Rant : What is your Plan B?

Krystianpants

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I agree with everything above. I might add that the dumbed down version also tends to be cheaper for the consumer. For all these reasons (less maintenance, learning curve, and cost) people prefer dumbed down (like instagram versus photoshop for photo editing).

You also just have to consider the look of things. Most of the really awesome Win32 apps are not very "sexy" or modern looking. I'm using some really awesome video editing software right now, but it looks like it was made for Windows 98 (because the function is more important than the appearance). However, it has none of the cool factor seen with slick modern apps.

I think what I really like about windows mobile is that you have that default where everything just works (When it's bug free of course). Then you have the ability to go in and do as much customization as you see fit. So it sort of can appeal to everyone. I have been noticing lately that one of my friends who is a huge pusher of IPhone 6s and ios is starting to realize that the ease of use is impacting her ability to get what she wants out of it. There have been many scenarios where she wanted to get certain things setup but she couldn't. And the settings isn't as intuitive as windows phone. Once you go in there it's a pretty big mess with very little functionality. So she will be searching through it to do things but she can't! And lately she's been saying that if windows mobile could break the app barrier she can see it becoming huge. I lent her my lumia 830 with w10m and she said it was actually a lot more intuitive and easier to use. But she couldn't find a few apps that she wanted and thought the store was a mess.

Just like there comes a time when you need a specific app, there comes a time when you need your OS to do more. And w10m has the advantage there. Android is up there too but it's a bit more messy and harder to navigate. The issue is that apps will always take precedence over that scenario. If your friends all have an app that you can't use you feel left out. If people truly wanted "ease of use" then android would not be the largest market share holder. Or is it really just price? If Apple released budget phones would they steal a lot of Android market share? It's possible.

I think by creating the unified experience that MS is seeking with windows 10, people will know exactly how to customize any device that they use running windows 10. Being familiar with just one OS empowers you to do more. Learning OSx will not translate to ios and vice versa.

The complexity of w32 apps can be translated into easier to use UI. I think the day that photoshop can be moved to UWP, provide the same functionality and be easy to navigate is the day UWP will show its power. Of course it would only be published for Desktop or Continuum(Providing the hardware allows it). The UI is probably the biggest problem. And I could not see it working well with a touch UI using your finger but it can definitely be done with a smart pen. It's really about thinking outside the box. The code itself is complex and that won't change, but a good designer can produce a suitable UI for pens and mice with a modern look. The UI was designed in an era where things were different. It's really about thinking outside the box and not placing the limitations of the old era into the modern one.

I would really love for Adobe and MS to get together and work on enhancing the UWP api and move these apps to the store. MS needs to finance things like this and show the world that UWP is not just for simple programs.

Give me something that works, and then let me customize it. And market it as such.
 

cracgor

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I think what I really like about windows mobile is that you have that default where everything just works (When it's bug free of course). Then you have the ability to go in and do as much customization as you see fit. So it sort of can appeal to everyone. I have been noticing lately that one of my friends who is a huge pusher of IPhone 6s and ios is starting to realize that the ease of use is impacting her ability to get what she wants out of it. There have been many scenarios where she wanted to get certain things setup but she couldn't. And the settings isn't as intuitive as windows phone. Once you go in there it's a pretty big mess with very little functionality. So she will be searching through it to do things but she can't! And lately she's been saying that if windows mobile could break the app barrier she can see it becoming huge. I lent her my lumia 830 with w10m and she said it was actually a lot more intuitive and easier to use. But she couldn't find a few apps that she wanted and thought the store was a mess.

Just like there comes a time when you need a specific app, there comes a time when you need your OS to do more. And w10m has the advantage there. Android is up there too but it's a bit more messy and harder to navigate. The issue is that apps will always take precedence over that scenario. If your friends all have an app that you can't use you feel left out. If people truly wanted "ease of use" then android would not be the largest market share holder. Or is it really just price? If Apple released budget phones would they steal a lot of Android market share? It's possible.

I think by creating the unified experience that MS is seeking with windows 10, people will know exactly how to customize any device that they use running windows 10. Being familiar with just one OS empowers you to do more. Learning OSx will not translate to ios and vice versa.

The complexity of w32 apps can be translated into easier to use UI. I think the day that photoshop can be moved to UWP, provide the same functionality and be easy to navigate is the day UWP will show its power. Of course it would only be published for Desktop or Continuum(Providing the hardware allows it). The UI is probably the biggest problem. And I could not see it working well with a touch UI using your finger but it can definitely be done with a smart pen. It's really about thinking outside the box. The code itself is complex and that won't change, but a good designer can produce a suitable UI for pens and mice with a modern look. The UI was designed in an era where things were different. It's really about thinking outside the box and not placing the limitations of the old era into the modern one.

I would really love for Adobe and MS to get together and work on enhancing the UWP api and move these apps to the store. MS needs to finance things like this and show the world that UWP is not just for simple programs.

