Friends and family won over by Windows?

[MattMamba2012]

So let me start off with the story of my girlfriend. She has a Mac laptop and she was a user of google search and other google services. She's not very techy and didn't hold strong views toward Apple and Google but I don't think she was a big fan of Microsoft (other than office, she hates iworks). I showed her Bing but she wasn't having it. One day she told me she saw the commercials for Bing vs Google and decided to do the challenge. She told me Bing won but she still had no plans to ever use Bing.

I had an HD7s windows phone before but she didn't take too much notice of it. I then got my Lumia 920 and she started to take notice. I showed her the different color options and she thought it was cool. I ended up with one in black but also bought a yellow cover for it. I showed her all the cool tile color combos and how the live tiles work and how the phone just stands out and she really likes it.

I recently purchased a touch screen win8 laptop and she likes using that too. She especially like the touch features. She told me the other day she tried touch scrolling on her Mac but of course she couldn't.

After using my laptop and phone she has told me she's tired of the Mac and wants a Win8 laptop. She also wants a windows phone because she has become accustomed to using it on my Lumia. The other day she even asked me to change her browsers home website from google to Bing. I never though I would hear her want to use Bing. I thought it was incredible how she has changed her ideas toward Microsoft's products by using mine for a bit.


Sorry for the wall of text. Does anyone else have any stories about friends or family changing their attitude toward WP8/W8 after using it for a while?

 

[WanderingTraveler]

That's simple.

A classmate of mine owns a touchscreen Win8 laptop.
She accidentally brought it to school.

Next thing she knows, the entire class is huddling around the laptop, mesmerized by its awesomeness.

 

[MattMamba2012]

That's simple.

A classmate of mine owns a touchscreen Win8 laptop.
She accidentally brought it to school.

Next thing she knows, the entire class is huddling around the laptop, mesmerized by its awesomeness.

Awesome! Did that convince anyone to go with Windows rather than an Apple or Google device?

 

[freestaterocker]

I recently got my dad to dump his still-on-contract iPhone (either 4 or 4s, not sure, as they look identical and he didn't know either :/) for a Lumia 620... He's waiting for it to come to his retailer. (they were out of stock) They tried to sell him another iPhone instead, but he wasn't having it. I sold him on WP8 with my Ativ S, but he didn't want another contract. The low price point on the 620 sealed the deal. He is a big music lover like me and can't wait to start his Xbox Music Pass!

 

[raccoon210]

I have a lumia 900 with 7.8. I constantly am getting asked about my phone and 2 of my friends and both of my brothers fell in love with the tiles and design of the lumia phones that the 2 friends got the 920. My brother is planning on getting a 920, and my other brother is still thinking

 

[dylk]

I have had a wp7 for years, and upgraded to windows 8 straight away. My household instantly went from 1 wp7 and 1 win 8 machine to 4 wp8 phones and 5 computers runnings windows 8 .

I did my part haha

 

[Pawl.]

Me. On my own, and I currently live in a strong iEcosystem, and still hasn't skipped a beat for a couple of years.

However, as a geek that I always was - I love experimenting with new stuff, and a couple of years ago Microsoft had - in anyway - a nick on Apple's iOS and OS X (I repeat) in anyway. Windows Phone 7 (mainly Metro) spiked my interest.

Last month I built my own gaming PC after a couple of years, as my MacBook needed a break from constant high load gaming (bootcamp, and otherwise). I was still skeptical with Win8, so I stuck to my Win7 licence. It worked great.

I repeat again, as a geek that I am - I got bored. I installed Windows 8 - and man, I was blown away. Bootimes are incredible, Windows 8 feels clean - and once you get used to the Start menu, the charms bar and "app stitching", it's like the desktop has come to life. Apart from that, SkyDrive and Xbox Music. The last two features Apple has had to keep me on the iCamp for some time.

I still love OS X, but I feel like I want to try something new, fresh - yet without missing any functionality (my main functionality for a phone/tablet/desktop ecosystem are mainly Photostream and iTunes Match). Microsoft is offering both, which is brilliant.

So now, here I am, still loving my iPhone 5, iPad Mini and MacBook Pro (which I still use for my audio production hobby, live playing).. but am intrigued in grabbing an HTC 8X and start building that ecosystem with my desktop - see how it goes. My only gripe is that in my eyes, Apple still offers a "luxury" kind of hardware (industrial design wise).. but I'm hoping that an HTC One Windows flavour will be here shortly. The only reason I'm still holding my iPhone and iPad for a WP and Surface is WWDC, and I'm hoping that Intel's Haswell will result in a better Surface Pro (I don't like the chunky fat Surface Pro, and measly battery life ).

Oh and development. I can easily get up to scratch with C# - and Microsoft has done a great job with their documentations for devs, so I shall be grabbing Visual Studio this week and get my hands dirty.

Question: Any iGuys switching over to Windows 8 Ecosystem and care to share their thoughts?

 

[dakranii]

I got both my sisters using windows phones. One had her brand new iPhone stolen, so she either had to pay hundreds for a new one (she doesn't have the money for that) or $100-$150 for a Trophy. When/if I upgrade to the 928 I'll give her my 822. The other went from a dumb phone to the 822 on my recommendation.

