Windows 10 for phones (an honest review)

[Conan143]

I have been wondering the build they showed us in March by Joe is more advanced and has all the features such as outlook,office....they should have released this build.Waitin for office universal apps to try out.

 

[xandros9]

I have been wondering the build they showed us in March by Joe is more advanced and has all the features such as outlook,office....they should have released this build.Waitin for office universal apps to try out.

Think of it as an E3 demo of a video game.

Might be a whole lot more broken than it may seem (Halo 2: if you strayed from the main route too far, the whole demo goes kaput, map ended up being scrapped.) so you saw the parts that worked well enough to demo and otherwise show off specific scripted things. But in reality, its going to be a lot less sunshine and rainbows.

 

[hotphil]

I have been wondering the build they showed us in March by Joe is more advanced and has all the features such as outlook,office....they should have released this build.Waitin for office universal apps to try out.

It could have been a less-advanced build... features may have been jettisoned as the development continued, and may be re-included later on.

 

[Michael Bull2]

Compared to the previous build, Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones build 10051 changes a lot. It's clearly an operating system related to Windows Phone 8.1, but the details are all very different. It feels very early. I found many apps crashed or were glitchy, and the list of known problems includes some nasty gotchas such as Internet Sharing breaking Wi-Fi connectivity in some situations. With the exception of the new Maps app, a lot of the modifications feel like they're laying the ground work for progress, but they're not yet solid improvements over what we have today in Windows Phone 8.1. Outlook Mail, for example, has the nice swipe-to-delete and a much more capable message composer, but it gives up useful pinning and inbox filtering capabilities.

There's also a great deal of interface inconsistency. While the new ribbons, for example, work well, the proliferation of top-mounted hamburger menus is a major regression compared to Windows Phone 8.1. Parts of the operating system do still have that Windows Phone thoughtfulness, but it's much less apparent, with many pieces feeling like warmed over generic Android apps. Microsoft has a lot of work ahead of it if it's to make this into a robust, reliable phone platform, and even more if it's to make it a phone platform that looks and feels coherent.

 

[Jazmac]

I beg to differ. When you really stop and analyze it, the iPhone is nothing but an app launcher.

Let me explain before I get skewered.

To me, the definition of a smartphone is what it was a decade ago when they became the new norm: the marriage of a cell phone and a PDA. The Palm Tungstens of the time allowed mobile pros to bang out emails, set up meetings in their calendars, edit Office documents, etc. Then you would sync all your tasks with your PC and send to whomever OR, use your phone as modem (PAM) and send from anywhere.Smartphones were developed to carry just one device.

As a stand-alone device, the iPhone is useless without an internet connection. There's no file manager to store your info. There's no place to save your edited docs since the apps are internet-dependent. You can't even save your work to external storage because Apple has never seen fit to grace their devices with SD storage. Heck, you can't even do a bluetooth file transfer to a PC because Apple devices only do BT FTP with other iOS devices. Can't save your files via USB to your computer because iOS doesn't support USB Mass Storage. No can do with NFC either.

So you see, apps aren't what defines a smartphone. Take away internet connectivity and what can you do with your device? With WP, a heck of a lot more than with iOS and about the same as Android.

Much respect fatclue98. Much respect for your candor, sensitivity, spirit and most of all support for the platform and its ecosystem. My kind of tech.

 

[Jazmac]

Compared to the previous build, Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones build 10051 changes a lot. It's clearly an operating system related to Windows Phone 8.1, but the details are all very different. It feels very early. I found many apps crashed or were glitchy, and the list of known problems includes some nasty gotchas such as Internet Sharing breaking Wi-Fi connectivity in some situations. With the exception of the new Maps app, a lot of the modifications feel like they're laying the ground work for progress, but they're not yet solid improvements over what we have today in Windows Phone 8.1. Outlook Mail, for example, has the nice swipe-to-delete and a much more capable message composer, but it gives up useful pinning and inbox filtering capabilities.

There's also a great deal of interface inconsistency. While the new ribbons, for example, work well, the proliferation of top-mounted hamburger menus is a major regression compared to Windows Phone 8.1. Parts of the operating system do still have that Windows Phone thoughtfulness, but it's much less apparent, with many pieces feeling like warmed over generic Android apps. Microsoft has a lot of work ahead of it if it's to make this into a robust, reliable phone platform, and even more if it's to make it a phone platform that looks and feels coherent.

Seriously? So you thought with the exception of appearances, you thought this very unfinished, very unpolished, much publicized basic test program would only have a few "behavior" problems? .

 

[etad putta]

Actually sales are what defines a smartphone. Reality shows apple and android doing quite well regardless of whether they are "real" smartphones or not.

 

[etad putta]

That's them Android calculators. Don't blame the users.

Took me a while but I did the math and the answer is ...I'll see all you boys and girls soon on the imore and android central forums.

 

[Pranjal Rai]

I beg to differ. When you really stop and analyze it, the iPhone is nothing but an app launcher.

Let me explain before I get skewered.

To me, the definition of a smartphone is what it was a decade ago when they became the new norm: the marriage of a cell phone and a PDA. The Palm Tungstens of the time allowed mobile pros to bang out emails, set up meetings in their calendars, edit Office documents, etc. Then you would sync all your tasks with your PC and send to whomever OR, use your phone as modem (PAM) and send from anywhere.Smartphones were developed to carry just one device.

