Save me from going iPhone? Future of Windows phone, etc.

[gzinkl]

With all the news this week, I'm beginning to have less faith in MSFT and its willingness to support Windows 10 Mobile in the long run. Right now, I'm totally embedded in the Windows ecosystem - Surface RT, laptop, and Windows phone, but now that I have my doubts, I'm wondering if my loyalty will waver. What do you think the 5 year future for Windows 10 Mobile and Windows phone is? What can make me regret a move to iOS?

 

[winboy]

I'm sticking with MS win Phone and cant wait for the next flagship.

 

[colinkiama]

With all the news this week, I'm beginning to have less faith in MSFT and its willingness to support Windows 10 Mobile in the long run. Right now, I'm totally embedded in the Windows ecosystem - Surface RT, laptop, and Windows phone, but now that I have my doubts, I'm wondering if my loyalty will waver. What do you think the 5 year future for Windows 10 Mobile and Windows phone is? What can make me regret a move to iOS?

I don't think you read the letter properly. We are getting a flagship and Microsoft are making less phones so OEMs won't be overshadowed anymore.

 

[Stryfeno1]

I was a big fan of windows phone for almost 6 years but after I messed around with the iPhone there is no going back to WP. Don't get me wrong there are some stuff that WP does better than the iPhone but it is not enough for me to stick around. First off, all the apps you can think of are there and if WP has it they are half-baked. The webdesign is better on the iPhone, no hiccups. WP was out so long it is ridiculous how much it trails behind the competition. Tsk, tsk, tsk Microsoft.

I suggest you try all three ecosystems and see for yourself how bad and what WP is lacking.

 

[Chris Hammond2]

I don't think you read the letter properly. We are getting a flagship and Microsoft are making less phones so OEMs won't be overshadowed anymore.

I, for one, am glad about MS reducing the number of devices. There seems to be a plethora of them. The specs, especially for a prospective newcomer, are bewildering!! Some 3G, Some LTE, and some with the same model number being either 3G or 4G or 512mb ram or 1GB ram. And that's just the 635!! Then the dual sim / single sim, again the same model....

I hope they keep it going because I don't wish to be forced into a Crapple iPhone or a bloated Android device that is updated every time it rains!!

 

[Kevin Rush]

We'll be buying "flagship/hero" Windows Phones this fall. They will likely be Lumias but I've had good experiences with HTC and like Samsung. We'll look at what ever flagship/hero phones are available with Windows 10 Mobile.

We'll likely leave Verizon, if they don't have a good selection. Yesterday, another Verizon sales person at the Verizon store, tried to steer us away from looking at Windows Phones. I'm hoping to buy whatever the phones are, directly from Microsoft.

 

[odin09]

I think that the new direction is a positive. It is clear, concise and focused. Change can be hard to accept but it was necessary. I am not saying that in five years miracles will happen, we are still fighting an uphill battle, but I am more confident than before. Bring on my new phone this fall.

 

[ArthJar]

Why do we have to save you from your indecisiveness anyway?
You want to leave? Then leave.
Don't want to leave? Then don't.
Simple as that.

 

[Snowy Nokia]

With all the news this week, I'm beginning to have less faith in MSFT and its willingness to support Windows 10 Mobile in the long run. Right now, I'm totally embedded in the Windows ecosystem - Surface RT, laptop, and Windows phone, but now that I have my doubts, I'm wondering if my loyalty will waver. What do you think the 5 year future for Windows 10 Mobile and Windows phone is? What can make me regret a move to iOS?

Good question! As I am asking myself the same now with the way windows mobile is shaping up.
I'm not basing on news, but from experience. On a personal note I quite enjoyed the news, will it bear fruits, well here's to a big hope.
Anyhow, yes I've become embedded on the Microsoft ecosystem also, an have always had a strong few of "buying into the ecosystem". An guess what Microsoft has made it so easy to streamline between ecosystems, so thx I guess.
If windows 10 for mobile does not pan out at launch software/hardware front, yes I will switch to an iPhone an I've never owned one, always loathed apple as a whole, but hey by iPhone 6 they got the hardware right, software blah boring but works for the end user, an that's what my wants an needs are as of today.
Laptop/PC.....that will be a tough one to move to, but in time m

 

[DCTF]

The "two years" story was a comment from an unnamed source allegedly in the company.

Nobody knows how long MS will stay in mobile tech, but it's not as if my life is going to be ruined if they call it a day in [x] years' time and I then have to go to Android or whatever. Why will it matter if I spent those last years with a platform I liked best at the time, rather than going to Android at the first wobble? I don't understand what the advantage is here, and the whole idea of 'loyalty' to a manufacturing giant is baffling to me. You're a customer. Do you like the products? If not, don't be a customer. It's not a team sport.

So I've got nothing to tell you about why you should stay on WM. If you've got your eye on iPhone, you should probably just go and get one now, otherwise you'll be the itchy-footed owner of a Windows Phone and not really enjoying either thing. Go and get an iPhone.

 

[Wbutchart1]

If you want iPhone, get it, if you want a better experience get the windows phone. WP will continue even at current levels, yet it's market share is increasing worldwide and in Europe, I know loads of people in the U.K. changing from iPhones to lumia or android.

 

[DavidinCT]

Still the apps are the biggest problem, the Windows ecosystem when it comes to this aspect. Microsoft's goal is with Universal apps. With giving Windows 10 away, it's hoping more companies make apps for Windows 10 and with minor code changes can make it a Universal app giving access to these apps for Windows 10 Phone. This is their big bet. If it works, the app problem over the next year should almost resolve itself.

