Whats it going to take to convert IPhone/Android users to Windows Phone

[Luisraul924]

You guys might disagree but I think Windows Phone interface is too polarizing. Some people (like me) love it, and others (like a few friends) hate it. They say "that blocky-thing on the home screen doesn't do it for me".

Anyone had similar experiences.

I want my Verizon 4G LTE Windows Phone with 8M camera and 4+ inch screen with 326+ ppi screen. Asking for too much ?

Yes... On the screen resolution that is, currently the only way to get a screen ppi of above 326 would be to have a 720p screen, which is of the 16:9 aspect ratio. Windows Phone currently only supports 5:3 which is why they all have the 800x480 resolution, it's the cheapest 5:3 screen res available that actually looks good.

 

[Ridemyscooter86]

Yes... On the screen resolution that is, currently the only way to get a screen ppi of above 326 would be to have a 720p screen, which is of the 16:9 aspect ratio. Windows Phone currently only supports 5:3 which is why they all have the 800x480 resolution, it's the cheapest 5:3 screen res available that actually looks good.

A lot of people don't like wp7 interface because its so different from iOS or android. The problem I have with iOS is no widgets, or no way to quickly see your information up front just by glancing at it, and android in my opinion is a cluttered mess. I think google in general has no sense for a consistent ui design. The thing is, that android in many ways with the design of the ui, is kinda like a crappier version of iOS with widgets and multiple home screens. I like m$ approach because the live tiles force an app, widget, or whatever else you pin to the start screen to essentially be the same thing, yet they have enough room to constantly change and display information without you having to open apps. but for them to do it, they had to make it look very different, I love wp7 because it smooth, consistent, stable, fantastic battery life, and extremely stylish, in comparison, it literally makes iOS and android look outdated by default imho.

Android has a huge advantage because of the hardware, but it also has the worst software and the most problems because of the consistency with the platform, imo a 50$ android phone functions way differently than a 200$ android phone. I think the only way to get a decent android phone is to buy top of the line, otherwise its going to be laggy. iPhone in general runs way better and has a much more consistent ui, but u only get 1 choice, and I think in 2011 that a 3.5" screen is too small and the lack of 4G, or at least 3.5 G hspa+ is absurd considering android devices have had 4g for over a year now.

the other reason why people are having a hard time liking wp7 is the fact that people don't like change in general. I sell computers for a living, I work at microcenter, and I can't tell you how annoyed I get by the amount of people that still ask to install windows xp on a brand new system, I mean, I think windows 7 is really better than xp in almost every way and I think from what I've seen with windows 8, it looks like a real winner. people don't realize that computers or phones, same difference nowadays really, are all about change and people don't want to have to learn better ways of doing things, a good example of this is do you still type a command line prompt into dos or the console to run a program? I'm sure there are few people who do, but the average joe doesn't and the point I'm trying to make is I think wp7 is way easier to use for the average person than android is.

 

[jdd77]

Clearly Microsoft and its partners have a huge uphill battle ahead of them..

Basically the BIGGEST mistake Microsoft made is releasing a device that you either LOVE or HATE (with no room in between) in the midst of a highly competitive smartphone market led by giants like Apple and Android. Its as if Microsoft is less concerned about competing, and more like they just wanted to release their version of a smartphone.

You say (hypethically speaking) microsoft could give gift cards for the same app that you have on iphone or android. But you dont get the same apps. You get different versions of, or poor-man's versions (example: facebook, twitter, tetris, words with friends, pandora, various messenger apps, etc.. Why is this?

Xbox as a major selling point: its great if you own an Xbox.. but the integration, games, and everything else associated doesnt mean a thing to people who dont own an Xbox.
Music player: Zune is awesome. But it lives in Microsoft land too. Does the majority of people have Zune? You need it to download music and certain apps, and for phone updates.

Microsoft Office is more widely used than the above mentioned, as its basically the standard for writing documents. So this being pre-installed is pretty cool, as no other Os has this. But its not enough to convert people because whos gonna want to edit and write documents on their phone? I use it primarily to save text message drafts in one-note.

