WP community descends into cannibalism and woe

[ScubaDog]

I completely agree with the article. It articulates the growing conflict within the community and the deep-seated feelings those of us who started with the very first WP7 devices and have been the biggest cheerleaders since...until Windows 10. Many of us feel similarly about Windows 8 versus Windows 10. B0blight referred to the "since we all love our WP" crowd from days gone by. Therein lies the problem. There are specific reasons we loved them. At its core, there were consistent aspects we loved. It's because most of that is GONE that people like me despise W10. I've said it before, I have nothing but disdain from all those who kept insisting Windows Phone take on more aspects of iOS or Android (mostly Android), and disdain for those who insisted Windows 8 go back to a more Windows 7-centric experience. So, yes, I'm angry. Yes, I'm disgusted. I stopped using a feature phone because WP gave me a smartphone experience I could embrace from a company I largely respected. Now, I see a future that makes a feature phone look more attractive--no expectations other than to call someone or swap text messages.

 

[elangab]

I think it's partly because outside of the tiles, there's nothing in common with Windows 10 Mobile and Windows Phone 7.

Most of us loved the design and vision of Windows Phone 7, but with each release MS departed from that vision (the blame would be for both MS and Devs not buying into that vision). I look at Windows 10 Mobile and some of the "magic" that I felt with when holding WP7 is gone. It turned into a cold OS, from a warm phone experience.

I think it's time to stop comparing it to WP7 or WP8.1. These two, just like the hubs, family room and social integration, are dead. We should compare it to Android and iOS, and for me Windows 10 Mobile is still better than the alternatives.

 

[Games Goblin]

I have the Windows 10 preview loaded on my old 920. I use 8.1 Update 2 on my daily driver - the 730

I think the problem we have adjusting to Win 10 mobile is that we are so used to the way things are right now with Windows Phone (8.1 / 7)
Windows Phone 8 felt like an evolution from 7 (then, 8.1 from 8.0) - Windows 10 feels like a big overhaul. Also, it does not help that the preview is nowhere near as fluid like WP 8.1, but I am sure that will change as the development progresses.

I'll keep trying out the future builds, and I am perfectly happy with 8.1 Update 2 as my daily driver. I do hope that the final RTM of W10 Mobile is smooth and bug-free.

 

[Keith Wallace]

I have no adjustment issues. It's not a curmudgeon wanting kids off of his lawn and things to never change. I have no issues actually performing tasks. My problem lies in that the new OS is less efficient and missing things from its predecessor (specifically, I hate the lack of song view within an artist in Groove). I just find the app design inferior, though not unbearably so (as long as things are smoothed out at launch).

Microsoft is spurning its current customers to try to cater to a wider audience, through copying Android design. That's what many of us don't like. It's not hard to learn, it's just making us spend more time doing things on our phones, when the OS was marketed as something to let us "glance and go." Instead, it's more like, "stare, press, press, press, start, fix playlist, re-shuffle, go."

 

[syspry]

Some great points made, most which seem to elude the sycophants here striving to be SatNad's (awesome nickname btw) new best frient on the internet. But watch out as you'll now be labelled a complainer and the MDF (Microsoft Defence Force) will soon be here to deal with you with the appropriate "wah, wah, gtfo" remarks.....

Used to be? this community still is great and always has been.

Actually no. Tolerance of flaming by WPC members of polite criticism has declined markedly under this administration from what it was like under the last lead admin. iMore forums currently holds the title now of the worst moderated forum on Mobile Nations.

 

[497362]

hehe its just announcement envy! all the other announcements and not MS yet. just a few feel left out, abandoned. after MS announce all the devices next month, then all the overreactions over rumors will pass, and MS fans will go back to normal. whatever that is.

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

Gee, this is exactly what I say about everyone who hated WP8 and Windows 8. But suddenly the OS goes back to favor Windows 7 and they're telling ME I'm wrong? I'm sorry, but I call BS. I've been with Windows Phone from the absolute beginning. I've been with Windows 8 since the absolute beginning. I have loved BOTH, with very few reservations. I've been using Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile since they both started, and I've hated them because they got rid of (or significantly reduced) the things I love about the OS. The immersive experience is gone. The treatment of the desktop as a separate, scalable window from Metro apps, gone. The consistent and EASILY accessed settings, sharing, devices (e.g., the Charms) gone (in favor of a mishmash of unpredictable and user-spiteful versions within apps), he mouse gestures that mimick touch, gone. The entire user experience is spiteful compared to Windows 8. I am absolutely right that this thing is just turning into a quasi-Android operating system.

My question is what do you plan to do? Stay on WP 8.1 forever? While I shade the same opinions as you do, I am actually learning to adapt to windows 10 because it is less than wp8.1 yet still better than android and IOS to me

 

[vcarvega]

That, and making the OS look more familiar to those coming from competing platforms.