As for win 8, the 822 using sister upgraded to win 8 on my suggestion.

Even bigger, hopefully, is that I think I have the IT folks in my office convincer to upgrade everyone to Surface Pros when our current laptop leases are up this fall. That'll be a hundred or so users.

 

[spaulagain]

I have my 2 brothers, my step mom, my Dad, my Mom, and used to have my sister on WP. My sister swapped her Lumia 900 for an used iPhone 4 because everyone has an iPhone and instagram! She's 15 though, so being cool means doing what everyone else is doing.

My Dad is a .NET developer though so I don't know if I can claim that side of the family as he did most of the pushing WP.

My girlfriend is dieing to get rid of her Droid for a Lumia 822 when her contract renews.

I push it as much as possible, but sometimes its hard because you have to warn people of the app gap.

 

[MattMamba2012]

I have had a wp7 for years, and upgraded to windows 8 straight away. My household instantly went from 1 wp7 and 1 win 8 machine to 4 wp8 phones and 5 computers runnings windows 8 .

I did my part haha

haha you sure did. I'm trying as well. I've got my girlfriend so far. Its funny, a while back my moms flip phone died so I told her that I would help her look for a phone but she told me its okay her friend had a phone she was going to give to my mom. I thought, darn, i could have recommended windows phone. As it turns out, her friend gave her a Samsung Focus. She loves the UI and when i tell her she should upgrade to Windows Phone 8, she says she doesn't want to change her phone because she likes the way this one works. She's not techy at all but i try to explain its very similar lol. Anyway, I don't think she will be moving away from Windows Phone anytime soon.

I'm still trying with on of my cousins and an aunt but its gonna be an uphill battle

 

[MattMamba2012]

I push it as much as possible, but sometimes its hard because you have to warn people of the app gap.

Yeah, it kinda sucks that we need to have a caveat when explaining Windows Phone's awesomeness to people, but that's where we are right now. I always make sure to explain the app situation to them because I don't want anyone to be let down or mislead. But I also try to show them that its not a barren wasteland as its portrayed in some areas. I tell them I get along just fine and I absolutely love using my phone. I show them all the cool apps I have and how my start screen has all my favorite/useful tiles pinned for easy access and they usually are impressed.

 

[clbarker10]

I converted my brother and my cousin...thats pretty much it for now. Next on the list is my close friend, my mom and then my dad. My sister won't leave her world of apple and her husband is kinda stuck with apple too, what a shame. There's plenty more to convert but they will take some time. Yes I am part German and no I am not growing a mustache!

 

[horseybob]

I got an 822 the first week out and went to a business mtg out of country 2 days later. Whole team with droid and iOS was fascinated, esp. when I could get things done faster. Specific apps were a hang up for a few. Several have switched, about 1/2 are waiting for contract timing. Upon return, my daughter decided she didn't wanna iPhone; she wanted a Windows Phone. Which I got her.

 

[MattMamba2012]

I got an 822 the first week out and went to a business mtg out of country 2 days later. Whole team with droid and iOS was fascinated, esp. when I could get things done faster. Specific apps were a hang up for a few. Several have switched, about 1/2 are waiting for contract timing. Upon return, my daughter decided she didn't wanna iPhone; she wanted a Windows Phone. Which I got her.

nice! 822 as well? Or 8x?

 

[Gaichuke]

A female friend said this to me during a car trip when I put our destination in Nokia Drive and started the navigation:


(I was riding shotgun and she was sitting in the back seat and saw my Lumia 820 screen all the time.)

Friend: "Huh, I've never seen a phone working that fluidly before."

​

(I had the destination in my recent list so I could set up the navigation pretty fast.)

Me: "Yeah, Windows Phone is pretty slick to use."


​

We did not discuss the topic any further but it was kind of a nice remark from a someone not so involved in the smartphone world, especially since I know that her boyfriend has a Note 2 and I've seen her using that occasionally.

 

[crav4speed]

Converted my wife from an iPhone 4 to a Lumia 820 last week for her birthday. She was hesitant at first because of how easy she thought using iOS is. I told her to try it out for a week and if she didn't like it, I would exchange it for an iPhone 5. She changed her tile color to pink and she's in love with it... I asker her how she liked it and her actual quote was "I love my new phone. The iPhone's interface is ugly!" Yes, she is very non-techy :smile:

 

[independentvolume]

I got my whole family on WP8, then bought a Z10 for myself. lol. They give me weird looks now. They do love their phones though.

 

[WinFan1]

i have converted alot of people to windows 8 computers. my aunt my churches computers, my mom, myself.
windows phones i converted about 6-7 people but most of them reverted. my brother may return as he mentioned to me "what good is it to have all the apps when i dont have music?" "i only spend 1 minute in an app but spend hours listening to music, i think i wanna switch back."

 

[marciocattini]

I bought my Focus S when I was on a business trip in the US last year (hoping it would upgrade to wp8). When I came back my brother had lost his phone and got himself a 710.

He is still rocking his 710 on 7.8 but I have been trying to push him towards the 820 =) I think he wants the 720 though so he's waiting on it, the lack of RAM puts me off though most really fun games require 1GB!!!

I now rock on a 820 myself and loving it!