Now to the biggest thing.. Customization. From basic phone settings to how things are displayed and used, this where you either love it or hate it, with no room in between.
The metro UI is Wp7. It is innovative, clean, and highly useful. But it loses its charm as its the ONLY home screen to put EVERYTHING on. Younger people coming from iphone or android are gonna want more customization. Older people that have all started out on basic flip phones are gonna want more customization. Unless you solely love everything about Microsoft, there is nothing aside from the metro ui that would draw these people from what they already have.

It is evident in an app I just downloaded called 1800 pocket pc. In the 'concepts' section of this app you will see the things that wp7 needs to be a complete smartphone.
Ideas for a separate google hub, where you have all your google apps and the option to set the search icon to automaticaly use google instead of bing. There's a 'File Explorer' concept. Ideas for tiles that have 4 sides to hold more information (cubes). And a notification center concept. These 'concepts' are generally what other OS's already have.

If Wp7 has these things in addition to the metro UI, you would definatly have a device people would be more willing convert to, instead of something you either love or hate.

 

[ItnStln]

All it would take is a top of the like Nokia to be launched on either of the carriers that I use.
My company phone on VZW is due for an upgrade in Feb or March. 4G wouldn't be a determining factor for my work phone.
For my personal phone on AT&T, I'd love to have a Nokia E7-like slider with 4G, either HSPA+ or LTE.

(My company phone is Android, and my personal phone is a BlackBerry. Prior to getting my BB, I had an iPhone4 and hated it.)

 

[Ridemyscooter86]

Basically the BIGGEST mistake Microsoft made is releasing a device that you either LOVE or HATE (with no room in between) in the midst of a highly competitive smartphone market led by giants like Apple and Android. Its as if Microsoft is less concerned about competing, and more like they just wanted to release their version of a smartphone.

You say (hypethically speaking) microsoft could give gift cards for the same app that you have on iphone or android. But you dont get the same apps. You get different versions of, or poor-man's versions (example: facebook, twitter, tetris, words with friends, pandora, various messenger apps, etc.. Why is this?

Xbox as a major selling point: its great if you own an Xbox.. but the integration, games, and everything else associated doesnt mean a thing to people who dont own an Xbox.
Music player: Zune is awesome. But it lives in Microsoft land too. Does the majority of people have Zune? You need it to download music and certain apps, and for phone updates.

Microsoft Office is more widely used than the above mentioned, as its basically the standard for writing documents. So this being pre-installed is pretty cool, as no other Os has this. But its not enough to convert people because whos gonna want to edit and write documents on their phone? I use it primarily to save text message drafts in one-note.

Now to the biggest thing.. Customization. From basic phone settings to how things are displayed and used, this where you either love it or hate it, with no room in between.
The metro UI is Wp7. It is innovative, clean, and highly useful. But it loses its charm as its the ONLY home screen to put EVERYTHING on. Younger people coming from iphone or android are gonna want more customization. Older people that have all started out on basic flip phones are gonna want more customization. Unless you solely love everything about Microsoft, there is nothing aside from the metro ui that would draw these people from what they already have.

It is evident in an app I just downloaded called 1800 pocket pc. In the 'concepts' section of this app you will see the things that wp7 needs to be a complete smartphone.
Ideas for a separate google hub, where you have all your google apps and the option to set the search icon to automaticaly use google instead of bing. There's a 'File Explorer' concept. Ideas for tiles that have 4 sides to hold more information (cubes). And a notification center concept. These 'concepts' are generally what other OS's already have.

If Wp7 has these things in addition to the metro UI, you would definatly have a device people would be more willing convert to, instead of something you either love or hate.

