I don't like where MS is going...

[Gustavo Sanchez]

I am a loyal WP fan. I started about two years ago, when the L920 came out. I traded my then awesome HTC One X to experience firsthand the WP8 OS. I just wanted something different. Along the way, I have acquired the L520, L925, L1520, and recently the L1020, for me and my family. So I know what WP has to offer.

Now to the main point: I am now not so sure that the best MS experience is being offered in WP. Android and iOS apps authored by Microsoft are worryingly better than for WP, and introduced earlier. Please see this: Microsoft?s Android and iOS focus leaves Windows users in the cold | The Verge

What Microsoft thinks it's doing? At least for me, I am intolerant to the feeling of being duped. As much as I love WP, I can quickly go back to Android through the Nexus devices and Lollipop.

 

[Ruined]

At this point Ms is likely gearing up for win10 so any WP efforts would be focused towards that.

 

[jasqid]

Its worry some. But I think, Ruined is right. Theyre focusing on Win10. Now, when Win 10 comes around and we find out its a ****ty experience, Ill be pissed.

 

[osumorris2315]

Feel the same way, but I can understand their logic. Office is prob their best brand name and ios and android own market share... So put the resources there to develop apps. While office can wait for windows 10 cause WP just isn't big enough yet.

 

[GoNokindow]

I know! I just read the article from the verge and I feel so angry! It's so true! Why the heck are we, windows phone users, getting 2nd hand crap from the very company asking us to support them but are not doing the same for their customers. Look I totally get why they are putting more energy into other platforms. Its all about the further reach = more money. Fine. I get it. But come on...I can say this for myself, I am a big supporter of windows, especially windows phone, but you gotta give us something worth sticking around. I'm not saying make windows phone feature apps exclusive, that doesn't make good business sense, but ours should be better, available first, or at the very least...make it equally good and available the same time as other platform. I'm finding less and less reason to stick around. And that makes me sad...

 

[Pete]

The article on Verge is neatly ignoring the fact that Microsoft is concentrating on offering services across all platforms, not just Windows/Lumia/Microsoft.

Wait to see what Windows Mobile 10 (or whatever it'll be called) brings.

Don't let trolling articles like this wind you up, Microsoft are looking at the wider view that extends beyond Windows Phone.

 

[tgp]

Wait to see what Windows Mobile 10 (or whatever it'll be called) brings.

Ah yes, wait! Windows Phone's mantra!

Don't let trolling articles like this wind you up, Microsoft are looking at the wider view that extends beyond Windows Phone.

True, and I can appreciate what Microsoft is doing. But what do we do in the meantime? Live with what is substandard compared to the competing products? In my mind, using WP makes sense if you're an avid Microsoft fan, or if WP does everything you would do anyway. But a user should not be using what he feels is a compromise. If it feels like a compromise, then I don't think a user should stay.

I know where the OP is coming from. I was there myself at one time.

 

[iamakii]

See Tom Warren's latest post. And I agree, there's only so long Windows users will remain loyal. http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/13/7213489/microsoft-leaves-windows-users-in-the-cold

 

[iamakii]

The article on Verge is neatly ignoring the fact that Microsoft is concentrating on offering services across all platforms, not just Windows/Lumia/Microsoft.

Wait to see what Windows Mobile 10 (or whatever it'll be called) brings.

Don't let trolling articles like this wind you up, Microsoft are looking at the wider view that extends beyond Windows Phone.

Wait for 7.5
Wait for 7.8
Wait for 8.0
Wait for 8.1
Wait for 10

 

[eMike]

Microsoft?s Android and iOS focus leaves Windows users in the cold | The Verge[/url]

I totally agree with this statement.

 

[twentythreee]

The platform is already dead. Still we are waiting for Windows 10 ...
It's the wrong time to start over and over again. Why should anyone wait for it to become competitve? Not even I as a developer (from Poki) am interested in this anymore.

And Tom Warren really isn't trolling, he's by far the only one at theverge who doesn't dislike MS ...

 

[Ebuka Allison]

Oh the Verge is trolling? Its not just the verge, Mary Jo Foley, Paul Thurrott, Neowin... all Microsoft centric sites are smelling something weird and they don't like it.
I would use Nokia Lumia Icon, if not for Windows Phone

t Microsoft's murky Windows plans, where one platform unifies them all, created fear, uncertainty, and doubt. (What right-minded company FUDs itself?) I find the tile interface to be inhibiting rather than liberating; that's me, someone else might coo. Meanwhile, movie Interstellar might come to Blu-ray in a 16-hour director's cut before Verizon graces Icon with Windows Phone 8.1.

With a new platform-neutral Microsoft, why go Windows? | ZDNet

But in the new, platform-neutral Microsoft — where new apps and services increasingly appear on iOS and Android before Windows or Windows phones — why should users bet on Windows?