It's still a BIG gamble at this point. It MIGHT fix the problem. All I know 2-3 years after Windows 10 is released, if the market share for Windows Phone does not get larger (by a long shot) and the app problem still does not change, there will be some serious discussion about the demise of Windows Phone.

You cant just dump millions/billions into a platform that is not successful that never turns a profit for years, it will be just matter of time. Your already seeing them cut back jobs in the Phone divisions at Microsoft and Nokia, it should tell you something.

Is Windows 10 the savior for WIndows Phone ? Yet to be seen but, it MIGHT be.

 

[Ian Too]

I think the news has been misrepresented.

Microsoft are not backing out of Windows Phone, but of being a device manufacturer. If I understand it correctly, Microsoft still employ something like 4000 ex-Nokia design and engineering staff; what they've disposed of is the manufacturing facilities. This means that new Microsoft devices will be assembled by companies like Foxcon instead of in house.

Also. the range of devices will be smaller, concentrating on the three areas Satya Nadella outlined. The hope here is that OEMs will grow into the space vacated by Nokia and will help grow Windows Phone's market share. The idea seems to be to recapitulate the Windows PC model into the Phone market and it's here where I get a little dubious, especially if the strategy works.

For years, PC OEMs have hardly been their customers' best friend. While Microsoft have dropped a ball or two, the complacency into which OEMs fell was pathetic. They may have been upset by Surface, but none of them can honestly say they were doing their best in terms of design and machines like the Dell XPS 13 would have been inconceivable 3 years ago.

Then there is the issue of bloatware. The embarrassing debacles suffered by both Lenovo and Samsung show that this problem hasn't gone away by any stretch of the imagination. The one thing it's hard for users to do is buy a PC which just works. Is it any surprise that Windows has such a poor reputation? If Nadella is serious about wanting Windows delighting it's users, then he's going to have to find some way of stopping OEMs putting their greasy fingers into the pie and recapitulating this in the mobile space just seems like a bad idea to me.

Of course I'm smart enough to buy a Surface, or a Signature Edition PC, or a Lumia, but I've never been an 'I'm alright Jack' personality.

As for saving you from an iPhone, I don't feel the need. If that's the device that best meets your needs, go with my blessing. Personally, I don't like the way Apple tie you in and I find iOS boring to use, but it is my fall-back option should Windows Mobile fail.

 

[rtwright68]

I use a lot of different tech in my personal and professional life. That includes a Macbook Pro at home, a Lenovo Carbon X1 at work, an iPad Air2 for home and work, and until Friday an iPhone 6. I moved from a Lumia Icon to the iPhone 6 last year primarily due to the apps and what I thought would be a better experience (I did have an iPhone previously).

I really was missing my Icon and was watching the Windows 10 developments and rumors about the next flag ship. Unfortunately, Verizon sucks when it comes to Windows phone options but I went forward with an HTC One M8 and love the phone. I missed the interface and prefer that over the iPhone in all honestly. With the apps I use I'm not really missing anything making the move back to Windows phone.

I do believe that WP will be around, how much it will penetrate the market remains to be seen.

 

[gzinkl]

Hmmmm, just saw this: https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/windows-phone/4589/ask-paul-should-i-stick-with-windows-phone

 

[PepperdotNet]

What can make me regret a move to iOS?

Having an iOS device in my pocket would be very regrettable. You asked.

 

[Kevin Harvell]

The two biggest hurdles facing Windows Mobile right now are:

1. Carriers - If Windows Mobile wants a chance to succeed, ANY future device released HAS to be on all four major US carriers and trained on how to actually use them so sales reps can at least attempt to make a case for suggesting them to customers instead of just recommending what is in their pocket which is usually the only phone OS they know about. Carrier reps are regularly less informed about the devices they are selling than their customers.
2. Developers - Developers have to get on board and make the app integration as smooth as it is normally on iOS and Android. If I open a Twitter link in my email, it should open whatever Twitter app is installed on my device whether it is Twitter or Tweetium or something else. Instead it opens the Twitter website in the Edge browser. No, just no. I know Twitter API's are not the easiest to work with, especially for third party devs, but devs have got to stop taking shortcuts and releasing apps that only look good with basic functionality. I'm sorry but the best devs in the world focus on iOS and Android and until they stop leaving heaps of money on the table by ignoring Windows Mobile, that is not going to change.

 

[chmun77]

With all the news this week, I'm beginning to have less faith in MSFT and its willingness to support Windows 10 Mobile in the long run. Right now, I'm totally embedded in the Windows ecosystem - Surface RT, laptop, and Windows phone, but now that I have my doubts, I'm wondering if my loyalty will waver. What do you think the 5 year future for Windows 10 Mobile and Windows phone is? What can make me regret a move to iOS?

Since you are already in the MS ecosystem, everything will just work as per normal even if you move over to Android or iOS. Of course, everything except Cortana and apps which you purchased during your days with Windows Phones. Since Satya has already mentioned the company direction of "Cloud first", I think adding MS ecosystem to other platforms will be part of their planning as well. Personally, I don't really give a hoot if Windows 10 mobile will succeed or not because as a consumer, I will use whichever platform I think is better for me. If so many around world can survive their daily tasks with iPhone, I don't see it will be a problem for you if you move to iOS.

As for Windows 10 mobile, even Satya himself cannot be committed to the survivability of the platform, why should we then?

 

[Snowy Nokia]

Well put...

 

[JamesDax]

Move on if you want to. I'm all for less crying in these forums.