I actually have to disagree with a lot of the things you said here:

Microsoft didn't purposely make an OS that you are going to love or hate, people react that way to the os because its so different and they did this to make it competitive. For example, android users will hate me for saying this, but essentially I feel that android is a crappier version of ios. I feel that it did a couple of cool innovative things like linking with google product online, like calendar and such, notifications, etc. save for widgets, you cant say that android is very different from ios. If M$ made an os that was more or less similar to android and ios, than it would be just another os, there would be almost nothing to differentiate it from the other OSes, which imo, my favorite part of wp7 is that it is so different from the other OSes. that is also why i like WebOS back in the day because it too was also very different and innovative for its time, palm just couldn't make good hardware.

you are right in one aspect, one of the major weaknesses of wp7 is its an immature os, it just doesn't have the app catalog that android or iOS does, but I think the overall quality of the apps are far superior to android and some even beat their iOS counterparts. The main reason I say this is because one thing m$ did was that they forced apps to kind of use the hub layout, where you have a list of things or a grid that scrolls and you swipe to the right or left to get to different options, like in the apps hub, or people hub, or xbox, etc. But the great thing about this is that the apps conform to the OS and make the integration seem more unified, for example the wikipedia app has the search as the first section, swipe to the right and you get your recently searched items, and swipe to right again and you get options, similar to how all of the other parts of the phone is layed out. For the most part, android and iOS do not do this, so most apps have a big variation in their ui design, which makes some apps have a steeper learning curve because they are layed out very differently.

you also talk about how xbox only helps if you have an xbox and zune is also a microsoft product, but google and apple are no different. Of course they use their current products for leverage for selling their new products, especially look no further for apple for this. If you use itunes, which I don't, then its natural you are probably going to want an iphone which works with itunes and ipad which does so as well. also it works better with and imac or macbook pro and of course apple's icloud, another product they sell. Google does the same thing with gmail, calendar, docs, etc. So you can say that xbox integration doesn't help somebody that doesn't have an xbox, but apple's ipod program and icloud also have no use to me because I don't use other apple products either.

You are right that wp7 does have less customization but lets look at android, do you actually think that the customization android gives you actually helps make it easier to use? for example, isn't 7 homescreens on a phone way over kill? M$ only made the main start screen so you pin the things you use most to it and then you go to the app list and scroll through it for programs that are used less. It makes sense, its much easier and faster to get to what you want than having to shift through 7 homescreens and an app menu to find the program or widget you are looking for.

Also the only reason there isn't a google hub is because its a M$ product and google probably won't make an app for their search for a product that competes with theirs, like for the same reason that M$ won't make office for iOS or android, thats their leverage to get you to buy their platform. I don't like the fact with wp7 that your default search can't be google, but bing is decent and they want you to use bing to search because its another way to get you to use a m$ product because you are buying a m$ phone.

personally i would like to see a file browser, that would be nice, but i don't know what you are talking about with notifications, wp7 definitely pops up notifications on the screen or in tiles, thats the point of them. Also i think the 4 sides of a cube to hold more information isn't good either, your adding another level of complexity that just makes the phone harder to learn to use, which imo, is the greatest part of the os is its simplicity.

 

[jfa1]

I actually have to disagree with a lot of the things you said here:

Microsoft didn't purposely make an OS that you are going to love or hate, people react that way to the os because its so different and they did this to make it competitive. For example, android users will hate me for saying this, but essentially I feel that android is a crappier version of ios. I feel that it did a couple of cool innovative things like linking with google product online, like calendar and such, notifications, etc. save for widgets, you cant say that android is very different from ios. If M$ made an os that was more or less similar to android and ios, than it would be just another os, there would be almost nothing to differentiate it from the other OSes, which imo, my favorite part of wp7 is that it is so different from the other OSes. that is also why i like WebOS back in the day because it too was also very different and innovative for its time, palm just couldn't make good hardware.

