Will Windows Mobile ever succeed?

[odin09]

It just seems like it was designed for me. I can't stand my wife's iPhone. Everything is more intuitive for me on WP!

 

[Katsyone]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

I've never had a WP device, but am going to buy one soon. And I didn't have much wp experience tbh, but I still love it.

Unlike other OS', WP doesn't need much attention when you use it. You use your phone istead of being used by your phone. Like when you're on Android, you get crazy about customizing it. OMG a new launcher, I should try it. OMG a new CM theme, I should buy it. OMG a new ROM. I really got tired of it. It not only became boring, but also made my phone unstable and laggy. Not to mention that it takes months' before you can update to the newest version of Android. Oh, and there are still plenty of apps that have crappy gingerbread UI.

When you're on iOS, you get addicted to apps. Like OMG a new camera app that takes funny pictures. OMG a new fart game. And I don't find iOS simple and intuitive at all.

For me, WP is perfect. Simple, easy-to-use, solid. Apps have similar UI, it's fluid, fast and more importantly it's clean.

I hate it when people across the internet are saying things like "I would definitely buy this phone if only it was running android"... Arrrh!!! Or "it lacks Instagramm". Gosh! WP8 is actually so much superior to Android, and a lil bit less superior to iOS... It's not about some particular aspects but overall experience. I also like that it's unique...

 

[FinancialP]

Windows phone is straight to the point.

Enough said.


One more thing, who made the sounds for the keyboard? Someone get him a million bucks, I love typing on this thing.

 

[mr_808]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

I purchased a Lumia 920 on launch day after having used iOS since the release of the iPhone 3G. I then went on to the 3GS and 4.

- You can easily share anything with anyone and pin almost anything to your start screen
- The dynamic Lockscreen and Live Tiles always feel like I'm looking at a new phone and keeps me up to date
- The new Lense feature in the camera that allows you to switch camera apps from within the camera app.
- The People Hub, Picture Hub, Game Hub, and Music Hub all keep content pertinent to the Hub specific function.
- The camera on the 920 is amazing. Low light pictures and stabilized video are nothing short of amazing for a phone.
- Voice recognition for texting, One Note, and Bing work very well.
- Xbox Music lets me listen to almost anything, anywhere.
- Xbox Live integration
- Screen responsiveness and sharpness is on par with the iPhone and, in my opinion, is even better.

 

[MD_User]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

Windows Ph 8 is awesome. The things I like are :

- Voice Commands - work great. Integration of the Text to speech in the bluetooth profile is excellent. MS should advertise it more. It is the only solution that allows a user to access SMS while driving without looking at the phone.

- The scrolling is excellent - not to fast, not too slow - just right!

- The screen and clarity is great. Excellent fonts for email etc

 

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

Here's something else I really like about WP8. Compare the 2 screens. Such beautiful integration.

Normal mobile phone call:

Skype Call:

 

[Mark Rozanski]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

For me its everything. Literally:
Microsoft itself: The only company in the IT industry that you can truly trust. they are not going to bring out a new product in a years time and advertise It in a way that makes your one year old product looks ancient and inferior (Apple Im looking at you), nor are they going to use your information and sell it onto 3rd party people just to send you junk mail (hello Google)
Reliability: A phone is a working tool, something that should get the job done with ease, dependability and should be pleasing and a joy to use. Exactly what WP is. Smooth, sophisticated, reliable, quick, efficient, safe, the list goes on
MS Eco system: The fact that virtually all of Microsofts products will interact with windows phone. Xbox, Windows 7 and 8, bing search all speak to one and other. Its a very good integration and it work.
Marketing: In the beginning WP marketing wasn't all to shout about as such but now, they are great. Getting celebrities to promote their products in a fun, stylish, classy and easy to understand way.
The tiles: Best way to get notified for everything. Its not shoving it in your face but it let you know whats going on.
Its beautiful. Microsoft is a decent company providing ground breaking stuff. They are now picking up lost ground from 10 years ago. Good for them.

+1 Great post, almost exactly how I feel.

 

[martinmc78]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

2 email accounts 50GB of skydrive storage free!!

 

[Tiwo]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

Why WP will succeed is because they got me curious and interested in a Windows Phone . That alone is a quite impressive feat!

 

[hungdizzle]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

I have been with Windows phone since WP7 on my Focus
WP is fast, snappy, intuitive, and a true joy to use.
The user interface is elegantly designed and fluid.
The apps for the platform are all stunning.
I love the aesthetics of the software AND hardware. Nokia is doing big things with the Lumia line, and even greater things to come!

