Which is the most Elegant / Ugliest Mobile OS?

[+Majesticmerc MVC]

Hmmm.... What "core smartphone functions" does Blackberry OS have on "desktop" that WP7 doesn't?

Looks like Symbian Anna to me. Is there any difference?

Probably none, but I prefer the appearance of BBOS vs WP7.

[Jen Smith]

I was a bit skeptical about WP7's interface at first by just looking at the random screenshots, but after seeing it in action it's got me sold, really liking it a lot. Not only like how it looks but it just seems very "fluid" and natural. I suspect I'll probably be picking one up sometime in the near future.

I couldn't say any of them are actually ugly though. I used to own a BlackBerry for a while.. nowhere near as fancy, but certainly not ugly. iOS looks nice too, just too dated for my tastes though. Somebody mentioned a Palm somewhere, and that comes to mind when I see iOS now.

[FMH]

Hmmm.... What "core smartphone functions" does Blackberry OS have on "desktop" that WP7 doesn't?

Looks like Symbian Anna to me. Is there any difference?

Meego and Symbian are two completely different OS. Symbian wasn't designed to be a smartphone OS, but Nokia pushed it anyway. And then simultaneously started development on Meego with Intel, and other big fishes, which would be a "symbian" designed for smartphones, ground-up.

Meego would only be for high-end, smart devices, and they have very different user interface.

But since both of them are open-source, they can be wildly different from even amongst their own kinds.

[Zain Adeel]

exactly!.. i almost forgot that

the symbian seen in many Nokia handsets is called Symbian Series 60 OS..

and then Series 60 has editions.. like 1st 2nd 3rd ..latest is 5th i guess which supports touchscreen.

And Anna is like a very modified Symbian Series 60... so its not like a 6th edition but a modified 5th.

Meego is again different.

And what we see here on N9 is just for N9 for now. Which works really well btw. Very neat and fast OS. Loads better than Symbian Anna.

here is how the Series 60 Symbian looks

And this is how Symbian Anna looks

[Muhammad Farrukh]

exactly!.. i almost forgot that

the symbian seen in many Nokia handsets is called Symbian Series 60 OS..

and then Series 60 has editions.. like 1st 2nd 3rd ..latest is 5th i guess which supports touchscreen.

And Anna is like a very modified Symbian Series 60... so its not like a 6th edition but a modified 5th.

Meego is again different.

And what we see here on N9 is just for N9 for now. Which works really well btw. Very neat and fast OS. Loads better than Symbian Anna.

here is how the Series 60 Symbian looks

And this is how Symbian Anna looks

Lets make it 'Belle' shall we?

[Gigi Buffon]

Most Elegant: WP7

Most Ugly: Symbian

[remixedcat]

exactly!.. i almost forgot that

the symbian seen in many Nokia handsets is called Symbian Series 60 OS..

and then Series 60 has editions.. like 1st 2nd 3rd ..latest is 5th i guess which supports touchscreen.

And Anna is like a very modified Symbian Series 60... so its not like a 6th edition but a modified 5th.

Meego is again different.

And what we see here on N9 is just for N9 for now. Which works really well btw. Very neat and fast OS. Loads better than Symbian Anna.

here is how the Series 60 Symbian looks

And this is how Symbian Anna looks

ewww I hate the font on that. I would prefer Candara or augie or segoe script.

[Muhammad Farrukh]

There is a significant differrence between Belle and Anna:

Belle

Anna

[BK201]

Most elegant OS: WP7.

Ugliest OS: iOS.

Android is like somewhere in between because of the ability to customize. There are plenty of nice gadgets around as well.

[FMH]

Most Elegant: WP7

Most Ugly: Symbian

That seems to be the general trend.

[Scorpus Veteran]

Despite being an Android user (mostly), WP7 is the most elegant and best looking out of the mobile OSes. It just doesn't have what I'm looking for in other departments.

The worst is Blackberry OS. I just don't like it. However, iOS is pushing for a close second as it's really looking dated these days against WP7 and (some parts/themes/ROMs of) Android.