you are right in one aspect, one of the major weaknesses of wp7 is its an immature os, it just doesn't have the app catalog that android or iOS does, but I think the overall quality of the apps are far superior to android and some even beat their iOS counterparts. The main reason I say this is because one thing m$ did was that they forced apps to kind of use the hub layout, where you have a list of things or a grid that scrolls and you swipe to the right or left to get to different options, like in the apps hub, or people hub, or xbox, etc. But the great thing about this is that the apps conform to the OS and make the integration seem more unified, for example the wikipedia app has the search as the first section, swipe to the right and you get your recently searched items, and swipe to right again and you get options, similar to how all of the other parts of the phone is layed out. For the most part, android and iOS do not do this, so most apps have a big variation in their ui design, which makes some apps have a steeper learning curve because they are layed out very differently.

you also talk about how xbox only helps if you have an xbox and zune is also a microsoft product, but google and apple are no different. Of course they use their current products for leverage for selling their new products, especially look no further for apple for this. If you use itunes, which I don't, then its natural you are probably going to want an iphone which works with itunes and ipad which does so as well. also it works better with and imac or macbook pro and of course apple's icloud, another product they sell. Google does the same thing with gmail, calendar, docs, etc. So you can say that xbox integration doesn't help somebody that doesn't have an xbox, but apple's ipod program and icloud also have no use to me because I don't use other apple products either.

You are right that wp7 does have less customization but lets look at android, do you actually think that the customization android gives you actually helps make it easier to use? for example, isn't 7 homescreens on a phone way over kill? M$ only made the main start screen so you pin the things you use most to it and then you go to the app list and scroll through it for programs that are used less. It makes sense, its much easier and faster to get to what you want than having to shift through 7 homescreens and an app menu to find the program or widget you are looking for.

Also the only reason there isn't a google hub is because its a M$ product and google probably won't make an app for their search for a product that competes with theirs, like for the same reason that M$ won't make office for iOS or android, thats their leverage to get you to buy their platform. I don't like the fact with wp7 that your default search can't be google, but bing is decent and they want you to use bing to search because its another way to get you to use a m$ product because you are buying a m$ phone.

Actually MS is rumored to be set to release office for ipad and they of course have being putting out ofice for mac os for a long time and continue to do so

personally i would like to see a file browser, that would be nice, but i don't know what you are talking about with notifications, wp7 definitely pops up notifications on the screen or in tiles, thats the point of them. Also i think the 4 sides of a cube to hold more information isn't good either, your adding another level of complexity that just makes the phone harder to learn to use, which imo, is the greatest part of the os is its simplicity.

Although I am not really sure about using a file browseer I can see there might be times when it would be useful and I dont think we need a four sided cube tile anymore than I want to see seven home pages. If I want those things I would have bought an android device a long time ago relatively speaking.

 

[InfectedPhreak]

I actually have to disagree with a lot of the things you said here:

Microsoft didn't purposely make an OS that you are going to love or hate, people react that way to the os because its so different and they did this to make it competitive. For example, android users will hate me for saying this, but essentially I feel that android is a crappier version of ios. I feel that it did a couple of cool innovative things like linking with google product online, like calendar and such, notifications, etc. save for widgets, you cant say that android is very different from ios. If M$ made an os that was more or less similar to android and ios, than it would be just another os, there would be almost nothing to differentiate it from the other OSes, which imo, my favorite part of wp7 is that it is so different from the other OSes. that is also why i like WebOS back in the day because it too was also very different and innovative for its time, palm just couldn't make good hardware.

you are right in one aspect, one of the major weaknesses of wp7 is its an immature os, it just doesn't have the app catalog that android or iOS does, but I think the overall quality of the apps are far superior to android and some even beat their iOS counterparts. The main reason I say this is because one thing m$ did was that they forced apps to kind of use the hub layout, where you have a list of things or a grid that scrolls and you swipe to the right or left to get to different options, like in the apps hub, or people hub, or xbox, etc. But the great thing about this is that the apps conform to the OS and make the integration seem more unified, for example the wikipedia app has the search as the first section, swipe to the right and you get your recently searched items, and swipe to right again and you get options, similar to how all of the other parts of the phone is layed out. For the most part, android and iOS do not do this, so most apps have a big variation in their ui design, which makes some apps have a steeper learning curve because they are layed out very differently.

you also talk about how xbox only helps if you have an xbox and zune is also a microsoft product, but google and apple are no different. Of course they use their current products for leverage for selling their new products, especially look no further for apple for this. If you use itunes, which I don't, then its natural you are probably going to want an iphone which works with itunes and ipad which does so as well. also it works better with and imac or macbook pro and of course apple's icloud, another product they sell. Google does the same thing with gmail, calendar, docs, etc. So you can say that xbox integration doesn't help somebody that doesn't have an xbox, but apple's ipod program and icloud also have no use to me because I don't use other apple products either.

