Windows Phone 7: Why It's a Disaster for Microsoft

[wellofsouls]

I still think WP7's biggest mistake is those "minimalist" default icons. Yes they are better animated and have more features, but the common people will just look at the home screen and then say it's "fugly" compared to iOS/Android icons. Most consumers are not tech geeks, they don't care how well they are animated or how much better developer APIs are exposed through them, they'll just look at it and say "oh look this one is shiny and cute, the other looks bland, I'll get the shiny one". I think WP7 will look much better to the common people (instead of just geeks like reviewers from tech sites and developers) if they have made the default icons more shiny. After all, the tech-savvy people can tune the UI in whatever way they want, well the common consumers will most likely just stay with the default and likes eye-catching shiny stuffs.

Reminds me of some years ago when we were designing a website homepage, I designed the navigation bar with drop-down menus and animated by javascript, while the other guy just put some big buttons, each with just two big pretty shiny pics switched with a :hover selector. Technically speaking, my design had far better functionality, smoother animation effects, and better usability in navigating the site, but all the customers liked the latter one more. That's when I learned that to please the customer, some big shiny pics is much more important than functionality and usability :shiftyninja:

[HawkMan]

Source?

whaaaat ?

[sudo]

All I heard: "Blah blah blah opinion about WP7 blah blah blah I own an iPhone and it's better blah blah it'll do better of course."

I suggest those who are complaining actually try using a device in their hand and see for themselves why people like it, otherwise just keep your opinions to yourself.

People actually have used those devices, played with them, and were disappointed. Now they're are expressing their opinions. Telling people to keep their opinions to themselves just because you don't like them? mmmok.

whaaaat ?

He meant this, if there's an official release roadmap:

Multitasking Coming

Copy and Paste Coming

Direct access to Microphone and Camera for developers (lack of augmented reality apps) Already added

Socket support Coming

HTML5 Coming, but who gives a damn

No phones with a front facing camera Coming

[jakem1]

People actually have used those devices, played with them, and were disappointed.

Source?

[George P Global Moderator]

We know Copy and Paste is coming, but I doubt they'd just roll out a update to add one thing. What other stuff they add is up to debate at this point but there's been talk of tethering (the bits are in there but there's no user level access atm, so it shouldn't be hard to see that coming as well). I also think it's logical and makes sense to expect them to open up access to more APIs and so 3rd party devs can extened the hubs (which was said over and over since way back in Feb as an option for devs).

Some like to think nothing is going to come until MS offically posts some press release saying it's coming, so whatever.

[XIII]

I would hardly call this article subjective. This article simply gives a different perspective that buyers need to consider before purchasing a phone with WP7 on it, especially business users. If all you can say is "WP7 rocks, WP7 is good. The writer must be anti-MS," you don't really add anything to the discussion beside blindly fortifying your buying decisions... Not many people have the chance to try out the phones before buying them. Most of the stores in my area, they use a display model that look exactly like the real one with a sticker on it showing what it would look like so we need to look somewhere else for an objective review before buying the actual thing.

[Argi]

Most of the stores in my area, they use a display model that look exactly like the real one with a sticker on it showing what it would look like so we need to look somewhere else for an objective review before buying the actual thing.

That's a bit dodgy. I've got an iPhone 3GS but a couple months ago I had the chance to play with a number of prototype handsets and the OS is a joy to use - pictures of metro really don't do it justice until you have it in your hand.

[XIII]

Yeah, that's exactly my point. I went to Frys and Best Buy but all they have are display models....

[D.J.P]

Count me in as a disliker of WP7. (Yes to other people here - there do exist people that hate the look of WP7)

Yes I have seen/used it in person. My local Telstra store has one on display (yes - functional).

The UI is personally the most horrid thing I ever saw (and I'm not the only one around me that agrees).

The copy of Apple's model of operation (lockdown lockdown lockdown) seals WP7's fate for me.

[George P Global Moderator]

Count me in as a disliker of WP7. (Yes to other people here - there do exist people that hate the look of WP7)

Yes I have seen/used it in person. My local Telstra store has one on display (yes - functional).

