24 hrs in and I am really not getting on with WP...

[wellsmanfu]

I know how you feel. I was researching and waiting for WP7 since the day is was announced that Microsoft was making a new OS. I was a big Palm fan and really like the changes in WebOS, so I was hoping for the same kind of mass change from windows mobile to windows phone 7.

While I waited for that I used android and really liked it. I got used to it and learned to do all that I could with it. When I got wp7 I was a little dissappointed for a day or 2, but I gave it a chance and did what Techblogger suggested and hit up youtube and this site for help, hints and suggestions. Now I love my phone and will not be going back to Android.

So just give it some time, maybe a couple weeks. No one is forcing you to use this, but we're all betting that if you give it a real chance, then you'll like it.

 

[jonnyg]

It's a stunning OS once you stop trying to use it as an app launcher

Hahaha. Exactly why I left iOS For a tablet I'll forgive it, but as a instant glance when your out an about....

 

[cckgz4]

While the Facebook all in one thing was a turn off, the Mango update looks to fix that with the group option so you can put all the people you actually communicate with daily and just look at them and not a million other people

 

[fxyrslf]

Hello again

I'm sorry to say I still feel the same way after a bit of limited fiddling. As I said in my first post, yes I have Mango and can admit it is very fast and totally stable - there is no arguing with that.

Beyond that I just don't like it, I think it's a combo of issues with both the OS and the average hardware design of my LG.

I HATE how I have to press the annoying little nub power button on the top of the phone before I then swipe, it's awkward and uncomfortable.

I really don't like the prescribed 2 columns wide/single file setup of the two main screens, to me it is irritating, wastes a load of screen real estate and make things a chore. There is wasted black space at the top where the status bar could permanently sit, then the bottom tile hangs half off the screen, I know these are deliberate UI choices to indicate to scroll etc but I just don't think it works.

I dislike the type heavy design. I really thought I'd like this, but in practise I find it frustrating and unintuitive. I never know quite where I am with this phone, It's like it's trying to be overly clever but things end up taking longer, and the icons that do exist are laughably small, cryptic and hard to press (and i don't have fat fingers). Because the style of WP7is so type based, and things are all "tied in" to look the same, everything... well just looks the same to me, there is no differentiation of what is there to do what. To my mind anyway.

I spent an age in my google account setting up contacts with pictures I manually added (again windows live web interface to me is just horrible). I still don't feel like dialing contacts is nice and speedy, I mean I can hit "a" on the alphabetical phonebook, Then find the letter i want, THEN dial the person, assuming I didn't have to swipe to the "all" contacts section if "people" had been parked in "what's new" from last use etc, it feels like endless "elegant" swiping about that isn't actually elegant at all.

I tried to group contacts in my phone before hitting the 20 person limit and again getting annoyed, I have a big group of people I know at a sports club I train at, I know these people to different degrees but in terms of social media it makes sense to have them all in the same place as our socialising revolves around this same one activity, but in the end I had to make 2 groups A-M N-Z ..which defeated the object, I ended up deleting the groups and feeling like I was back to square (tile) 1 with this device.

And the calender... I mean yes lovely and minimal, and I'm not someone that thinks it should look like an Apple style wizards olde magical book, but the month view is totally useless, i want to see at a glance what's coming up in the month but the graphic is so tiny (again with black surrounding it) that its totally useless, if appts were just shown as a blob of colour or something in the month view which upon clicking brought up the related appt text in the wasted space below that to me would make more sense, instead I have to scroll though a big unwieldy list, again I just don't like it. Part of the problem is also the cramped overly thin feeling aspect ratio of the screen.

*sigh*

 

[Reflexx]

Well, you gave it a chance. I guess at this time it may not be the right OS for you. Much of what you dislike are design choices that will likely stay the same for a long long time. And like many design choices, they will be loved by some and hated by others.

Everyone has their own preferences. And if it just doesn't do anything for you, then that's that.

You may want to check out something else that makes you happier for now. But thanks for giving your input. It's always cool to hear other opinions that are not rabid and fanboyish.

 

[fxyrslf]

Where on youtube should I head to attempt to get the hang of this thing?

 

[velvetelvis]

windowsphone's Channel - YouTube

windows phone channel

 

[Wyn6]

Like Reflexx said, this is all about personal preferences. Things is, as human beings we have tendencies to get comfortable and stick with what's familiar to us. The majority of phone OSes have the same look and feel as the desktop PCs we use and have been using for the last 20 years.

It's what we're used to and we're reluctant to change from something so familiar. It's the same reason Steve Ballmer said the next iteration of Windows will be the biggest risk yet for Microsoft. It's because it moves out of familiar territory into something new, different, and unknown.

The Windows Phone OS is just that... new, different, and unknown. After growing accustomed to a certain look and feel for what amounts to many years, it can be hard to adjust to something new and easy to return to something we all know.

This isn't a bad thing by any means, it's just... well, human. No matter how much excitement, there's always some trepidation in a new adventure. And, in the end you may find yourself turning back for more familiar paths.

And, that's the same here. In the end, you may just return to what suits you and what's more comfortable for you. In any case good luck and I'm sure many here will help you along, if and when you need it. Good link above, by the way.