You are right that wp7 does have less customization but lets look at android, do you actually think that the customization android gives you actually helps make it easier to use? for example, isn't 7 homescreens on a phone way over kill? M$ only made the main start screen so you pin the things you use most to it and then you go to the app list and scroll through it for programs that are used less. It makes sense, its much easier and faster to get to what you want than having to shift through 7 homescreens and an app menu to find the program or widget you are looking for.

Also the only reason there isn't a google hub is because its a M$ product and google probably won't make an app for their search for a product that competes with theirs, like for the same reason that M$ won't make office for iOS or android, thats their leverage to get you to buy their platform. I don't like the fact with wp7 that your default search can't be google, but bing is decent and they want you to use bing to search because its another way to get you to use a m$ product because you are buying a m$ phone.

personally i would like to see a file browser, that would be nice, but i don't know what you are talking about with notifications, wp7 definitely pops up notifications on the screen or in tiles, thats the point of them. Also i think the 4 sides of a cube to hold more information isn't good either, your adding another level of complexity that just makes the phone harder to learn to use, which imo, is the greatest part of the os is its simplicity.

Wow, this really blew me away. Definitely a great read, and worth reading.

iOS vs Android - According to Steve Jobs and company, people do feel that Google took what they knew of iOS and stole the ideology to make it into Android. So, I can agree with you that it is "the crappier iOS". Coming from an Android user, I don't hate you for saying it... I actually applaud you for doing what others can't.

Home screens - I do have to agree, 7 home screens is a lot to adjust to. Especially for me, that I never found anything worth filling up 7 home screens. So what I would do is just install a custom launcher and change the icon grid from 4x4 to 8x8 and just shove everything on one home screen, because it just worked out much easier handling 1 home screen instead of 7.

Ecosystem - iOS has an ecosystem of connectivity, working well with different things (iOS working with iDevices and etc). What I like about what M$ is doing is making an actual cross platform ecosystem, everything basically running the same UI design. Integrating the look and feel into every product. This helps minimize the learning curve, and puts everything in an easy perspective that I think people will really like.

Customization - I think there is a difference between look and feel, and customization. When you come from an Android you have the entire device at your fingertips. Custom launchers, wallpapers, ring tones, the entire works. This is aesthetics, and if you already have a beautiful UI you don't need any of it. My issue was with Android that I can't stand HTC Sense. I love my DInc, but I can't stand HTC Sense. So I root'd and ROM'd, using Cyanogen mod. Simply did this because I didn't like the look and feel of HTC Sense (to be honest I don't like any of them. TouchWiz/MotoBlur/HTC Sense/etc). If you take this into an account for WP7, I think due to the beautiful design (in my opinion of course) speaks for itself and doesn't need customization.

App catalog - As M$ and others always put it "It's not about the QUANTITY of apps but the QUALITY of apps". I would much rather see an app store filled with 50,000 GOOD apps that we actually need and use, then 500,000 apps that are mostly spam and bloat. Sorry, but I've seen a lot of the apps on the Apple Store and most of them are just down right stupid.

I think what people need to realize to change from iOS or Android to WP7, is the simple boredom of looking at the same design and popularity. Once you have a group of friends with one or two people tagging along with WP7's... everyone in that group is going to want one because most people are followers and not leaders. I have a friend that used to be a complete Sidekick fan and then started hanging out with the local BlackBerry crew and decided to pick one up for himself. Once he started hanging out with the iPhone crew he ditched the BB on the spot for the iPhone. I guarantee there are a lot of these people out there, they just need to be pushed in a more wide direction then following everyone else.