Give me something that works, and then let me customize it. And market it as such.

Photoshop has supported pen input for as long as I have used it. The problem will still be power of the processor. For example, if I try to run photoshop from my PC with a core i7 processor to draw something at say 300 dpi with a moderately complex brush, it is just useable. Anything that pushes the limits of that (higher dpi, bigger canvas, more complex brush) causes the program to crawl to the point of being not fun to use. Maybe one day, but right now you'd be trying to cram an Origin EVO in your pocket to get a good user experience. Imagine people complaining about the heat issues! One day about 10 years from now this will probably come to fruition.
 

Krystianpants

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Photoshop has supported pen input for as long as I have used it. The problem will still be power of the processor. For example, if I try to run photoshop from my PC with a core i7 processor to draw something at say 300 dpi with a moderately complex brush, it is just useable. Anything that pushes the limits of that (higher dpi, bigger canvas, more complex brush) causes the program to crawl to the point of being not fun to use. Maybe one day, but right now you'd be trying to cram an Origin EVO in your pocket to get a good user experience. Imagine people complaining about the heat issues! One day about 10 years from now this will probably come to fruition.

I'm not just talking about having it on your phone. But at least to be able to convert it to UWP for desktops and have the API adapt to any needs. My argument is if you want to make UWP better than w32 then you need to showcase its power with one of the most complex apps. It can be published for Desktop only. Point is make UWP a worthy successor. Find ways of making these tasks more efficient. UWP isn't only about mobile. There will be things that are best suited for Desktop only and others that are best suited for mobile. This also gives the opportunity to possibly enhance the code to better suit todays hardware. Sure the i7 is powerful but what it photoshop was able to use new chips particularly powerful GPU's to do tasks much quicker. It's always been cpu intensive and the code hasn't really been changed over the years. New features have been added but how much of that is actually optimization. My friend does animation and a lot of different applications will give different results due to optimizations for different GPUs. Sometimes the bottleneck isn't the actual hardware.
 

Holy Shadows

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I am currently living out my plan B on Android. Actually it was plan C as I was going to get an iPhone (something) Plus. The thing is my Wife works for Sprint and as you know they don't have Windows Phones anymore (or barely ever did.) However they occasionally get advocate devices which more often than not, tend to be Android. Don't get me wrong I absolutely LOVE Windows Phone/Mobile but fanatically it didn't make sense for me to keep paying for my 950 on ATT. So once I received the HTC A9, I moved everything over and to be honest things have been going pretty well. There are certain things that drive me nuts but all in all it's not the end of the world. I can still use almost everything I did on my Windows Phone just a little less connected into the OS. iPhone for the most part would be the same way as well minus how closed off they are to certain ideas. Such as using a 3rd party keyboard exclusively i.e. WordFlow or how the 2factor authentication app "Microsoft Account" works, (which I absolutely love!) Also consider how notifications will work with Android and Windows 10 in the future, assuming that doesn't get changed or cut. All in all, I can survive on Android until they either confirm W10mobile is no more or they come out with a device that really has some traction behind it. Windows phone is near an dear to my heart and I really want it to do well or come back, but I don't know if that is possible. Time will tell.
 

cracgor

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I'm not just talking about having it on your phone. But at least to be able to convert it to UWP for desktops and have the API adapt to any needs. My argument is if you want to make UWP better than w32 then you need to showcase its power with one of the most complex apps. It can be published for Desktop only. Point is make UWP a worthy successor. Find ways of making these tasks more efficient. UWP isn't only about mobile. There will be things that are best suited for Desktop only and others that are best suited for mobile. This also gives the opportunity to possibly enhance the code to better suit todays hardware. Sure the i7 is powerful but what it photoshop was able to use new chips particularly powerful GPU's to do tasks much quicker. It's always been cpu intensive and the code hasn't really been changed over the years. New features have been added but how much of that is actually optimization. My friend does animation and a lot of different applications will give different results due to optimizations for different GPUs. Sometimes the bottleneck isn't the actual hardware.

I do understand that there is more to running the software smoothly. I do not understand what the benefit would be to having a UWP from Adobe or Corel's side of the equation. You could make the easier argument that Office 365 should be a UWP app to lead the way.
 

Krystianpants

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I do understand that there is more to running the software smoothly. I do not understand what the benefit would be to having a UWP from Adobe or Corel's side of the equation. You could make the easier argument that Office 365 should be a UWP app to lead the way.

Yes office 365 should also be UWP. The benefit would be putting more developers into the store and hopefully eliminating the use of W32 over time. And of course as MS works on these things the improvement of the UWP api through experience.
 

cha0sman

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If they were make O365 a UWP, that would pretty much force them to abandon the majority of users that are not on Windows 10.. Think businesses..
 

oviedofreak82

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Aren't there enough of these threads open about people wanting to go to another OS? Like Rodney King said after he was beaten by LAPD, can't we all just get along? Use what works for you and be happy with your decision.
 
