Are you dumping MS services if moving to Android?

[vEEP pEEP]

Well, 2019 is almost here. Win10 Mobile died and excruciating death - but is still pretty damn remarkable. (Did MS officially kill it or just Tweet "it's not our focus"??)

I have to move platforms and will go with Android. I am not a business user, just average user. I separate work from my personal devices.

I use Office 365, but don't really use the Office Suite (G-Suite can replace it)
OneDrive is awesome, but Google cloud is priced equally.
OneNote - handy, but Google Keep, EverNote can do the same job.

If I am moving platforms, I want the best experience with the Android and am guessing Google Services would work better.

Plus, I do not trust MS for consumers anymore and see them moving toward b2b, therefore do not want to give them my money.

Has anyone made the switch from MS services (O365) to Google Services when moving to Android - and what were the results? If you did the same moving to Apple - please share as well!

Thanks,

Mr. V

 

[Elky64]

Average user here too having dabbled with Android/Google Services for several years now... Google Keep is my go-to and loving it! MS OneDrive and OneNote are there for me yet use them sparsely. Personally, both services have resided in the same household w/o issues but thinking it's time we dumped good old MS "soon" LOL... just plain old laziness on our part as to why we haven't.

Like you I don't trust MS as far as we could throw them, something that has been brewing for quite some time now like 2-3 years. And IMHO Google Services feel waaay better and more thought-out. Maybe it's just me but Microsoft's way of doing things seems so passée now looking/feeling very outdated.

The best part about all of this (like I mentioned above), they can both reside on same platform/device allowing you some time to make a conscious decision as to what works best for your needs. Involves a bit more work but hey it's doable.

 

[HeyCori]

Average smartphone user here and I've been using Microsoft services since leaving WP and switching to Android. Everything works... fine. Cortana, Office, Outdrive, Outlook, they all get the job done with little fuss. Work is all Google so I use their apps as well. They all work... fine. Google wins the hands free award because of Cortana's limitations on Android, but otherwise I can use either service interchangeably.

 

[DavidBS1989]

Common user and I'm going to hang on with Windows Mobile until Andromeda comes or until the ship gets shipwreckred at all!

 

[ven07]

Def not a business user here. Switched to Android, but still using MS services. OneNote is just the way to go for me, since I like to use it on my laptop as well.

Outlook mail works pretty well! I tried to use the gmail app, but it just didn't cut it for me. Weird, I know.

It really depends on the user

 

[vEEP pEEP]

@DavidBS1989 - love your enthusiasm! I'd probably go this route as well, but MS has been talking a lot about end user devices, and not delivering. I still need a cell phone that does what I need. WP is going out of support.

But I am hoping with you!

 

[vEEP pEEP]

@ven07

Thanks for the input. I am always puzzled when native apps do not work well!

I also do not want to support a company that does support end users.

 

[ven07]

@ven07

Thanks for the input. I am always puzzled when native apps do not work well!

I also do not want to support a company that does support end users.

To clarify. The gmail app works fine. I tried to use it as my main for close to a year, but recently went back to Outlook as I have an account that specifically ties to o365.

I get what you're saying about MS. You're not the only one, but I stuck with their products, because they basically wouldn't care if 100 people dropped out (that's pretty much all the people I would be able to convince lol). MS still has enterprise and business is doing pretty good according to the latest numbers so yea. I didn't just give up. Just using what they offer and not expecting a lot more from them

 

[DavidBS1989]

@DavidBS1989 - love your enthusiasm! I'd probably go this route as well, but MS has been talking a lot about end user devices, and not delivering. I still need a cell phone that does what I need. WP is going out of support.

But I am hoping with you!

Thank you. ;-)

I use my mobile for call, message, videocalls, web, mail,some games, Netflix and something more. Most of apps I want are in WP, and all the services I use are from MS, so in my case my Lumia works perfect for me and I don't see any reason to change to Android.

 

[paco2x]

In the end, you will forced to use Google services because they better integrated into the OS, specially Google Assistant. Other services like Google Drive and Photos are now very important for my work and productivity tools like Google Docs are decent enough for me. To be honest, i can't see myself returning to MS services.

 

[ven07]

Other services like Google Drive and Photos

I use these as well but OneDrive stays for my docs, vids, music etc.

 

[naddy6969]

I moved to Android, then I dumped Android.

On iOS now. iPhone 8 Plus and iPad Pro. The only MS app I am still using is OneNote.

I bought an Invoke speaker a few months ago, at the fire sale price of $55. I use it only as a bluetooth speaker. Cortana is completely disabled. Its a great sounding speaker, hobbled by the fact that there is no stereo option at all. If you like your music in mono, this is the speaker for you. I like stereo, so I mainly use the Invoke for podcasts and other voice-only content where lack of stereo is not a problem. I have real speakers (and audio equipment) for music.

Yes, there is life after Microsoft.

 

[Ryujingt3]

At my work they are using Google Services. So I had to make the switch to using Google Services to keep up. I don't like it all that much to be honest. It explains why the company I work for are switching to MS instead. I still have and use all of MS's services on my Android phone and they work fine. I prefer MS's services to Google's.

 

[Kevin Rush]

@DavidBS1989 - love your enthusiasm! I'd probably go this route as well, but MS has been talking a lot about end user devices, and not delivering. I still need a cell phone that does what I need. WP is going out of support.

But I am hoping with you!

Our Windows Mobile Phones work just fine and we enjoy using them so we see no reason to switch at this this time.

 

[Kevin Rush]

I moved to Android, then I dumped Android.

On iOS now. iPhone 8 Plus and iPad Pro. The only MS app I am still using is OneNote.

I bought an Invoke speaker a few months ago, at the fire sale price of $55. I use it only as a bluetooth speaker. Cortana is completely disabled. Its a great sounding speaker, hobbled by the fact that there is no stereo option at all. If you like your music in mono, this is the speaker for you. I like stereo, so I mainly use the Invoke for podcasts and other voice-only content where lack of stereo is not a problem. I have real speakers (and audio equipment) for music.

Yes, there is life after Microsoft.

Our Invoke speakers are spread conveniently throughout the house and are used with Cortana all the time. Cortana is great hands free convenience. I understand that by far the biggest use case for Alexa is playing music. We play music on the Invoke with Cortana. We play podcasts using Cortana. We ask all kinds of questions. "What was the score of yesterdays Vikings game? What is the weather in Salt Lake City? What time is it there? (Contana remember the prior context.) Who is Jackie Coogan? Where is Westworld filmed? Play NPR News. Play CBS news. Set a timer. Set an alarm. We ask about our schedules and add appointments on our Outlook calendars. Remind me to buy almonds next time I'm at the grocery store. This connects to our Windows Phones and SurfacePros. I understand that Alexa and Siri and the google speaker aren't perfect and neither is Cortana. I say all this because of the madness of the chicken little crowds frantically claiming Cortana and other Microsoft products/services are dead? I'm sure even this post will raise up the hordes to say "It is."
Thank you for reading. Best Wishes.