Once WP7 goes "Mainstream" more then likely next year or so, we will see WP7 take off like a speed of light. Right now the strongest thing is word of mouth, and pointing people in the right direction. We shall see.

 

[vtective]

I'm working on convincing my wife to switch. So far, the number one factor she is considering is the value of Zune downloads. Microsoft should advertise this feature more.

 

[kinslayer]

As a hardcore Android user it would take a lot for me to switch to Windows Phone.

They would need to to open up the OS a little more for me. Not enough to cause severe fragmentation. Bit enough to were I feel like I can call the device my own. Add ability for different keyboards, wallpapers, change transparency of the tiles, smaller ans bigger tiles, more interactive tiles, etc...

I don't really see Microsoft really changing what I need to leave Android anytime soon, so I don't really think about leaving often.

PS. They also need better hardware.

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

so....you want a smoother Android basically.

 

[nopre]

Not sure I really understand all the phone proselytizing...

Maybe if the platform were more popular we'd have more apps and such but to me it's cool having such a slick underdog phone. It'll never be as underdog as webos though

 

[ayopancheezy]

i can't say i was an Apple ******, but i enjoyed using both their iPod touch and iPhone and i owned both products up till the 3GS. i was tired of it always crashing and then having to re-flash the firmware over or going back to the recovery process.

i switched over to android for near a year or so and damn, i enjoyed that OS even more. it was so much easier on my eyes and nearly every app i loved on the iOS was in the Android Market or something of that equivalent was there also. I kept flashing custom roms and eventually i got bored of this OS also. I was always busy making my phone work for me rather enjoy using it.

i THEN flashed WP7 on my HD2 and i was sold. Everything was smooth, everything was easy on my eyes, and...everything was just smooth. All the apps were available on the stock rom that i've always wanted such as my social networks into 1 little application/tile and that what always pissed me off about android and iOS. The UI is minimal and amazing regardless. At the end of the day, i am GLAD to say that i made the switch to WP7.

 

[jdd77]

i can't say i was an Apple ******, but i enjoyed using both their iPod touch and iPhone and i owned both products up till the 3GS. i was tired of it always crashing and then having to re-flash the firmware over or going back to the recovery process.

i switched over to android for near a year or so and damn, i enjoyed that OS even more. it was so much easier on my eyes and nearly every app i loved on the iOS was in the Android Market or something of that equivalent was there also. I kept flashing custom roms and eventually i got bored of this OS also. I was always busy making my phone work for me rather enjoy using it.

i THEN flashed WP7 on my HD2 and i was sold. Everything was smooth, everything was easy on my eyes, and...everything was just smooth. All the apps were available on the stock rom that i've always wanted such as my social networks into 1 little application/tile and that what always pissed me off about android and iOS. The UI is minimal and amazing regardless. At the end of the day, i am GLAD to say that i made the switch to WP7.

....until you get bored.

 

[jdd77]

I actually have to disagree with a lot of the things you said here:

Microsoft didn't purposely make an OS that you are going to love or hate, people react that way to the os because its so different and they did this to make it competitive. For example, android users will hate me for saying this, but essentially I feel that android is a crappier version of ios. I feel that it did a couple of cool innovative things like linking with google product online, like calendar and such, notifications, etc. save for widgets, you cant say that android is very different from ios. If M$ made an os that was more or less similar to android and ios, than it would be just another os, there would be almost nothing to differentiate it from the other OSes, which imo, my favorite part of wp7 is that it is so different from the other OSes. that is also why i like WebOS back in the day because it too was also very different and innovative for its time, palm just couldn't make good hardware.

