Id replace my 920 would be 930!!! and A PHONE IS NOT A PHONE WITHOUT GLANCE!! HAHAHAHA.


one thing I advice my friends who are curious about WP. "Try It" ;)
You can download torrents, not in background tho, search for wpTorrent in the store.
 

RavenSword

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Is there a issue with speacilty apps? Like, I've never used uber (the car transport service) but I notice there isn't a uber app.

maybe I'm thinking too much of what I might use one day, instead of what I use now?
 

Old_Cus

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So, what's probably the best windows phone on at&t right now? The 1520? Seems super huge

Wait. At the very least three phones are coming out (630,930 and one from Samsung). AT&T is also relaunching the 1520. I suggest you wait and see what's coming before making a decision.
 

RavenSword

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Wait. At the very least three phones are coming out (630,930 and one from Samsung). AT&T is also relaunching the 1520. I suggest you wait and see what's coming before making a decision.

I'm not making a decision right now, was just curious what the best options were.
 

RavenSword

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Is there also this weird problem where secs just aren't updating their windows phone apps? For example, I use slacker radio lately and the windows phone app doesn't seem to have received any of the updated slacker has done for the past year or so.
 

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