Well, it worked... I didn't like WP8.1, but I'll consider Windows 10 Mobile if the app situation improves. I don't care about games or anything, but there are some key apps that are useful for an executive that travels frequently. I love the core apps in Windows 10 Mobile and just hope that developers will update their apps to take full advantage of the OS, as Microsoft has.

 

[vcarvega]

The interesting thing is that those of you who loved WP7/8 don't seem to realize those OS's could not survive and thrive. If Microsoft had just made another iterative update, instead of completely reinventing the OS, their market share would continue to shrink until you had no Windows phone to enjoy at all. They have at least built an OS that looks attractive enough to grow their fan base now, and will hopefully bring the developer support they need to survive.

Windows 10 Mobile looks great to me. Here's hoping that they build a phone hardware as great as great as the Surface to go with it.

 

[paulxxwall]

Two years since a flagship.....sure apps come but apps go too. Market share drop...developers drop.I've been ready for an upgrade since my smashed 1520 for about 5 months. WP is more for enthusiast that the general consumer. Some apps ,most features but struggling. I'll miss WP . But if they say that ms I pouring millions into WP then in contrast it seems as apple and google are pouring trillions in to there mobile os but I ms is probably pouring that in to win10 for PC but what evers left over from that.......goes to win mobile.

 

[vcarvega]

Well, therein lies the problem. "Wait and see" has basically been the Windows Phone mantra, a la "there's always next year" for Cubs fans (like me). There has to be a point where waiting turns into seeing. We waited on WP7. It barely got any attention, had its heart ripped out, and we waited on WP8 as people on WP7 got stuck without an upgrade path. We got told to wait and see for apps, and then for 8.1. Then we watched Microsoft do things like gut the Music+Video apps from the OS level and tell us to wait and see as the updated it, only to abandon the new app for W10M development. Now, we've been told to wait for W10M. Even within that, we're being told BEFORE IT LAUNCHES to wait and see for Project Astoria and Project Islandwood, as we're being told that those key features won't be ready at launch, and maybe not anywhere close to it.

I think the new phones are ugly (particularly the 950). I hate the new design of pop-out menus everywhere. I hate the new mail and calendar apps, and Groove Music is the worst music player I've used in my life, without exaggeration (and music is the #1 thing I do on my phone, with maybe only texting to rival it).

All of that said, I'm fine with waiting another 1-2 months. However, after being told to wait on McLaren, then the 930, and then spending 3 years on my 920 because of broken promises with devices (which kept me from getting a 1520 at the time), expecting patience and happiness from a user base Microsoft abuses like it's a bunch of Apple sheep isn't really fair. Patience only goes so far when the promises constantly lead to either continued failure, backpedaling in quality, or simply nothing. It used to be that I would recommend WP8 to ANYONE as it launched, because we were told the apps would come. Now, 3 years later, I don't even make phone suggestions of any kind to people, because I've just lost faith in Microsoft as a software provider. That doesn't change that I hate iOS (specifically Apple) and Android (after a 2-year run with it) too much to use them, so I'll stick with W10M, but it is perfectly understandable, and even reasonable, that this community would take a turn for the worse when they get jerked around by Microsoft on a quarterly basis.

That was very well put. I think Windows 10 Mobile is a fine OS if they can solve the app problem, but your post did help me understand the frustration of long-time WP users. I didn't like WP7 and went back to Android, so I missed out on a lot of the 'anticipation' you all must have experienced over the years.

I was a Windows Mobile user back in the Palm Treo days, so I've always been interested in seeing Microsoft become a major force in mobile. I love the Surface line and Windows 10; and I'm also hopeful that Windows 10 Mobile will bring that same energy back to their smartphone line. Unfortunately for long time fans such as yourself, we can only wait and see now... I'm hopeful though.

 

[etphoto]

I agree WPcentral has mostly negative comments but that is just human nature. I normally ignore those types of threads. I write it off as for every one person standing in a corner and holding his breath over a hamburger menu there are a silent thousand people out there that has no problem with it. Its no different with the "I hate Windows 10 on a tablet" crowd. Small minority but very vocal.

Like I said, its human nature to complain and kind of stay silent when things are going well. Idk if Windows 10 will be a great OS or not but so far, I'm liking what I see (I have complaints about it as well, but not voicing them here. lol). I still come to wpcentral almost daily and skim through the threads. Skip over the ones I don't want to read and read the ones that seem interesting to me. Yeah, there are more I'm skipping over these days, but, it ain't bothering me yet.

 

[Keith Wallace]

That was very well put. I think Windows 10 Mobile is a fine OS if they can solve the app problem, but your post did help me understand the frustration of long-time WP users. I didn't like WP7 and went back to Android, so I missed out on a lot of the 'anticipation' you all must have experienced over the years.

I was a Windows Mobile user back in the Palm Treo days, so I've always been interested in seeing Microsoft become a major force in mobile. I love the Surface line and Windows 10; and I'm also hopeful that Windows 10 Mobile will bring that same energy back to their smartphone line. Unfortunately for long time fans such as yourself, we can only wait and see now... I'm hopeful though.