you are right in one aspect, one of the major weaknesses of wp7 is its an immature os, it just doesn't have the app catalog that android or iOS does, but I think the overall quality of the apps are far superior to android and some even beat their iOS counterparts. The main reason I say this is because one thing m$ did was that they forced apps to kind of use the hub layout, where you have a list of things or a grid that scrolls and you swipe to the right or left to get to different options, like in the apps hub, or people hub, or xbox, etc. But the great thing about this is that the apps conform to the OS and make the integration seem more unified, for example the wikipedia app has the search as the first section, swipe to the right and you get your recently searched items, and swipe to right again and you get options, similar to how all of the other parts of the phone is layed out. For the most part, android and iOS do not do this, so most apps have a big variation in their ui design, which makes some apps have a steeper learning curve because they are layed out very differently.

you also talk about how xbox only helps if you have an xbox and zune is also a microsoft product, but google and apple are no different. Of course they use their current products for leverage for selling their new products, especially look no further for apple for this. If you use itunes, which I don't, then its natural you are probably going to want an iphone which works with itunes and ipad which does so as well. also it works better with and imac or macbook pro and of course apple's icloud, another product they sell. Google does the same thing with gmail, calendar, docs, etc. So you can say that xbox integration doesn't help somebody that doesn't have an xbox, but apple's ipod program and icloud also have no use to me because I don't use other apple products either.

You are right that wp7 does have less customization but lets look at android, do you actually think that the customization android gives you actually helps make it easier to use? for example, isn't 7 homescreens on a phone way over kill? M$ only made the main start screen so you pin the things you use most to it and then you go to the app list and scroll through it for programs that are used less. It makes sense, its much easier and faster to get to what you want than having to shift through 7 homescreens and an app menu to find the program or widget you are looking for.

Also the only reason there isn't a google hub is because its a M$ product and google probably won't make an app for their search for a product that competes with theirs, like for the same reason that M$ won't make office for iOS or android, thats their leverage to get you to buy their platform. I don't like the fact with wp7 that your default search can't be google, but bing is decent and they want you to use bing to search because its another way to get you to use a m$ product because you are buying a m$ phone.

personally i would like to see a file browser, that would be nice, but i don't know what you are talking about with notifications, wp7 definitely pops up notifications on the screen or in tiles, thats the point of them. Also i think the 4 sides of a cube to hold more information isn't good either, your adding another level of complexity that just makes the phone harder to learn to use, which imo, is the greatest part of the os is its simplicity.

Of course Microsoft wasn't purposely trying to make a device you either love or hate. The point I was trying to make was the metro UI is already very different from apple, android, and basically everything else..so why strip away all other familiar aspects of a smartphone (or basic phone functions in general)?
That leaves people to really decide whether they 'love it or hate it' before making a switch for two years.

To be competitive, take what's there and turn it into something different and innovative (metro UI), while retaining universal functionality. Microsoft gets the first part right, but without the second part..its a novelty item. lol

 

[Ridemyscooter86]

Of course Microsoft wasn't purposely trying to make a device you either love or hate. The point I was trying to make was the metro UI is already very different from apple, android, and basically everything else..so why strip away all other familiar aspects of a smartphone (or basic phone functions in general)?
That leaves people to really decide whether they 'love it or hate it' before making a switch for two years.

To be competitive, take what's there and turn it into something different and innovative (metro UI), while retaining universal functionality. Microsoft gets the first part right, but without the second part..its a novelty item. lol

I get what you are saying except not retaining universal functionality? excluding the app catalog which is limited vs the other OSes, what functional things can't the core OS of WP7 do that iOS and android can do?

 

[Pronk]

I think the real test will be when Windows 8 launches, because then the Metro UI will be everywhere. I know some people on here complain they're bored of iOS because of its look. Well pretty soon this will be a risk for MS too: A Windows 8 PC, xbox and WP7-owning person will be looking at a LOT of Metro and Metro-styled apps.