[Digitalx]

Androids nicest, worst, I chose blackberry based on ss but it's equal garbage looking as symbian.

[Gaffney]

Most elegant: WP7

Ugliest: Symbian

WP7 the screenshot doesn't really show it off, the whole system is the product. iOS has a nice face but once you get into the phone, messaging and apps it really goes behind. iOS is dated, meego and Android are nicer. iOS might have been the best 3-4 years ago but everyone else has overtaken them except from Symbian and blackberry.

[Muhammad Farrukh]

Androids nicest, worst, I chose blackberry based on ss but it's equal garbage looking as symbian.

Symbian was garbage until the 'Belle' update.

It kinda looks nice now, but of course not close to WP7 or iOS or Android

[Eric Veteran]

Edited poll to separate Symbian/Meego... I left the votes in the Symbian column.

[FMH]

Edited poll to separate Symbian/Meego... I left the votes in the Symbian column.

Thanks.

[Eric Veteran]

Thanks.

(Y) Anyone that voted for MeeGo for most elegant/ugliest should be able to delete their vote and recast it.

(There was only one Symbian/MeeGo elegant and around 27 for ugliest.) :)

[JustAnotherTechie]

Windows Phone wins for me but webOS a close second - love my TouchPad, the UI works well on the device etc etc. Thumbs down to Android, which as far as I can tell has very little compelling UI unless it's built by the hardware manufacturer.

[matt4pack]

Webos for me as I have a touchpad and love it over my iPhone. It makes the iPhone/iPad user interface look archaic. They just need to add scroll bars and widgets and it would be perfect.

How anyone could think Windows Phone is elegant with all it's cut off menu's is beyond me.

[Chasethebase Veteran]

I'd say they're all close when it comes to UI and usability. I only chose iOS since that's what I use and have no experience with the others, even though they LOOK great. webOS is a close second since the UI for that is just as good.

The worst is clear though, and that happens to be Symbian in most cases.

[Digitalx]

Symbian was garbage until the 'Belle' update.

It kinda looks nice now, but of course not close to WP7 or iOS or Android

Changing icons doesn't really help how dreadful it's laid out, works and still uses bland matte gradients and pastel colours everywhere and that vile font they've always used. Admittedly it's a hand up over 'hey guys transparency is the new thing, lets release whole OS based around it' blackberry tactic that just looks like a constantly badly made photoshop design.

[htcz]

Note:

Elegant != Innovative

WP7 is the most innovative, not elegant. I think that is were most are getting confused :)

Android is the most elegant but it is NOT the most innovative.

[~Johnny]

Note:

Elegant != Innovative

WP7 is the most innovative, not elegant. I think that is were most are getting confused :)

Android is the most elegant but it is NOT the most innovative.

Elegance is the attribute of being unusually effective and simple. It is frequently used as a standard of tastefulness, particularly in the areas of visual design

Frankly that describes Windows Phone 7 to a tee.

How anyone could think Windows Phone is elegant with all it's cut off menu's is beyond me.

You know, there are barely any cut off menu's in Windows Phone 7. At most in screenshots panorama header text looks cut off... of course it's not really cut off seeing as you can quite easily see all of it swipping along.

[primexx]

I, too, consider WP7 the most elegant. Chose BlackBerry for the worst because Symbian is pretty irrelevant these days.

[htcz]

Elegance is the attribute of being unusually effective and simple. It is frequently used as a standard of tastefulness, particularly in the areas of visual design

Frankly that describes Windows Phone 7 to a tee.

Elegance is the attribute of being unusually effective and simple. It is frequently used as a standard of tastefulness, particularly in the areas of visual design.

Taste as an aesthetic, sociological, economic and anthropological concept refers to a cultural patterns of choice and preference.

Dont just quote what you like :)

You know, there are barely any cut off menu's in Windows Phone 7. At most in screenshots panorama header text looks cut off... of course it's not really cut off seeing as you can quite easily see all of it swipping along.

Innovative.

Elegant? ...