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anon(7803270)

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My plan B just happened yesterday, after being a really nice Windows Phone customer for the last 5 years, I finally switched to android, from a 640 LTE to a Alcatel Idol 3 5.5".

What can I say? Well, It's hard to explain, the app gap is no longer present, no more buggy "beta" apps.

Don't get my wrong, I'm still in love with Windows Phone. I own a 630 and a 640 and I love those phones, my last 5/6 years have been happy, with windows, spreading the word about how good it was.

But that's over now. Will I ever use a Windows Phone again? I really really hope so. But maybe in one or two years, at least. Because my life just got easy yesterday after switching to android. And I want that easy life with Windows Phone, deep down is still my fav OS, and It will always be. But not right now. Right now, this OS is far from being in a final stage, is still early beta, and that is not acceptable.

After so many years, I say goodbye to Windows Phone, and I really hope that one day I can come back to it. :(
 

Adjaero Pascal

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If it's not a nexus then count me out. I am currently using the Nexus 5X and will use it alongside my future HP Elite X3 or a Lumia with similar or better hardware in the near future.
As for iPhones, I used the 6 plus and 6s for a couple of days and just got tired. Those things are way too expensive for what they offer. Went back to my Nexus 5X

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
 

anon(50597)

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I'm not someone who's married to one OS or another. I like to try them all. I currently use both WP and Android. Both devices (Moto G 2015 used and a Lumia 640) didn't cost me $200 combined. There's things I like and dislike about both, but since the last couple builds (currently .318) my 640 has been getting a lot more use.
 

ubizmo

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I'm not someone who's married to one OS or another. I like to try them all. I currently use both WP and Android. Both devices (Moto G 2015 used and a Lumia 640) didn't cost me $200 combined. There's things I like and dislike about both, but since the last couple builds (currently .318) my 640 has been getting a lot more use.
I can relate. I find the 640 screen a little small, and almost picked up a 640xl today for $127. It might happen tomorrow. I don't like everything about the OS but on the whole it's a good experience.
 

Ten Four

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Because my life just got easy yesterday after switching to android.
It's rather sad that your smartphone choice means "life just got easy." There's a whole, big, beautiful real world outside the confines of your 5-inch screen. Personally, I watch people struggle every single day to do something on their smartphones, no matter what operating system, that would be far, far easier if they just did it the old fashioned way and used the operating system between their ears: turning on lights, texting someone endlessly when talking to them would be easier, struggling to understand a 5-inch map when a paper map would give you a 36-inch view with better detail, searching for the perfect Yelp review for something when 99% of the reviews are pure bunk, etc., etc.
 

anon(50597)

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It's rather sad that your smartphone choice means "life just got easy." There's a whole, big, beautiful real world outside the confines of your 5-inch screen. Personally, I watch people struggle every single day to do something on their smartphones, no matter what operating system, that would be far, far easier if they just did it the old fashioned way and used the operating system between their ears: turning on lights, texting someone endlessly when talking to them would be easier, struggling to understand a 5-inch map when a paper map would give you a 36-inch view with better detail, searching for the perfect Yelp review for something when 99% of the reviews are pure bunk, etc., etc.

Why did you respond on an Internet forum? Should have written a letter and mailed it to us.
 

T1Cybernetic

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I have just grabbed a Nexus 6, I will be keeping my Lumia 1520 unless someone offers me a good price :D But I too am sick of the lack of some apps and games that are available to friends and family :( But not available to me!

I really do like windows phone but having used a Nexus 6 a few times over the last few months I just have a much better time with friends and family. Almost none of them use windows phone.
 

ubizmo

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I'll say that one thing I miss from Android is the ability to change default apps for various things. On my OnePlus One, when I get an email notification from, say, Windows Central, I can choose to open it in Tapatalk, one time or always. Tapatalk isn't on W10M, but mTalk is a decent substitute. But I can't (as far as I know) get email links to open it. And I can't get to choose a browser other than Edge to open links either.

If I can do these things, I haven't figured out how.

But I'm well aware that there are always going to be some things missing or different when I go from one platform to another, so I don't stress over it. Having switched between BB10 and Android for months, I'm fairly numb to such things. I'm still amazed at how well the 640 runs, for a rock-bottom $40 phone. The camera is perfectly fine for my purposes, too. It's simple and straightforward, and it has a nice one-touch auto-enhance button. I have several camera apps on my OnePlus One, each with a plethora of settings, but I think I'm actually getting better photos on my 640.

So I don't know. BB10 on my Passport is starting to get creaky. No browser update; important apps pulling out; some Android apps getting harder to load and run. It's been around less time than the OnePlus One but is showing its age. The OnePlus One is now my main phone, but in a lot of ways I just find the 640 more fun to use.

If only they'd bring the Kindle app up to speed.

So maybe plan B is to get a 640xl and give my aging eyes a break.
 

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