Is Microsoft getting complacent or just lazy?

[haikallp]

Now before you guys, start to hate me on this, I would like to make it clear that I've been a WP user since Windows Phone 7, with the HTC Trophy. In fact, I'm currently using my third windows phone device (HTC 8X).

I've seen Windows Phone grow since its inception and with every update, it has brought the OS closer to its rivals but lately, it seems to me that Microsoft is taking things too slow.

It's been 9 months since Windows Phone 8 was released to the masses and since then, there have been little improvements made. GDR2 is pathetic. Thank god for Nokia users, Nokia has bundled Amber update together. I can't believe it took MS 8 months or so to release a minor update. They could have done that in half of that time.

The competition has revealed their upcoming update, through iOS 7 and Android 4.3 but there's still no concrete news on what we'll be getting in GDR3. These days, it seems Nokia is pushing WP more than MS is. Nokia is the one who have been attracting developers and adding great features to their Lumia devices.

WP is still lacking on many basic things. Rotation lock, notification hub, some sort of folder management in the music+videos hub, folders in the start screen and of course apps. MS keeps saying they are listening to the user feedback but clearly they are not doing anything, or if they are, its too slow. MS have to understand that they cannot follow Apple and Google's pace. They are behind and thus, needs to put in more effort.

Honestly, I'm really tired of waiting but I'll wait till WP 8.1 to see what it brings to the table before deciding whether I'll jump to Android or stay with WP.

What are your thoughts? Do you think MS is taking their own sweet time?

 

[11B1P]

Now before you guys, start to hate me on this, I would like to make it clear that I've been a WP user since Windows Phone 7, with the HTC Trophy. In fact, I'm currently using my third windows phone device (HTC 8X).

I've seen how Windows Phone have growed since its inception and with every update, it has brought the OS closer to its rivals but lately, it seems to me that Microsoft is taking things too slow.

It's been 9 months since Windows Phone 8 was released to the masses and since then, there have been little improvements made. GDR2 is pathetic. Thank god for Nokia users, Nokia has bundled Amber update together. I can't believe it took MS 8 months or so to release a minor update. They could have done that in half of that time.

The competition has revealed their upcoming update, through iOS 7 and Android 4.3 but there's still no concrete news on what we'll be getting in GDR3. These days, it seems Nokia is pushing WP more than MS is. Nokia is the one who have been attracting developers and adding great features to their Lumia devices.

WP is still lacking on many basic things. Rotation lock, notification hub, some sort of folder management in the music+videos hub, folders in the start screen and of course apps. MS keeps saying they are listening to the user feedback but clearly they are not doing anything, or if they are, its too slow. MS have to understand that they cannot follow Apple and Google's pace. They are behind and thus, needs to put in more effort.

Honestly, I'm really tired of waiting but I'll wait till WP 8.1 to see what it brings to the table before deciding whether I'll jump to Android or stay with WP.

What are your thoughts? Do you think MS is taking their own sweet time?

I agree to a point with you. Yes, they could get these updates out sooner, but some of your complaints are not valid.

*Rotation Lock - yeah, it would be nice, but it is a small fish in an ocean.
*Notification Hub - Eh, I think notifications could be handled the way webOS did it. I've not used Android so I don't understand the fuss everyone makes about this issue.
*Folders on the start screen - Huh? We have Live Tiles. Incorporating folders on the start screen completely negates the Live Tiles.
*Apps - Yeah, this is a personal opinion here. I agree they need to get the major hitters on board, but the os has come a long way since its birth.

 

[Jupast]

Even Nokia is getting frustrated with them, as has been reported in the last couple days. So yes, there's frustration all around.

 

[Gal Avraham]

you are so right but other people who try to hush me up(like the closed thread i have opened about microsoft a few days ago) are the problem here. they wont accept to do anything about this except lauding microsoft, and what for?!
damn, im so sorry i have bought my ativ s. it wont worth it!!!!!!

 

[haikallp]

I agree to a point with you. Yes, they could get these updates out sooner, but some of your complaints are not valid.

*Rotation Lock - yeah, it would be nice, but it is a small fish in an ocean.
*Notification Hub - Eh, I think notifications could be handled the way webOS did it. I've not used Android so I don't understand the fuss everyone makes about this issue.
*Folders on the start screen - Huh? We have Live Tiles. Incorporating folders on the start screen completely negates the Live Tiles.
*Apps - Yeah, this is a personal opinion here. I agree they need to get the major hitters on board, but the os has come a long way since its birth.

*Exactly, its a minor thing, yet they can't solve this. I do not want my phone display to keep turning to landscape/vertical when I'm lying down on my bed reading some news or watching a video.
*I do not want to fill my start screen with medium/large tiles, so provide a notification hub to view and access all my notifications. That notification hub could integrate quick settings for WiFi, data toggles too.
*Folders maybe a subjective thing. Some people may not want it, but at least give us the option.

These are all available in Android and iOS so its nothing really fancy or demanding.

 

[haikallp]

you are so right but other people who try to hush me up(like the closed thread i have opened about microsoft a few days ago) are the problem here. they wont accept to do anything about this except lauding microsoft, and what for?!
damn, im so sorry i have bought my ativ s. it wont worth it!!!!!!

There's no point in being a ******. Its good to realize the shortcomings of an OS. Realizing is the first step in improving one's self.

 

[haikallp]

Bump!