I think some of the current restrictions on customization will have to be lifted or what's fresh and new now to someone coming over from iOS or Android will start to look stale very, very fast because it's what they see every day on multiple devices, perhaps even before they've ever picked up a WP7 phone. And hopefully Apollo will see devs get full access to the hardware too, because if anything is going to kill the format it's the fact that developers are hamstrung and can't squeeze everything out of the device. I've played Infinity Blade on an iPhone 3GS, and that's nearly 3 years old running on a 600MHz single-core processor. My Lumia has a 1.4 GHz processor and yet there's nothing games-wise that comes close on WP7 I can play on it. It's a crazy situation - why deliberately make growing the marketplace harder?

 

[iaj94z]

More marketing

I bought a WP7 phone in India. It works fine over there but then when I shifted to Qatar a few features on the phone were completely useless. The location services like local scout became a big time waste. I am a person who will have to shuttle between the middle east and India a lot,So unless WP has been completely rolled out in the middle east, I don't think any sensible person over here would consider WP. In Qatar and the UAE, iPhone and BB are so popular whereas Android does not reach up-to any level over here. I feel WP has a really good potential cos anything considerably expensive and new like the HTC Titan will completely get sold over here, even when things like installments don't actually exist. I just hope WP rolls out its complete features and Arabic language support here in the Middle East otherwise I will have to move away from WP. But I feel reluctant in doing this as it has a really cool UI when compares to Android's and iOS static pages. Also Voice-to-text features do not work over the mobile data connection and Facebook integration- People hub will not get updated over a mobile data connection.

 

[jdd77]

I get what you are saying except not retaining universal functionality? excluding the app catalog which is limited vs the other OSes, what functional things can't the core OS of WP7 do that iOS and android can do?

The app catalog isn't the issue at all. Like any other smartphone, you can go into a market and download apps. But being a smartphone, there should be alot more room to customize and organize the user interface. Also there are very limited settings for general phone use. Wp7 almost feels like a demo version.. You get to use the metro UI and you have a list of apps, but when you delve deeper into settings, you can't do much else.
I am not knocking this phone, just trying to state why people may not wanna convert to it.

 

[Winterfang]

2 things.

1-apps
2-hot phones.

 

[Major]

First, the hardware:
Apple makes essentially one device, and it's slick. Further, all your chargers, docks, etc are compatible with every version of the iPhone. Finally, there is a ton of variety for said accessories. Android counters with a bunch of different devices of varying specs, ranging from the crappy to the the high end. WP7, sadly, is stuck in the middle. It has a few middling devices, with not enough sales success to warrant accessory makers to go crazy with differentiating products, and too few models to bombard the masses with options.

Then, there's the UI:
One the one hand, iOS remains essentially unchanged from its initial iteration. It looks the same and it feels the same. It's intuitive enough, but the main draw is its ubiquity. On the other hand, its unbelievably stale. I can't believe how the UI is still the same gray-blueish color. I bet some day Apple will allow people to customize the color of the UI and people will go nuts saying its the greatest innovation. Android's UI, as everyone has pointed out, is iOS with widgets. Also, it's not well coded so it requires high end hardware to compensate. Nonetheless, you can customize the heck out of it, and people like options. WP7 is fresh, smooth, and intuitive, but it's radically different than the prevailing OSes, and offers little customization. Basically, WP7 is too scary for the masses and too simplistic for the tech geeks.

At least on the hardware and UI sides of this, WP7 is stuck in the middle. With a decidedly last place finish in app selection and dubious marketing thusfar, it all adds up to what we have now. It appears that with Nokia entering the fray and HTC and Samsung beginning to enjoy some sales success, the hardware issue will soon be resolved. The OS update schedule is beginning to look like that of Android's, and hopefully an increase in customization options will appeal to those looking for more familiar interfacing.

 

[jfa1]

Nokia seems to selling quite well in Europe for the most part and they are starting in India and other places as well and soon in the US The Nokia 800 and hopefully the 900 will be showcased at CES and if they can sell well leading up to Apollo and Windows 8 in June WP will get more traction and gather some needed momentum for the rest of 2012 and beyond. HTC may be shifting its focus more towards WP with their legal issues with the android patents. RIM appears to be stalling out which might be reversable or it might not.