Rant : What is your Plan B?

[Tsang Fai]

Microsoft won't give up on Windows 10 Mobile mostly because it now requires so little effort to maintain. 90% of the dev is used in the desktop anyway, also true with Universal Apps.

The worst case I think is many apps leaving but not those critical ones, e.g. Facebook, WhatsApp - Microsoft will not let these developers go away. They are willing even to fully subsidize the maintenance of these critical apps. As long as these critical apps are still there, I won't abandon my Windows Phones.

Maintaining the mobile OS and minimal critical apps is not expensive at all to Microsoft.

They would not and should not fully abandon the mobile.

At least Windows Mobile will not die in 10 years. And I predict after 10 years, smartphone/tablet is no longer the only mobile device - VR/AR devices will be popular and Microsoft will be one of the big players in VR/AR.

 

[Zeem Frostmaw]

i have no plan b.

i have been using windows 7.8 for the last several years. thanks to the hardware keyboard, and Zune,
there is no reason to ever upgrade until they can match the features.

8 coudn't do it. 8.1 coudn't do it. and windows 10 is worse than both of those.

i have a lumia 650 as a gift, but only use it on wifi for testing, so far it doesn't come close.


later
-1

Pretty similar ballpark to everyone else really. We might not be on WP7 but we're certainly happy enough with the features we have that even if the ecosystem just went forward with the exact same apps we have now, it would still be a wonderful smartphone that does all we need it for. =)

 

[chasvs]

Yes, I'm on an iPhone 6S+ for now and will stay here if the next Flagship Device isn't a Surface Phone level quality and Win10M doesn't mature with more apps that I now have access to on IOS! I was a steadfast MSFT supporter and used Windows Phone from 7.0 forward. But the latest abandonment has made me look elsewhere for now. MSFT has ONE LAST CHANCE with me. It had better come in 2017 as predicted or I'm gone for good!

 

[Zeem Frostmaw]

will stay here if the next Flagship Device isn't a Surface Phone level quality

I don't think we've had any confirmed specs or anything so I'm curious... what is 'Surface Phone Level' quality?

 

[N_LaRUE]

I don't think we've had any confirmed specs or anything so I'm curious... what is 'Surface Phone Level' quality?

The imaginary list of things that will make everyone want W10M...

 

[Krystianpants]

I find it funny that despite no advertising, MS sitting back and relaxing while creating a set of devices, Windows phone has just broke a market share record and only in one month.

windows phone market share jumped to record 4 percent last month

Maybe all the windows phone is dead head lines are spreading awareness that such a phone even exists lol. It seems that people really like Windows 10 but the app gap is likely the biggest factor, not to mention the OS is not finished and won't truly be till redstone 2.

EDIT: I'm not really sure about the accuracy of these. It does seem a bit off.

 

[Per Kjellqvist]

Two decades ago, MS could offer cheaper ... Today, we see the exact same phenomenon, but now we have Apple and Google offering cheaper and more accessible solutions than MS, which the average Joe (without a formal IT education or sufficient enthusiasm) can wrap their head around.

I totally disagree:
1) Apple does not offer cheaper solutions than Microsoft.
2) Microsoft's mainstream products (Windows 10, Xbox, Outlook, Bing, Groove and their PC/mobile hardware) do not require formal IT education or a high level of enthusiasm to use. I would argue that Windows 10 Mobile is the easiest system out there currently, and the same goes for Windows 10. Even Apple evangelists argue that by focusing on hardware design, and dumbed-down user interface Apple's products are becoming increasingly frustrating and difficult to use. Read for example: How Apple Is Giving Design A Bad Name | Co.Design | business + design

I've been wishing for years now that MS would finally do something exciting for consumers, rather than just try to optimize the corporate/developer side of this interest-equation.

Huh? The Surface line is not exciting enough for you? or how about HoloLens, Xbox One, Visual Studio etc. etc.?

MS can't continually lose battles and still expect to win the war.

What battle, and what war? Microsoft has evolved into a very mature company that has an aim of producing the best, most useful, and affordable products it can while continuing to be at the leading edge of innovation and forward thinking. Their main goal is not a war with a single aim of majority market share in every single product area.

