What direction is Windows Mobile going in?

[Norris Rochelle]

After being loyal to Microsoft for nine years i'm starting to question the direction of the mobile division. Sure, Windows runs GREAT on a phone but why are we ( We because we're a team ) spending billions of dollars for little progression. I'm a die hard fan of Windows but it seems like it's going nowhere. Changing the name from Windows Phone to Windows 10 mobile cut Windows Phone's social presence in half instantly after the name changed. We have people quitting their jobs in the mobile division while new people are filling their spots and making little to no progress. Weather or not we're making good phones and gaining market share in India...that's the small picture. The bigger picture is showing that we're on a plane with no real destination.

 

[Guytronic]

Nothing new...

It's actually looking bad...very bad...and I'm a fan...

 

[Laura Knotek]

I think we'll know more about the direction at the end of next month when Microsoft has its quarterly earnings report. I'd imagine the stockholders have a lot of questions about the direction too.

 

[oviedofreak82]

I remember similar arguments were made when Microsoft went from Windows Mobile (6.x) to Windows Phone 7. The reorganization within Microsoft is to complete the "ONE" Microsoft vision. Have everyone work together Microsoft profitable and competitive. Personally, the departure of Stephen Elop was a good move; maybe now flagship phones will be released to compete with Apple and Google; maybe even a Surface Phone. Windows 10 needs to succeed and this is why there is so much reorganization.

 

[jefbeard911]

I think we know the direction already and its a place i don't want to go. WP7.x was beautiful. It was a mobile experience with an all-in-one integrated experience. The fonts were beautiful. The negative space created by the dark theme against the Pure font was MS design at its best.

With WP 8, it progressed. Added features while maintaining the overall design and experience. WP8.1 gutted Social integration and began the decline.

Now, WP10 has shunned integration and the dark, Pure/Metro theme in favor of a me-too app centric model, a la Android and iOS. The beauty and flow is gone. Sure, it makes sense technically for MS to go universal. But its a cost-related decision made to save money not one made to make the mobile experience better. Take a look at the new Outlook app vs the original WP7/8 client. It's terrible. It's a shrunk down desktop app , not a mobile email app. The fonts are tiny and not meant for a 4-5" screen. Side-by-side it looks and acts just as the Android email app does. I already have and Android phone and tablet.

Wait, people say, its not finished. It will all come together... Even if WP10M turns out to be a rock solid version of what's out now, its a step backwards in design and function

 

[UptownWebhead]

Sadly it's adapt or die. Windows Phone is hanging on by a thread, BlackBerry 10 is basically nonexistent when compared to Android/iOS. Most users coming from another OS are most likely not going to pick Windows Phone in its current iteration because it's too unfamiliar to them after so long with UI elements common within the big two. Regardless of the fact that Windows Phone is more than capable, many go back to Android or iOS because of that familiarity. Sucks that Microsoft has basically given up smart UI design in exchange for common UI design. It wouldn't be as bad if all Microsoft apps in Windows 10 went with a mixture of Modern and other UI elements like the WP OneDrive app. That app is the perfect balance between Microsoft design and other OS design.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[xandros9]

 

[jefbeard911]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuJNUXT2a9U

Here's mine....

http://youtu.be/mj-MMBtvW4E

The good ol' days..hihi

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[Norris Rochelle]

That's one of our biggest problems. At the end of each quarter Microsoft either makes a small amount of progression in a different country or they do worse than they already did before. Relying on black and white statistics from quarterly evaluation isn't good enough. The real problem is how they have people pretending to do a job but really getting as much money as they can until their time is up.

Honestly, it's no longer about the software because Windows 10 mobile is great to me. We have so many phones, tablets and devices yet we have no actual promotion. I rarely see Windows Phone ads unless they're about Cortana and Siri. Are we expected to create sales by having a nice product just sit there? I've tweeted Microsoft so many time about the mobile division. Still, no pluck.

Sadly it's adapt or die. Windows Phone is hanging on by a thread, BlackBerry 10 is basically nonexistent when compared to Android/iOS. Most users coming from another OS are most likely not going to pick Windows Phone in its current iteration because it's too unfamiliar to them after so long with UI elements common within the big two. Regardless of the fact that Windows Phone is more than capable, many go back to Android or iOS because of that familiarity. Sucks that Microsoft has basically given up smart UI design in exchange for common UI design. It wouldn't be as bad if all Microsoft apps in Windows 10 went with a mixture of Modern and other UI elements like the WP OneDrive app. That app is the perfect balance between Microsoft design and other OS design.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

Still, the problem is bigger than that. Most people who switch from Droid or Apple to Windows usually stays with Windows. The interface isn't "common" because it's unique and personal. It's very simplistic and that makes it easier to navigate through the phone, which is good for people new to Windows phones. Droid and Apple have a problem where their phone layout is restricted to a 4x4 grid while we get much more freedom to place things where we want. Honestly, I've spent hours customizing my dashboard while I've spent twenty minutes or less customizing my Droid or IPhone's home screen.

 

[jefbeard911]

... We have people quitting their jobs in the mobile division while new people are filling their spots and making little to no progress. Weather or not we're making good phones and gaining market share in India...that's the small picture. The bigger picture is showing that we're on a plane with no real destination.

Not sure if you work at MS and are seeing these people quit in person but from my perspective they're not quitting - They are being FIRED.

I'm happy that WP10M works well for you, but for me its a disaster. Unusable.....but this is another post and story.

I can also tell you that in my country (Viet Nam) WP sells quite well. Id say 20% market share. Most of these are the low to mid end phones (5 & 6 series) but as you know WP works quite well on low spec phones. As a matter of fact. MS just opened their first store in HCMC.

