Re: The "Windows 10 for phone" UI is so similar to Android - Is Microsoft preparing to move to Andro
The UI is strikingly similar to Android, so similar that the first thing I thought of when i saw the UI was that Windows 10 has to be a transitionary placeholder before Microsoft makes the full move to their own flavor of android. Not just the hamburger menu, but everything functions like android would.... What would be the point of making an OS when it looks and functions like another major OS? wheres the "windows selling points" of Hubs and Live tiles and what not? hubs dont exist anymore, live tiles arent saving the OS and can be replicated in an android fork (plus apps like the music app no longer has a live tile that it did before), major apps are jumping ship and other major apps are left in indefinate beta (instagram)...theres no difference in UI between android and windows other than the homescreen now, and the homescreen can be replicated in android if microsoft wanted to make their own fork....Also, at the Windows 10 event, they barely touched on the phone interface and features, as if its not a priority.
Nokia X was the beginning experiments to see public sentiment. The recent investment in CyanogenMod makes me think this even more. Microsoft cares about selling services now more than selling "OSs" or even devices.
Another thing i thought of is that Microsoft can do what they did with the xbox, they can run 3 operating systems on each phone/device... Windows for the services, Android for the apps, and a hypervisor to connect both... it can be seemless and the user would never notice, especially since the UIs are melded together now. my point here is that there are ways microsoft can go about this.
The main reason i think they can move to android is for the apps of course. with all these companies jumping ship, and Microsoft continuing to invest all their resources in iOS and Android apps before windows apps, it would be interesting to see if this becomes right. Microsoft wants to sell services, so it wouldnt matter if the phone runs iOS or android, as long as youre subscribed to office and music and everything else.
Firstly This thread should be closed because ...you are making assumptions about an OS that is in Beta better yet ALPHA stage... a thread like this should be discussed after we have had a build to play with or the OS is released not based on a few minutes of video and images.
Secondly .. Windows 10 for phones looks and operates nothing like android i am using android now as well as i have used BB10, WP and played with IOS devices ...
and From using all of those OS's Android is very laggy on 1GB of ram devices because of how it keeps an instance of all apps & widgets in memory to allow for faster load times among other nuances any android user would tell you about ... so no Windows 10 does not operate like android IOS and Windows are very smooth on 1GB of ram and windows and IOS has faster notification times than Android as well. BB10 while nice and has innovate features lacks apps and the performance it should have compered to the specs Windows and IOS can run on i.e its slow on hardware like the Q10's specs ... which windows would work smooth on but on the passport BB10 flies with the best of them. They all manage memory and resources different and handle apps differently so know your OS's before making comments please.
Every one is jumping on the Flat design as Microsoft rightly Started ...
because Windows 10 for phones lacks the circle border on icons, moved the bar from the bottom of the screen to the top and apps have a decidedly more refined look with more color which users have been asking for BTW it looks like android ????
Since you seem to be an Expert on UI design please enlighten me
Hamburger menu's are GENERAL i.e android, ios, tizen, websites, web apps, apps in general, native x86 and x64 windows apps have them ... so its not an android thing its a navigational ui standard that's used by all and the three dots are the same ... just they look different.
I agree it does not fit in with windows 8.1 design language but bear in mind windows 10 is a different beast and the UI design language is still evolving so yes the UI will change as builds go along.
Microsoft's investment in CyanogenMod has nothing to do with abandoning windows ... The reason for it as because CyanogenMod wants to make android without any port of Google involved so no Google services this is Where MS comes in with Bing, built in Cortana, outlook, Office and other services tightly integrated into CyanogenMod's Google free android variant ... I.E they want to push services more or sell them.
Windows is evolving into being a Service itself and less of a revenue model .... so things like hubs and built in apps need to be made modular so they can be updated with new features and fixes independent of the OS which MS can now add new features to much faster and update on the fly as APPS and services are separated from the Core Windows Feature set .. so in that regard windows is becoming like android and ios because it makes sense and improves the quality of the OS itself.
Let me shed light on what MS would develop for Other platforms before its own ... Selling services makes money so you need to push services where the money or crowd is i.e Android and IOS that way they keep their services relevant and also use those platforms as a test bed for bugs and other issues .... things cannot be stagnant.
Honestly i like the New look but i would prefer the icons at the bottom of the screen sans the WP circle around the icons and i would like some more improvements to live tiles, how windows does sharing and Bluetooth... as well as a speed boost.
Like others and tech enthusiasts have said WP fan's are hurting the OS because you want the OS to remain the same and MS add features or go back to stuff they did with WP7 just to please you .... Things change people change Operating Systems must change and evolve also so embrace the change and let MS know what you don't like and like so the OS can grow but not stray to far ...
As far as apps falling of the Market is quite simple either Microsoft's contract expired with the vendor i.e payment to support the app stopped or just maybe the amount of Users for the APP is not high enough to justify resources i.e programmers to support the app. This is where Universal apps come into play windows on tablets and PC's have higher use base than Windows on a phone so code the app for the PC and scale the app to phone makes it better for us, that is if MS strategy for this works/
As for apps like Instagram they see not need to code for WP just like FB left the Windows app to MS to build they rather spend resources on platforms with a larger user base and i don't blame them as well as the fact windows needs more API's and features for developers to work with and windows 10 seems to be bringing this .....
for a member with only 3 posts this thread should have been closed a long time ....