 

[swanlee]

I find it funny that despite no advertising, MS sitting back and relaxing while creating a set of devices, Windows phone has just broke a market share record and only in one month.

windows phone market share jumped to record 4 percent last month

Maybe all the windows phone is dead head lines are spreading awareness that such a phone even exists lol. It seems that people really like Windows 10 but the app gap is likely the biggest factor, not to mention the OS is not finished and won't truly be till redstone 2.

EDIT: I'm not really sure about the accuracy of these. It does seem a bit off.

Neat, I think it is a complete disservice to the tech industry that Tech journalist are so hell bent on dooming and glooming MS products that market share increases like this are barely ever reported.

To much click bait journalism going on, they know if they bash MS they will get more hits cause MS users and Apple and Android users will all flock to dance around MS's so called grave.

 

[erasure25]

Everytime I consider moving to an iPhone, I read something like this and I think to myself that I just can't associate with people who make up the lowest common denominator (don't they realize Qi is an add on, and that you still have a plug???):

"You are not missing anything, wireless charging as it is now is stupid, its just a large pad to lug around and move from place to place instead of a tiny plug."
http://www.imore.com/iphone-7-and-potential-wireless-charging

 

[Tsang Fai]

I totally disagree:
1) Apple does not offer cheaper solutions than Microsoft.
2) Microsoft's mainstream products (Windows 10, Xbox, Outlook, Bing, Groove and their PC/mobile hardware) do not require formal IT education or a high level of enthusiasm to use. I would argue that Windows 10 Mobile is the easiest system out there currently, and the same goes for Windows 10. Even Apple evangelists argue that by focusing on hardware design, and dumbed-down user interface Apple's products are becoming increasingly frustrating and difficult to use. Read for example: How Apple Is Giving Design A Bad Name | Co.Design | business + design



Huh? The Surface line is not exciting enough for you? or how about HoloLens, Xbox One, Visual Studio etc. etc.?



What battle, and what war? Microsoft has evolved into a very mature company that has an aim of producing the best, most useful, and affordable products it can while continuing to be at the leading edge of innovation and forward thinking. Their main goal is not a war with a single aim of majority market share in every single product area.

Well said. To be honest, Microsoft have done a good job during the past 2 years. Surface is a bit late to the game (Apple had Macbook Air before 2010) but still not too late. If Nadella were the CEO earlier (say 2012), I do believe the status of WP would not be that bad.

 

[Narathan]

I'm not really going to leave W10M. I've had some affaires with Android but I keep coming back to W10M... Just can't get used to Android, it's so 'boring' I guess. Have to admit, I've a Xiaomi Mi 5 as second device but the moment they release a W10M rom for it, that 950 XL goes into the drawer. Loved the way my HTC M8 looked and I'm probably going for that HP device or a Umi Touch with W10M if they don't release a rom for the Mi5.

Guess I'm spoiled.

 

[ubizmo]

Coming from BlackBerry, Windows is my Plan B. Really it's plan C, since my OnePlus One has been my main phone for some months now. I do like the W10M experience in general but I'm still recovering from app pain. As a heavy Kindle user, for example, I can run the Android Kindle app on my Passport, but it is starting to fail (takes a long time to load, freezes, etc); I can use the W10M app, but said app is about three years behind Android and iOS in functionality. So I tend to stick with my OPO for daily use, and play with the Lumia 640 on WiFi a bit.

 

[manus31]

My plan b is my lumia 640 running windows 10 mobile.I gave in to android in January for another mid range device,moto g3.

I do not lose out on anything good from Microsoft..I have a little folder with outlook mail and calendar,onedrive, onenote,groove music,xbox smartglass and office apps.

I still install the previews on my 640,but there's just not enough decent apps to compel me to switch back and most Microsoft apos are better running on android

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[Clive Rennie]

Plan B I have six Lumia phones now did the buy one get one free thing plus my Nexus 6p just need android wear on windows 10 mobile, didn't Microsoft and Google patch things up?

 

[DavidinCT]

Know what the really messed up thing is about this ENTIRE thread.... Is we are having this discussion...