 

[harihar akhil]

Here's mine....

http://youtu.be/mj-MMBtvW4E

The good ol' days..hihi

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

Really with wp 8.0 its awesome but with wp 8.1 its a joke.

 

[Norris Rochelle]

Not sure if you work at MS and are seeing these people quit in person but from my perspective they're not quitting - They are being FIRED.

I'm happy that WP10M works well for you, but for me its a disaster. Unusable.....but this is another post and story.

I can also tell you that in my country (Viet Nam) WP sells quite well. Id say 20% market share. Most of these are the low to mid end phones (5 & 6 series) but as you know WP works quite well on low spec phones. As a matter of fact. MS just opened their first store in HCMC.

They're not being fired. The new positions being filled aren't "layoff" positions. The concept, look and feel of Windows 10 mobile is great. Yes, it is buggy but what else do you expect when using an unfinished software?

 

[hidayat225]

I, firstly haven't tried the W10 Preview. But from the videos I've seen. Aesthetically, it looks too noisy and inconsistent. As much as they would argue that hamburger menu is here to stay, I disagree that it should be here just because it is developer friendly as it lacks innovative thinking from Microsoft.

I personally would put the blame on the Marketing Team as they don't advertise hard enough to compete with the likes of Apple and especially Samsung.

 

[jefbeard911]

They're not being fired. The new positions being filled aren't "layoff" positions. The concept, look and feel of Windows 10 mobile is great. Yes, it is buggy but what else do you expect when using an unfinished software?

....was referring to Elop and his cronies....He was fired..

 

[jefbeard911]

Really with wp 8.0 its awesome but with wp 8.1 its a joke.

​of course that was WP7.5 ..but I agree anyway...

 

[Laura Knotek]

Still, the problem is bigger than that. Most people who switch from Droid or Apple to Windows usually stays with Windows. The interface isn't "common" because it's unique and personal. It's very simplistic and that makes it easier to navigate through the phone, which is good for people new to Windows phones. Droid and Apple have a problem where their phone layout is restricted to a 4x4 grid while we get much more freedom to place things where we want. Honestly, I've spent hours customizing my dashboard while I've spent twenty minutes or less customizing my Droid or IPhone's home screen.

If one wants customization, the possibilities are endless with Android. One does not need to stay with the default home screen or launcher.

 

[Laura Knotek]

They're not being fired. The new positions being filled aren't "layoff" positions. The concept, look and feel of Windows 10 mobile is great. Yes, it is buggy but what else do you expect when using an unfinished software?

There aren't any new positions. The jobs done by the people who were fired or who resigned got consolidated into jobs other people already had. New people haven't been hired.

I'm not sure if increasing the workload on existing personnel is a good idea. It might stretch them too thin.

Sent from my Moto X using Tapatalk

 

[Penterax]

One of the things to be aware of is that the sales figures we typically see are growth figures, and not about how many devices are actually being sold and used. And if someone else has a big boost - like Apple coming out with a new phone - the other similar devices are going to look worse in the "percentage of sales" slice of the pie. And, frankly, there are a number of "anti-Microsoft" or "pro-Apple" people reporting any kind of news in as slanted a way as they possibly can.

To my way of thinking, any increase in the number of WP's is good news. Sure, as a user that wants his chosen platform to succeed, I want to see huge gains, but I don't think seeing something like a 3% of total sales go to a 2% of total sales is a reason to bring out words of doom and gloom.

Microsoft in committed to the Windows Phone, and to my way of thinking have been rolling out updates pretty fast. It wasn't all that long ago Windows phones were running on WP 7. Granted, I'm 59, and I haven't been bit as hard by the instant-gratification bug as most people these days, but seems to me we've gone from 8 to 8.1 and shortly 10 about as fast as can reliably be done.

I do agree that MS should be stepping up their advertisements in various ways. Supplying review sites with new phones when they come out would be a great way to get the word out, Windows phones always review well. And there are of course many other ways to promote a product. I'm hoping they're saving their big push for after Win 10 going live (and maybe getting the kinks worked out), possibly with a new flagship device. Of course we here in the U.S. and other "First World" areas don't see what they are doing in other sections of the globe, where sales are much better. (And that's been Microsoft's biggest push so it seems to me they are doing something right.)

As far as direction - I'm liking what I see. What I want is all my devices to perform well with each other and not have to learn various different OSes to get through my day, and it seems to me we're moving closer to my vision of what I want in a smart phone.

 

[Geddeeee]

In the end, if Windows Mobile is a flop and dies, it's only a phone OS. Yeah we will all miss it but that's the way of the world...

I like bits of WM10, but parts are awful. Namely Outlook Mail. Great for desktop, but not very usable on the phone.
We will have to wait and see what MS delivers phone wise.

I do love Windows 10 on the desktop. Been using the Insider Previews since day one. MS do have to be congratulated for their work for that....

It's not over yet for the phone... Patience people..

 

[psiu_glen]

I'm on the "sinking ship" wagon and this is why:

WP collectively shipped what, at least 100,000,000+ devices out the door? This is with people choosing it despite the app gap, despite the lack of features, despite the relative lack of hardware choices, despite a lack of promotion or carrier interest. What lured them in, then?

The exact same things MS is busy spending all of its time busily scratching out of existence, telling us what terrible ideas they were (please don't look up our previous keynotes extolling the virtues), and redoing it all AGAIN. And then dropping features because of the redo, not adding features, etc.

I can't wait to hear: "just wait for the Spring 2016 Update, it's going to be great." "Wait for 2016 Update 2, it's going to make everything amazing."


edit: they really should have just held off on WP7, and worked to get WP8 (well, with the underlying NT kernel) out the door first. Then they could have evolved it without a panicked sense of CHANGE EVERYTHING looming over it all.

This is probably how Palm, and Symbian, and Blackberry owners feel...