My First Windows Phone (Impression)

[Gerowen]

I've been a long time Android user when it came to mobile devices.  I haven't kept up with the latest trends in every market, haven't actually had a smart phone for several years, and usually just got some tablet for the kids to watch YouTube or something on.  My wife and I have ran Linux (mostly Debian) on our PCs for a number of years until lately.  We both got new PCs because our old ones were both falling apart and falling way behind to the point that I was actually excited a year or so ago when I found out one of them could play Half Life 2,   When we got our new PCs, they came with Windows 10, and we decided to leave it on there instead of instantly nuking them with a Linux distribution and for the first time in a long time, I actually like using a Windows based operating system.  Without getting into the nitty gritty personal details about my objections to proprietary software and pay walls, I can say that personal objections I had before have been at least partly alleviated by the fact that Microsoft seems to be warming up to the idea of open source software; releasing several of its own products on OSX and Linux systems as well as open sourcing things like .NET.  I've gotten into moderate PC gaming for the first time in my life and have fallen in love with the performance I can get out of a $400 laptop.

 

So a couple weeks ago we went on a family shopping trip to Lexington, KY, about a hundred miles from here.  We went to Cabelas and wanted to find a place to eat.  For ages I just hadn't fooled with getting a smart phone.  We had a land-line and one pre-paid flip phone.  After leaving Cabelas I found myself in unfamiliar territory with no idea where the nearest restaurant was and after several years of not having a smart phone, I'd had enough.  We managed to get directions to the nearest Target and I picked up a Microsoft Lumia 640.  It came with Windows 8.1, cost me $40 for the phone and $50 a mont for unlimited everything through Cricket Wireless (data slows down after 5 GB, but doesn't stop).  For $40, I wasn't expecting much, but to be honest, I have been thoroughly impressed.  The last smart phone I had was a Samsung Galaxy S2 and this thing smokes it.  Sure there's a couple of useless apps I used to have on Android like "metal detector" and what not that aren't on the Windows store, but all the important stuff is there; my banking app, maps, Facebook/Messenger, Pandora, e-mail, weather, a decent camera.  The user interface is slick, responsive and easy to navigate.   This is the first mobile device I've ever owned that has ran something other than Android and I'm really enjoying it.  That's not to say that Android is bad, I really enjoy our old Android tablets as well, but what I'm saying is that my reservations about trying something different, particularly from Microsoft, have been alleviated, both on our PCs and on my mobile device.  The only thing about the device as a whole I am not a fan of is its texture.  The whole outer shell is really slick and until my protective case came in the mail I was really paranoid that I was going to drop it and bust it all to pieces.  Also, whoever prints the boxes for Cricket Wireless needs to step up their game.  The box said, "Ships with the latest version of Windows 10" right next to a picture of the Android logo, but the phone runs Windows 8, lol.  I went with Cricket because they are owned by AT&T and use their network now, so I get great service around here, and that was the only Windows phone in the whole store and I really wanted to try out a Windows phone.

 

Being my first serious foray into Microsoft territory in a long while, I've also been exploring the Windows store and found several apps and games that run on both my phone and my PCs, some of which even integrate with XBox Live and have given my achievements on there; something I haven't used in years since my XBox 360 died and got replaced with a PS3.  Microsoft may just be winning me back over, and I just wanted to post about my positive experience so far with their new products, :-)  That being said, they'll have to work awful hard to convince me to take Debian off our home server in favor of one of their products,

[TrickyDickie]

Glad to hear you like it!

I personally love the way Microsoft is going with Windows 10, and how it is working across devices with apps and notifications etc., despite all those nay-saying "Windows Phone is dead!" and "Microsoft spies on you!" fud articles.

BTW, I have a Lumia 950XL that replaced my 640XL.