 

[Chregu]

Now before you guys, start to hate me on this

The days in which such a critical post was seen as provoking in these forums are long gone. Actually there are many posts like this around.

http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...t-must-evolve-make-windows-phone-success.html
http://forums.windowscentral.com/windows-phone-8/234797-union-against-microsoft.html

Other posts just turn to something similar:

http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...e-windows-phone-update-coming-later-year.html

Microsoft themselves said they are months behind the point where they want to be, I don't feel like searching for the reference again (I just should have bookmarked it).

you are so right but other people who try to hush me up(like the closed thread i have opened about microsoft a few days ago)

Look, I even referenced to your thread. Maybe it was just not as good as you thought it was and didn't make as much sense as you thought it did and it was closed because of that before it turned into a mess, not because you don't like your Ativ S. Since Windows Phone 7 I write my sometimes very critical opinions openly in this forum, and only once I got a warning for being too harsh.

 

[jongthechemist]

microsoft lacks communication. i think there's a huge problem with the update they're aiming for this year. when you aim too high and focus too much on it, when a problem comes up, you have no choice but to push the release date. maybe they just figured out small updates like gdr2/3 after realising that 8.1 will not be realisticly released before next year. i seriously doubt no one is doing any work in the wp department in microsoft. maybe they should hire more engineers to push updates faster.

 

[Fade_z]

We need updates like every 3 months with most needed features, building towards 8.05 and meanwhile they worked on 8.1 making the big leap

- edit and in those 3 monthly updates add stuff like orientation lock which is pretty easy to code/implement
And add stuff like double tap to wake in 8.1

 

[Chregu]

We need updates like every 3 months with most needed features, building towards 8.05 and meanwhile they worked on 8.1 making the big leap

- edit and in those 3 monthly updates add stuff like orientation lock which is pretty easy to code/implement
And add stuff like double tap to wake in 8.1

Microsoft is really careful with implementing features like this. Often I think it is not about being capable of doing it or not having the time to do it, but more about not destroying the design language of the OS, not to alter how the OS is handled by the user and keeping it all real simple.

 

[N_LaRUE]

I think what is most disappointing is not so much Microsoft being lazy as there appears to be some major issues in trying to implement things in the OS. I wish I knew more about programming but it would appear, just looking at things, that MS is having issues with just the basics, let alone anything more complex.

Let's look at the Facebook app. The developers of it are saying they're having issues making it work they way they want to. That's rather confusing. How difficult can it be? It has to be the limitations of the OS. If you can't get a Facebook app to work right what chances do you have?

Then look at the OS itself. 'Other' storage is still an issue apparently even after GDR2. Then there are the other issues prior to GDR2 with SD cards, music app, bricking of phones. I've read on many threads of people having 4-5 phones now. That's completely insane.

The reason GDR2 took so long is that they obviously had many issues to tackle. Probably some we don't even know about. Other issue is it would appear that they didn't fix everything. Which is a tad worrying. So what will GDR3 be? More fixes of course.

Depending on your view of things. WP is either great, cause you like the difference, or behind other OS's cause it hasn't even implemented what some people feel are the basics.

I've stated my opinion before. You're either sticking around and waiting to see what happens and then decide after 8.1 or you're going to bolt sooner. Updates are what they are. Whining about them doesn't make them come any faster. There's other platforms to hang out on until WP gets to where you want it to be. It will get there in it's own way according to what MS feels we need. It won't happen on any other terms. Whether WP will ever have all you want is the other question to answer. That again is something for you to decide.

 

[uopjo6]

Exact same feeling and 8.1 will be the final test to see if I'm staying or not.

 

[haikallp]

Anyone knows what GDR3 will bring to the table? Hope it won't be as pathetic as GDR2.

 

[tungha]

Anyone knows what GDR3 will bring to the table? Hope it won't be as pathetic as GDR2.

currently we only know that it will support the new hardware, no more information

 

[psudotechzealot]

Why yes I do, what can we do about it but wait & speculate? I just hope Microsoft listens & give us/potential WP users what we want or add features that take this UI to another level or make it really competitive to Android/IOS in WP8.1.

I would also like for Microsoft to bring us along for the ride, like show us sneak peek on what they have been work on(like once a month, for example: rotation lock on August, notification center on September, etc). To get a feel for WP8.1 and/or give them some suggestions to improve what they all ready have. At the end of the day everybody in this forum and WP8/7.8/7.5 and WP7 users wants WP to prosper.


So Microsoft...............

 

[drbanks]

My suspicion is that the devs and project managers are doing their best, but they're bing held back by a lack of commitment upstairs.

 

[Geddeeee]

I think MS should release a beta with all the supposed 'missing features'. When it lags and judders like a *****, they can say, "See, told you so. Let us get on with it. We know what we're doing". Personally I've never had a problem with WP8 or WP7 for that matter. WP phones require a shift of thinking. A lot of people just don't get that, hence the calls for that stupid Notification Centre idea. For the lsst time.... The phone IS the Notification Centre. Only badly written live tile apps stop that being so....

 

[haikallp]

I think MS should release a beta with all the supposed 'missing features'. When it lags and judders like a *****, they can say, "See, told you so. Let us get on with it. We know what we're doing". Personally I've never had a problem with WP8 or WP7 for that matter. WP phones require a shift of thinking. A lot of people just don't get that, hence the calls for that stupid Notification Centre idea. For the lsst time.... The phone IS the Notification Centre. Only badly written live tile apps stop that being so....

• Then why can Google and Apple release updates faster, explain that to me.
• The start screen is a notification centre? So I have to pin everything that sends notifications to my start screen (which btw, only medium and large tiles show information).

 

[jlynnm350z]

The new Android version "4.3" has very little noticeable changes. Not every update is going to be earth shattering, just saying.