I bet in Apple world, or Android Central, do you think they are having the same discussion ? I think not...

 

[a5cent]

I totally disagree:

Okay Per... apparently you're not the only one who completely misunderstood what I was saying, so sorry for that. Lets break this down.

1) Apple does not offer cheaper solutions than Microsoft.

Yes, but...I explicitly mentioned both Apple and Google.

In the context of what I said, I thought it would be clear that Apple is viewed as the entity who provides more accessible products (the stuff anybody can use, as they are perceived as the company who's products "just work". Whether that's objectively true or not doesn't matter because perception "is" reality), while Google is the entity who provides products and services that are cheap (the stuff anybody can afford, because nobody can beat "ad supported and free").

Apple and Google occupy those two market positions, so those two roles are split between two companies rather than being combined into one, but the net result is the same. MS doesn't occupy either of those two positions, but is competing against both, in exactly the same way IBM had to compete against cheaper and more accessible MS products two decades ago.

That was my point.

2) Microsoft's mainstream products (Windows 10, Xbox, Outlook, Bing, Groove and their PC/mobile hardware) do not require formal IT education or a high level of enthusiasm to use. I would argue that Windows 10 Mobile is the easiest system out there currently, and the same goes for Windows 10.

I agree that Xbox, Bing and Groove require no actual skills to use. I think the vast majority of people would say that is not true of Windows however. Very few people love Windows. They use it because they must. Many depend on tech savvy friends and/or family members to help maintain and administer their Windows PC environments, and those PC's are the centerpiece and standard bearer of MS' ecosystem.

If left to fend for themselves, most people would prefer an environment without Windows PCs, as most consider iOS and Android tablets and smartphones simpler (which they are, as they are appliances rather than full fledged computers).

Huh? The Surface line is not exciting enough for you? or how about HoloLens, Xbox One, Visual Studio etc. etc.?

Being in the W10M forum, that's what my post was about. I'm not talking about HoloLens, Xbox or what have you. Specifically in regard to WP and W10M, no, MS has not provided anything which a majority of users would consider unique and/or exciting. W10M does do some things better, but not to an extent that would convince a notable number of people to switch. So no... not exciting enough.

What battle, and what war?

I'm not sure if you're one of those people denying fundamental economics, but it's a fact that MS can't and will not indefinitely subsidize the development of a multi billion dollar software ecosystem that benefits primarily consumers, if MS doesn't see a viable path to earning that money back over time.

Sustaining a competitive software ecosystem requires that MS extracts from the market an amount of money that is at least somewhat comparable to that of their competitors. MS is nowhere close to that point, and while I disagree with the notion that WP is dead or MS is going under, MS does at some point require a notable number of customers to start wanting and paying for their consumer oriented products and services.

There's this thing called supply and demand. Without demand, there will eventually be no supply. The battles are about creating demand. I'd consider the war won if MS can generate enough demand so their ecosystem becomes at least similarly profitable as their competitor's. Doing that is not possible without a decent mobile presence.

 

[goluftwaffe]

Apple did survived with the same market share as WP but for PC a long, long time... so I think it's possible that Microsoft continue... the One OS all platform is a winning strategy and the apps a coming faster then ever on Mobile.

Everybody who sees my continuum live, really love it and would like to have it, but here in Canada having to pay full price for a phone is really rare, so people are not incline to put 800$ on a phone when the android phones are subsidize for 50$ or 100$.

So we need midrange Acer Jade Primo in the Telcom store to have more people seeing that thing connected on a screen and playing video, they might even forget that some apps are missing...

I love my windows phone since WP7 and don't have any plan B until Microsoft announce the end... I have a Android that my office force me to have and I hate that pile of disorganized icon and settings all over the place...

 

[SemperfiV12]

I have gone from a Lumia 925 to a Nexus 5 to a iPhone 5s to a Lumia 1520.3 to a Nexus 6 to a Lumia 950XL to a iPhone 6s Plus... I think I have covered ALL bases from Android to WP to iOS...