I never had a WP7 device, I was going to get one, but the OS was taking too long to launch, and I was offered the chance to get an Android device for free. 2 years on that OS was enough for me, then I got my 920 on launch day in 2012. Nothing new since then, as the WP hardware experience has been a mess.

I agree WPcentral has mostly negative comments but that is just human nature. I normally ignore those types of threads. I write it off as for every one person standing in a corner and holding his breath over a hamburger menu there are a silent thousand people out there that has no problem with it. Its no different with the "I hate Windows 10 on a tablet" crowd. Small minority but very vocal.

Like I said, its human nature to complain and kind of stay silent when things are going well. Idk if Windows 10 will be a great OS or not but so far, I'm liking what I see (I have complaints about it as well, but not voicing them here. lol). I still come to wpcentral almost daily and skim through the threads. Skip over the ones I don't want to read and read the ones that seem interesting to me. Yeah, there are more I'm skipping over these days, but, it ain't bothering me yet.

The voice of apathy should never rule, though. Yeah, many might "have no problem" with a pop-out menu, but I think if you threw people in front of each option from the get-go (meaning without having them used to pop-outs for years, like society is now), the majority would prefer a gesture-based navigation concept to pop-outs, where everything takes an extra step. The people who don't speak up because it they have "no problem with it," probably have no problem with anything. Those people just want something to use, and they're not the voices to listen to.

Meanwhile, who is out there celebrating the addition of those menus?

 

[etphoto]

Its not apathy if they like the change. You seem to be assuming if they are silent they are just excepting what MS puts out. I don't know this for a fact but I stands to reason MS has the feedback forum and is making changes based on that. Its the whiners that come here to voice their displeasure over the changes.

 

[Keith Wallace]

Its not apathy if they like the change. You seem to be assuming if they are silent they are just excepting what MS puts out. I don't know this for a fact but I stands to reason MS has the feedback forum and is making changes based on that. Its the whiners that come here to voice their displeasure over the changes.

No, I'm not assuming a single thing. I stated what I did, and that's what I meant. If you're apathetic to the change, I don't care for your input on the matter. I didn't say that if you're not throwing confetti and screaming your love of pop-out windows, you're not someone to ask.

My point is that this is STANDARD. The majority of feedback ends up coming in the form of complaints, in everything I've experienced. Going onto a forum to say "you already did this, I want this," isn't as meaningful as if you voice that you're unhappy with something. It's why the Xbox LIVE feedback system treats no feedback as good feedback (of course, that system's a pile of garbage, so not the best example).

But I'm a perfect example of my point. What I come and voice is what I want changed. The rest of it, I just don't care about. Some folks wants a full RGB-based color wheel for their home screens. I don't care about it. Some like the increased options in the action center on W10M, but I don't care. I'm not someone to ask about that stuff. I'm going to make notes when I have a problem with what I'm using. Being happy with something doesn't interfere with my usage, but if something's bad or broken, it will, giving me more time to voice displeasure. Like on the WoW forums, when people ask why it's negative, it's because the people who are happy are off playing the game. In this case, people are happy and using their phones. It doesn't mean EVERY non-answer indicates apathy, but many are.

 

[stlbud]

... It's like pulling out your phone and seeing a picture of your ex-wife. ...

AWESOME remark!

 

[stlbud]

... If MSFT had no insider program and we users were not allowed to have a say in the development of the OS then all of these people would have shut up and just went on with their business ! ...

The problem is, I don't think Microsoft is actually listening. They fired the half of their developers who were responsible for testing the software and turned us into guinea pigs. So we're testing and finding the landmines but no one is listening to user comments or opinions. It appears, all of the decisions have already been made.

 

[colinkiama]

The problem is, I don't think Microsoft is actually listening. They fired the half of their developers who were responsible for testing the software and turned us into guinea pigs. So we're testing and finding the landmines but no one is listening to user comments or opinions. It appears, all of the decisions have already been made.

Microsoft do listen. I was the one who said that all users should have the one handed mode and they brought that functionality to every phone in the next update. It really does depend on what you ask for and how many votes it gets.

By the way you're supposed to be a guniea pig if you are on the TECHNICAL preview. If you just want everything to work fine, go back to 8.1

 

[stlbud]

My only comment is that Surface RT cost as much, new, as Surface 3 does. Even then, there were parts that were incomplete. The new, touch centric Office was not ready, so we got a kludged desktop to launch Office. Then when the new version of Office was ready, Windows RT didn't get it; IT WENT TO iOS!. It felt then and still feels as if Microsoft extended a gigantic middle finger to those of us who enthusiastically bought into the Windows 8 philosophy and ecosystem. Now comes Windows Phone 10 and, so far, it looks like it will be considerably less than Windows 8. My enthusiasm has gone. I'll wait and see, but I'm looking elsewhere too.

 

[coldmail-inlook]

Microsoft do listen.

Personally, I, can see 7.6 billion reasons why they still don't.