It's fun to be a part of a growing mobile platform that actually has A LOT to offer.
iOS is just an app drawer (apps on apps on apps). No innovation and not really any big improvements. I left my iPhone behind a looooooong time ago.
Android (oooh rooted device.... really cool....). Interface is clunky and not unified. Too many features thrown together that aren't used and take away processing power and battery. Just got rid of the Galaxy S 3.

 

[Dave Blake]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

Integration with XBOX, Windows 8, XBOX Music, Skydrive, and Outlook Email. Its like they were made for each other....:smile:

 

[Connie Litrenta]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

What I love about WP8:

1. OneNote and it's integration with my Windows 8 Desktop
2. Office
3. Integration with SkyDrive
4. Rooms (VERY useful for me and the hubby)
5. Live Tiles
6. Total integration of calendar/contacts/ToDo's with Desktop
7. Xbox music - all purchases sync with desktop
8. Fresh, clean and responsive
9. Low-light pictures with camera

 

[HeyCori]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

I think I stuck with Microsoft by accident. :grin:

I was never a Microsoft fan, I don't own any stock and I never saw a reason to cheer lead for them. I've been using computers since elementary school, playing Oregon Trail on the Mac. Got a Windows PC and didn't care one bit about the politics behind tech companies, I just thought computers were cool.

It was right after Windows XP that I started to care about the computer market. Vista dropped and the world went crazy. I, however, upgraded my computer from XP to Vista with no problems. I understood how driver problems could cause frustration but was confused by the amount of hatred that people were spewing at Microsoft. I soon realized just how long people had been spewing that hate. But whatever, I enjoyed my Vista and DreamScene (because DreamScene was awesome).

And thus I had my Windows PC.

Many years ago Microsoft teamed with Sega to bring Windows CE to the Dreamcast. It was nothing special. Back in the day we were rocking the Dreamcast, PS2, N64 and all the classic systems in our household. Then I hear that Microsoft was entertaining the console market... yawn! And their big exclusive title is Halo... go on. As you all know, Halo was gangbusters. And it wasn't just Halo, I had a lot of fun with the first Xbox, slowly falling out of favor with the PS2 and eventually the PS3.

Thus, I had to get a Xbox 360.

I skipped the iPod craze. I decided to wait because many reviewers said that the iPod had inferior audio quality to other MP3 players on the market like iRiver and Creative. And I definitely wasn't a fan of using iTunes. So again I waited and that's when I hear that Microsoft was going to enter the MP3 market with the Zune. It was pretty slick and the Zune Pass was great. I spent a lot of college campus time listening to my Zune. I eventually bought (and still own) my Zune HD. And while it's a shame that the Zune HD wasn't more popular, at least the Zune Pass continues to live. In fact, I'm grandfathered into 10 free songs a month.

And what a great time it was listening to MP3s on the go.

So phone time (and the reasons I love WP7/8). For starters, I didn't want to carry two devices. I was already doing that with my feature phone and Zune HD. But what could I buy that would eliminate my need for a second device and allow me to keep my Zune Pass? iPhone? Nope. Android? Oh heck no! Android devices around that time were terrible. My experience with the Motorola Droid confirmed that. BlackBerry/WebOS? Nope! That's when I hear that from the ashes of Windows Mobile and Kin that Microsoft was releasing Windows Phone with Zune Pass support.

I was a simple man back then. It had Zune, Internet and it was a phone. Sold, right? Well Microsoft has managed to satisfy most of my major smartphone needs in one device. I listen to music all the time, especially in my cubicle at work.

-Zune Pass

I had recently searched to Bing and preferred it over Google. And according to a study released today, I'm not alone.

-Bing integration

I use Microsoft Word, a lot, both for personal and business use. I recently became entrenched in Excel, a program I didn't know much about at first but now we're tied to the hip.

-Office built-in

Microsoft was giving away 25GB of free storage with Hotmail/Live. I, liking free storage, created a (few) Live accounts. And syncing everything via SkyDrive, that was just obvious.

-SkyDrive on my Xbox/Phone/PC

From there it's all about Microsoft's award winning UI design. The Live Tiles are fresh, easily viewable, customizable arrangements, fast, fluid, easy-to-use and the OS packs a ton of stuff right out of the box. I haven't checked recently but I have anywhere between 50-60 apps installed, not a lot by any means. But I have exactly what I want and need. I know, Windows Phone isn't perfect, syncing needs fixing (granted I haven't synced since the latest software update), and several other things need to be ironed out. More apps need to come, broken apps need to be fixed, and more menu options would be nice. But the OS as a whole and Microsoft's overall ecosystem is more than enough to make me really admire Windows Phone 8 and what's coming in the future.

 

[stmav]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

Totally agree with the above post. Especially about the future. I know there are bugs at the moment, and the three screen concept isn't as smooth as we would like. But I can see what they are going for, and I have no doubt they will get there.