As a stand-alone device, the iPhone is useless without an internet connection. There's no file manager to store your info. There's no place to save your edited docs since the apps are internet-dependent. You can't even save your work to external storage because Apple has never seen fit to grace their devices with SD storage. Heck, you can't even do a bluetooth file transfer to a PC because Apple devices only do BT FTP with other iOS devices. Can't save your files via USB to your computer because iOS doesn't support USB Mass Storage. No can do with NFC either.

So you see, apps aren't what defines a smartphone. Take away internet connectivity and what can you do with your device? With WP, a heck of a lot more than with iOS and about the same as Android.

And still people whine when a known (or unknown) app gets taken down from our app store...if apps dont define a smart phone, then what is the point of app numbers. Usability. thats what a smartphone is all about. That's where the apps come in.
I switched to WP in the beginning because of the unique UI. And I got used to it eventually. We all did. Now microsoft has decided to alter it. We can consider it as another revamp of the software. Although, its getting ugly now, at the same time. Metro is NOT coming back. And there is nothing you or me or anyone can do about it. No amount of feedback is changing the fact.
And yes, iOS is nothing But an App launcher. But still it hasn't prevented people from flooding towards it. Apple not only charges you from the "Status symbol" point of view, but also for their app store. And you can't deny that their app store is Wayyyyyyyyy more superior to Android OR Windows.

And Microsoft can't progress, if their app store starts draining, no matter how beautiful the UI of the OS is.

(Don't think I'm a butthurt iOS fan. But if Microsoft dosn't adopt a new strategy, I'll eventually be turning to Apple, for good.)

 

[prasath1234]

Plz MS delay the launch of windows 10 for phones until you bring us less buggy non crashing os. Wp needs to show it is still smoothest with its new is.

 

[fatclue_98]

Took me a while but I did the math and the answer is ...I'll see all you boys and girls soon on the imore and android central forums.

Not!
Maybe CrackBerry.

 

[fatclue_98]

if apps dont define a smart phone, then what is the point of app numbers.

Uh, marketing?

 

[Spectrum90]

I beg to differ. When you really stop and analyze it, the iPhone is nothing but an app launcher.

Let me explain before I get skewered.

To me, the definition of a smartphone is what it was a decade ago when they became the new norm: the marriage of a cell phone and a PDA. The Palm Tungstens of the time allowed mobile pros to bang out emails, set up meetings in their calendars, edit Office documents, etc. Then you would sync all your tasks with your PC and send to whomever OR, use your phone as modem (PAM) and send from anywhere.Smartphones were developed to carry just one device.

As a stand-alone device, the iPhone is useless without an internet connection. There's no file manager to store your info. There's no place to save your edited docs since the apps are internet-dependent. You can't even save your work to external storage because Apple has never seen fit to grace their devices with SD storage. Heck, you can't even do a bluetooth file transfer to a PC because Apple devices only do BT FTP with other iOS devices. Can't save your files via USB to your computer because iOS doesn't support USB Mass Storage. No can do with NFC either.

So you see, apps aren't what defines a smartphone. Take away internet connectivity and what can you do with your device? With WP, a heck of a lot more than with iOS and about the same as Android.

You're trapped in the 90s-100s. Nowadays internet is everything.

 

[Kevin Rush]

You're trapped in the 90s-100s. Nowadays internet is everything.

The internet is not everywhere, consistent and constant. It isn't always fast and cheap. It isn't always free.

The people who think the internet is everything, everywhere and cheap are cloistered.

To do "real work" on-demand, at anytime needed, it must be possible to work without the internet and sync to it when you can. Internet dependant Apps can not do this work.

 

[etad putta]

Not!
Maybe CrackBerry.

You are running out of options my friend.

 

[etad putta]

The internet is not everywhere, consistent and constant. It isn't always fast and cheap. It isn't always free.

The people who think the internet is everything, everywhere and cheap are cloistered.

To do "real work" on-demand, at anytime needed, it must be possible to work without the internet and sync to it when you can. Internet dependant Apps can not do this work.

But by percentages that area is small and growing smaller each day.

 

[Spectrum90]

The internet is not everywhere, consistent and constant. It isn't always fast and cheap. It isn't always free.

Electricity neither.

The people who think the internet is everything, everywhere and cheap are cloistered.

To do "real work" on-demand, at anytime needed, it must be possible to work without the internet and sync to it when you can. Internet dependant Apps can not do this work.

It's more efficient to do "real work" connected, with access to all the data, and in collaboration with coworkers.
Although, in all the platforms is possible to provide offline capabilities to improve suboptimal situations.

 

[fatclue_98]

Those who think the internet is everywhere have never worked inside a hospital. Have never worked on a construction site of any type. Have never worked in an underground facility. Have never worked near a utility company and certainly have never been in a rural area.

 

[fatclue_98]

You are running out of options my friend.

Please explain. Don't give me the "BlackBerry's dead" excuse, it's older than dirt. Tell me how my device will cease to function if BlackBerry were to miraculously disappear off the face of the Earth tomorrow. I have a 10 year-old iPAQ sitting in my drawer that functions the same exact way today as it did when it was released. As I mentioned in an earlier post, a smartphone is a measure of how it functions as a stand-alone device. To that end, webOS is clinically dead and Legacy BB OS7 is on life support since few carriers offer BIS.

 

[Jazmac]

Those who think the internet is everywhere have never worked inside a hospital. Have never worked on a construction site of any type. Have never worked in an underground facility. Have never worked near a utility company and certainly have never been in a rural area.

Or worked in the Las Vegas Strip casino.