It's a good question and one I've struggled to answer lately when asked, as I am being. Repeatedly.

Here's mine

I’m going to copy and paste myself here.
. "I am going to be really blunt here. Microsoft has failed to deliver. The mantra remains for fans as always.Wait for it. Something big will be coming. Wait. Wait. Wait. Soon. Mango, Apollo, Blue, Threshold. When will Microsoft go all in?

Forget marketshare, imagine Apple releasing Facetime for Android and Windows because it was ready and they had more marketshare. Imagine iTunes for Mac going to crap because there are more Windows users anyway.

If Microsoft can treat its own platform like crap and feed them with buggy apps, what impression does this give devs? That Windows Phone users don’t care about app quality?

You can price 10 million people into buying your cheap devices over and over again, but those 10 million individuals will not buy a Windows Phone for their next device if they hate it. Neither will their friends.

So go on Microsoft. Keep piling up negatives against using your platform. When /Build/ comes, will you be able to turn your reputation around or will you find that you have ignited your own platform and sent your users running?"

Office for iOS is a slap in the face for Windows Phone users | InfoWorld

We’ll put a pin in this conversation and return at a later time. Hopefully, we’ll see much more from the WP dev team in the near future. I’m a Windows Phone user, and I’m tired of having to explain why. It should be a simple list of bullets that my phone can do that others cannot (yet).

 

[RichardBurt]

Feel free to buy your Android and iSheep phones then and move on.

These forums will have less moaners and more constructive conversations.

Bye... And close the door on the way out.

 

[Ebuka Allison]

Oh yes. Like Crackberry you mean?

Feel free to buy your Android and iSheep phones then and move on.

These forums will have less moaners and more constructive conversations.

Bye... And close the door on the way out.

 

[Pete]

Wait for 7.5
Wait for 7.8
Wait for 8.0
Wait for 8.1
Wait for 10

I get what you're saying, but this argument doesn't really carry much weight. Office mobile as a product hasn't really changed much since WP7. We all know that 10 is a whole different beast and will bring unity across many Windows platform levels.

Mobile office is baked into the OS - to dramatically improve the interface and functionality is going to mean reworking parts of the OS, that's not going to happen before 10 lands.

However, Microsoft want to deliver a great Office experience across all platforms (competing hardware or not), it doesn't really make sense to wait when Microsoft's Mobile Office team can move quicker to deliver Apple and Android updates. It's simply good sense for Microsoft and the infrastructure - and it's something to wave in the face of Google when it comes to claims of monopolising apps and services (YouTube, anyone?).

If people want to use this as an excuse to move away from Windows Phone, that's fine - you have that choice, and Microsoft enables you to make that choice too.

 

[Reflexx]

Feel free to buy your Android and iSheep phones then and move on.

These forums will have less moaners and more constructive conversations.

Bye... And close the door on the way out.

So, by "constructive conversations" you mean non-critical, non-constructive, ignorant conversation, don't you?

 

[Gustavo Sanchez]

Feel free to buy your Android and iSheep phones then and move on.

These forums will have less moaners and more constructive conversations.

Bye... And close the door on the way out.

I am the OP, and I am not a moaner. I have bought five different WP phones, dammit! I just want WP to be not just a "me, too" platform, but a credible alternative to the iOS/Android experiences.

If by raising the flag on the shortcomings of the WP platform you are criticizing me, then you make my point even more valid.

 

[Z8JLsgokUI]

Agreed.

 

[blue1k]

Feel free to buy your Android and iSheep phones then and move on.

These forums will have less moaners and more constructive conversations.

Bye... And close the door on the way out.

Sounds exactly what I read on other forums. Just because someone is complaining doesn't mean that they want the other brand. It means they are passionate about the phone and/or ecosystem they are a part of. Comments like this are a waste of time and lend nothing to building a user voice to improving something.

I complain all the time to developers. And you know what? They listen and add features and requests because I took the time to say something. And it's not by selling my phone and going to iPhone that will improve the quality of WP platform. It's by being vocal. MS has really lost its direction and if its users say nothing then we can just accept the course of actions blindly.

 

[GoNokindow]

I get what you're saying, but this argument doesn't really carry much weight. Office mobile as a product hasn't really changed much since WP7. We all know that 10 is a whole different beast and will bring unity across many Windows platform levels.
.

Actually, If I'm not mistaken, the earlier versions for office mobile was a whole lot better with more features then the current bare bones striped down version we have today. I remember myself thinking when using office, " couldn't I do... before? Why can't I find those feature anymore?" Then it hits me... Wait, they are missing. I mean, sure, you want people to subscribe to office 365. But wasn't one of the appeal of getting a windows phone the fact that we got to use a fairly feature rich (not expecting the desktop version, but basic stuff like alignment would be nice) office app that other platform had to pay for? Wasn't the point, use a windows phone to get excess to windows services?