Simply put, Windows is the PERFECT balance of iOS and Android... Android gets super customizable with worthless widgets and for the most part battery draining features and not the best reliability (better than past years, but still not super reliable.)

iPhone while closed and locked and boring, is a lot more reliable (although, its reputation may be better than the actual experience.) Battery life is also sub-par and I notice my data usage goes up with iOS (even with tinkering of settings.)

Windows has been a reliable OS until Win 10 Mobile. The battery life has been DARASTICALLY better until Win 10 Mobile. As always there have been few apps missing, but if you can get passed that, the tiles are aesthetically pleasing, customizable and USEFUL. Win 10 Mobile has really left a bad taste in my mouth, but neither iOS nor Android can carry the "daily" phone weight for MY PREFERENCES.

Have not had time to tinker with Continuum, or with Edge (mobile)... But I am missing my home screen, my calendar layout, MY KEYBOARD, my use of expandable storage, the sexy SCREEN (quality and size), the simple use of dragging and dropping files, the Camera and - YES - the IRIS scanner.

Having said all of that, all phone are great - depends on how picky and or optimistic the user is. Preferences range quite a bit, there are a lot of choices

 

[ChefFabrizio]

My Wife and I talk about this a LOT. Just a couple of hours ago, and really we don't have a plan B.

oh, I am I, Don Quixote, the Lord of La Mancha, my destiny calls and I go.... but, I'm tilting at windmills.

I have bemoaned the Satya Nadella Era. The plodding turning away from a consumer driven business to an enterprise business.

Because Microsoft can't really compete. Maybe in Cloud against Amazon, but the financial results showed a 50% growth in revenue with only a 3% growth in profit. As we have learned, that drains cash, and at some point Microsoft seeks markets with no competition. They fail at it. Zune, now xbox (360 was a market leader. One, not so much). Why? because they lack vision. If you are always seeking to catch up, you never will get there. without vision.

My Dulcinea would be an eco system driven by Microsoft. A home wired to an Amazon Echo like device. All cloud based. WIth a true smart watch, to control doors and cars. An MS auto OS, that links with the MS HomeOS, and seamlessly shares data. Instead of a smartphone, of 5 inches. I want a Surface Mini at 8 inches. 4:3 aspect ration, running Windows 10 Mobile. Imagine talking to the Surface Mini saying I need to go to HOme Depot, and get... drain cleaner, lumber for my deck, paint for the bathroom, etc. Then hopping into the car, and it has the nearest Home Depot, spun up on Nav, and when you approach, your smartwatch unlocks the door. and you are off. Even telling the car, hey, I need a soda, and you pull into a WaWa for a big soda. Scanning the barcode and adding it to your diary of calories consumed. Yet, the Car OS hasn't stopped running. It's still sorting out what aisles the items are in, and you jump back in. And head to the store.

As you leave the car, it hits up the Surface Mini with aisle locations, and color options say for the paint. which get's mirrored to your smartwatch. Drain cleaner, aisle 12 bin 42!. If someone tried to break into your car, why can't the CarOS take their picture and send it to the cops?

You check out and head home. The watch opens the front door when within 3 feet.

You get home and check your blood sugar, updates to Microsoft Health. Same for Blood pressure. Collating all the data to send to your doctor for the next visit in two weeks.

Your watch flashes that you have an incoming sky call and you head to the media room to get it on a Kinect enabled TV, with tvOS. All on windows 10 and all the data in the cloud.

when you plug in your Surface Mini near your bed, it becomes an alarm clock. and you say, Hey Cortana (or a name you desire) wake me at 6, I need to run 3 miles. Poof, it just works. or Hey Cortana, lower the thermostat for this room to 65F.

Most of all this is possible on iOS or android, and none of it is possible in Microsoft's eco system. They seem much more worried about "Bots" to order pizza. or get hotels in Dublin Ireland. And, I am I, Don Quixote, want real world interactions that seamlessly work, with little interactions. Not bots, just Life.

I'm scared to go to android because of google, the endless ads and poor security, and Apple freaks me out with their smug superiority.

But I realize Satya doesn't want what I want, and he cares little about me, or I think consumers in general.

So Soon(tm) isn't really coming and my La Mancha, is not in this realm.

 

[medvid]

My new plan is Nokia C1