Just in my immediate family, my family and my wife's family. We are in different stages of Win8 and WP8 integration. Some WPs, some Win8 on laptops, a surface and even a couple of iphones. But with the skydrive and the app for the iphone, everyone can access anything we choose to put out there. Plus someone is learning something new that one of the components does every day and tells the others about it. My sister in law wants to get rid of her work phone and get a WP but her job pays her bill and told her that she couldn't get one because they must be able to remote wipe. I told her hold on, let me check around here. And sure enough found out that you can remote wipe with EAS or using the find my phone page. She's going back to her IT and hoping to make the switch.

So it's not just all the cool things it does now, it's also what it's going to be able to do.

 

[WavingReds]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

It's the little things that makes WP OS different and stands out from the rest.

The live tiles flipping at different intervals
The butter smooth animation when you go in and out of an app
How texts and contents are delivered when you swipe left or right

We as humans love familiarities but we desperately desire little changes and that's what WP does

 

[crystal_planet]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

I think of it this way - Microsoft has laid down a solid foundation for a smartphone o/s, but it's only in its infancy stages right now so there is incredible growth potential for the ecosystem. You have to remember the o/s is about six months old and if you think Microsoft is thinking WP8 is complete, you're sadly mistaken. Microsoft is moving ALL of their products ahead and they seem to be deadly serious about this platform.

 

[omniusovermind]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

I think of it this way - Microsoft has laid down a solid foundation for a smartphone o/s, but it's only in its infancy stages right now so there is incredible growth potential for the ecosystem. You have to remember the o/s is about six months old and if you think Microsoft is thinking WP8 is complete, you're sadly mistaken. Microsoft is moving ALL of their products ahead and they seem to be deadly serious about this platform.

This is exactly why I'm willing to say they're a pretty good bet. They appear to be taking this much more seriously than WM or WP7 now because they know the cards are on the table and it's all about mobile these days. I predict 3 things are going to happen over the next two years:
1. MS will move forward with their "3 screens" strategy and tie their phones with Windows PC's more tightly than anyone else will manage to when it comes to both work and play software products and services. They're just starting and it's only been a few months.
2. Apple is going to make those people who think a company as rich as them, with a top shelf full time design team ISN'T going to pull a surprise refresh to the UI of iOS choke on their coffee.
3. The above two factors are going to shift the mobile OS duopoly to MS+Apple where it currently is in the PC world. Despite their current monstrous marketshare I strongly believe Google Android has peaked now, and MS's new strategy of using their massive Windows presence to springboard people towards their mobile devices is going to pay off - not overnight, but over the next couple of years. That's how MS does everything. Slowly, methodically, but they almost always get what they want eventually. It's kinda creepy actually how they just slowly wear you down until you're all buying their stuff lol.

On a side note, now that Google have angered Apple, MS and BB over the last year in regards to Google products not playing nice on non-Google phones, I can almost smell an anti-trust suit coming like it did back in the day when MS got too big for their britches.

 

[omniusovermind]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

Some bullet points to add to the above:

• As has been mentioned a million times, the UI is very fast and fluid. I think it ties with iOS for 1st place in this regard.
• text selection for copy/paste is WAY easier than Android and BB10. Can't speak for iOS, I don't do Apple. I copy/paste text a LOT on my phones. This isn't an eye popping wow factor feature, but sometimes the boring little details can become pretty important.
• Sharing on WP8 is only rivalled by Android. Both offer you a list of all installed apps. Nobody else does this
• The UI is highly polished even once you go deeper into it. Some OS's only look good on the homescreens but then get messy further into different areas of the phone like contacts, dialer, settings etc. WP8 did a great job with Look and Feel inside the UI and not just on the homescreen.
• I'm not a big fan of "openness" as I used to be. Back in the 90's when MS had this rep as a big evil giant monopoly the openness movement had more merit. Nowadays computing is simply just more secure on MS and Apple walled gardens. You'll be extremely hard pressed to find larger companies saying they're comfy with you hooking your Android Phone up to the network

 

[peanutbutterbug]

Re: The good things about WP8 (Why WP will succeed)

For me it's mainly on how well it syncs with other windows 8 computers. It even installed the windows phone 8 sync application on my computer on its own
It's nice to have the same feel on my phone that it does on my laptop/tablet.

 

[peacefulberry]

Ok, so I didn't have time to scroll through 4 pages of comments, but I think the live tiles are sooo unique...i really hope they keep it! The only reason why Microsoft caught my eye was the Live tiles and the custom theme colors. I was starting to resent traditional BlackBerry, Android, and IOS app icons. WP filled that need for newness and uniqueness that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Great job whoever invented live tiles!