"Satya Nadella must kill Windows Phone and fork Android" Geez...

[dlalonde]

Earlier this week, it was Steve Wozniak saying Apple should release an iPhone on Android and now this guy from the Guardian says Microsoft should do

Analysis: Satya Nadella must kill Windows Phone and fork Android | Technology | theguardian.com

What's with Android? I don't see why people love it so much. I have used it (I'm not a ****** for anything, I try them all) but Android just doesn't do it for me (which is what led me to try WP8). Quite frankly, Windows Phone has better potential and is more original. Plus I don't have a Google Account anymore (I don't like Google because of the way they've been more of a bully since 2012).

Anyhow, what do you think of that guy's analysis?

 

[6029KingStephen]

One more hack journalist who's never run a company. Teenage scribblers.....

 

[badplanet]

Google is evil! Bing it on.

 

[RustyU]

Quite frankly, Windows Phone has better potential

How can one mobile OS have better potential than another? I guess you can say it has more potential to grow because it's currently do far behind the others, but feature wise 'potential' is based on the advancement of technology, which Android and iOS will also be privy to.

 

[dlalonde]

How can one mobile OS have better potential than another? I guess you can say it has more potential to grow because it's currently do far behind the others, but feature wise 'potential' is based on the advancement of technology, which Android and iOS will also be privy to.

I did mean potential to grow but also potential as far as innovation is concerned because they didn't take iOS and started from there. They went on a completely different route with the live tiles and in that respect there's more potential... you can't really make an icon better than it is on iOS or Android.

 

[RustyU]

True, but that's why widgets exist. Maybe Apple has a plan too.

 

[dlalonde]

Very true

 

[Idzaudin Idz]

If they kill wp. They wasted a lot of money...

 

[Guytronic]

Certain factions want an OS that's easy to crack\hack and use to pin users to a global easily watched map board.
Android is that OS.

 

[Jas00555]

True, but that's why widgets exist. Maybe Apple has a plan too.

It may be that iOS and WP have spoiled me, but widgets just don't work for me at all. So far, they haven't been usable on hardly any Android device I've ever used from Motorola to Samsung to HTC in tablets or phones. Either they force crash on me or they're just not the right size to be that much of a convenience, and when they are a convenience, they're usually too big. I think widgets try to do too much and it makes a weird experience. Its not the idea, its the implementation, which I think Android lacks a lot of.

 

[dlalonde]

Yeah me neither. I've never like widgets. The live tiles have always done it better for me.

As far as Google being evil, with all we know, I trust Microsoft more that Google. But I'm sure some will disagree.

 

[dkediger]

I sparingly used widgets, usually just one, that had a calendar/agenda and served as a mini launcher once you tapped it.

Oh, and it supported transparent backgrounds. That was my biggest gripe with widgets, they "broke" my clean look home page with horrible design.

 

[dkediger]

And, on forking Android, from a usually reasonable source:
http://arstechnica.com/information-...yone-else-should-fork-android-its-unforkable/

 

[unstoppablekem]

Get rid of WP? No. WP devices to dual boot android? Maybe.

 

[a5cent]

How can one mobile OS have better potential than another?

It depends on what you mean by potential and what it is that you want from a smartphone. This is my personal take:

What I want from a smartphone is primarily something that just works. It must be simple, fast, no fuss. I shouldn't have to manage or administrate my smartphone. For me, this is what rules out Google and Android (and the fact that I'm not willing to use a device which was developed primarily as a means to collect data about me). Furthermore, I don't want the provider of my OS deciding what services I may and may not use. I want a platform that is open to anyone, for any type of (legal) business. For me, this is what rules out Apple and iOS (screen size would be another issue).

At least for me, that is why WP has the greatest potential. WP certainly isn't perfect, but based on its founding principles, it is has the potential to become exactly what I'm looking for. Far more so than its two main competitors.

 

[MERCDROID]

Getting rid of Windows Phone and "forking" Android is a HORRIBLE idea. I don't see the benefit to doing such a thing: maybe because there is no benefit. We don't need more Android devices. What we need is more choices in the marketplace. As Blackberry seems to no longer be in the running, we need Windows Phone now more than ever. We can't have a two-horse race: that's no fun and good for no one.

Microsoft needs to own Windows Phone. It does have a lot of potential. And, with the OS starting to mature and be compatible with higher-end hardware, it has more of a chance to expand than before. I'm a hardcore (sort of) Android user, and even I'm considering the move to Windows Phone. I just wish Microsoft could release a phone on all of the carriers. I'd love to have the 1520 on T-Mobile; it really sucks that it's not available on ALL of the carriers.

I'm confident that Microsoft won't listen to any of that drivel that's posted online by armchair CEOs.

 

[MERCDROID]

Get rid of WP? No. WP devices to dual boot android? Maybe.

That would be legit. I'd be a customer from day one, as long as the price is reasonable.

 

[bilzkh]

...and abandon nearly 40 million Windows Phone 8 users and 12 million Windows Phone 7.x users? This sudden rise of armchair stupidity is getting to me now. To be polite, these analysts should STFU and find new jobs, their advice will drive Microsoft into the gutter. I suggest keeping Windows Phone and gradually evolving it into the 'Next Platform Milestone' (NPM). The 'NPM' will be the next thing in technology, we just don't 100% know what it is, but I don't see it emerging from something that isn't already a mobile based OS (the most ubiquitous OS today). Microsoft should utilize the user base and maturity it has with Windows Phone today to reach that NPM before the competition. "Killing" XYZ is just short-sighted.

 

[a5cent]

And, on forking Android, from a usually reasonable source:
Neither Microsoft, Nokia, nor anyone else should fork Android. It’s unforkable. | Ars Technica

Thanks for that link! That's the first time I've seen that information collected in a single location. It explains why I've been saying that Nokia's "Android" device won't quite be as Androidy as many here expect. Everyone, including WPC, is calling the Nokia Normandy an Android device, but I wonder how many people will start wondering if it really deserves that name, once they realize just how different a forked version of Android is.

 

[dkediger]

Yeah, I feel it would be YouTube on WP all over again, unless they went full Google experience, which negates the purpose: funneling users into MS' services.

It'll be interesting to see what approach Normandy really takes....