The UI is personally the most horrid thing I ever saw (and I'm not the only one around me that agrees).

The copy of Apple's model of operation (lockdown lockdown lockdown) seals WP7's fate for me.

UI aside, to each their own, I don't think it's as locked down as some people think it is. Having to connect through the marketplace to get apps and not being able to slap on some custom UI like Sense is really the only things they share with the iPhone.

As far as business goes I remember hearing that MS will have a option for them to personally manage and deploy apps on their own so sideloading for them can work then. If you want to call it locked down because you can't write native code to it (though select partners can right now) then ok, but many apps can be made with managed code just fine it seems. And there are advantages to useing SL/XNA to code going forward.

[jakem1]

Most of the stores in my area, they use a display model that look exactly like the real one with a sticker on it showing what it would look like so we need to look somewhere else for an objective review before buying the actual thing.

Yes, that's a big problem IMO. I was out yesterday and popped into a few shops to look at phones but they all they ever have are display models. In addition not allowing you to get a good idea of the OS you can't really judge weight either which makes choosing large smartphones even more difficult.

I was looking at the Samsung Omnia 7. The hardware is gorgeous and felt really good in the hand and I would really like to play around with a real one.

My personal opinion is that WP7 blows the competition away. It might have some shortcomings at the moment but the UI and the use of hubs as opposed to apps more than makes up for those. Besides, all operating systems have their shortcomings and I don't think the short term lack of copy and paste is worse than Android's fragmentation and craptacular UI or the iPhone's tired app-centric, icon driven UI or its second-rate hardware.

The only thing that is currently preventing me from buying a new phone is the available hardware and the lack of memory in particular. The Omnia 7 is 99% there but I can't bring myself to buy one with only 8GB of on-board memory. Once the 16GB+ models become more widely available I will probably buy one and by that time Microsoft will have released their first update and addressed most people's concerns. HTC have dropped the ball this time around and I'm getting tired of seeing them use the same designs in all their phones. If they want my money they need to do something different for WP7 rather than just reusing the same designs that they've been recycling for their Android phones.

[D.J.P]

UI aside, to each their own, I don't think it's as locked down as some people think it is. Having to connect through the marketplace to get apps and not being able to slap on some custom UI like Sense is really the only things they share with the iPhone.

As far as business goes I remember hearing that MS will have a option for them to personally manage and deploy apps on their own so sideloading for them can work then. If you want to call it locked down because you can't write native code to it (though select partners can right now) then ok, but many apps can be made with managed code just fine it seems. And there are advantages to useing SL/XNA to code going forward.

Yes, I consider it lockdown since I can't do things I can do on my HD2 with Windows Mobile 6.5 such as high-level of customization and running native code.

Just wish more developers would write for this platform as-well, tired of going to a site and seeing - 'have an iPhone app' or 'have an WP7 app) - there are other Mobile O/Ses.

Part of the reason I'm keeping 6.5 so I can write my own programs without learning yet another programming language.

Will continue to run 6.5 until my HD2 dies and then I'll see what I move to, but I can guarantee it won't be WP7.

To quote myself on another topic:

No plans to upgrade to anything else. Would rather shoot myself then have an iPhone (locked-down plus new language to learn to make apps), Same for Android, and WP7, the same plus a horrible interface on top of it.

[TruckWEB]

Maybe it was "okay" back in 2007 to release a phone with no multitasking or missing some bare bone feature like Cut/Paste. Back in 2007 when the iPhone was released, it offered many things that no other smartphone had. So it sold like hotcake.

Forward today, in 2010, with iOS 4.x doing multitasking, Cut/Paste, .... And with Android offering all those features too. HOW can Microsoft expect customer to just be happy with WP7 with missing features like that? If WP7 came out at the same time as the first iPhone or first Android, it could be excused of those missing bits.

But again, we are in 2010 and Microsoft expect us to be happy with something fresh (new UI) with basic stuff missing.

Apple and Google are not standing still, by the time Microsoft ship some update to fix those things, iOS and Android will still be better. MS is playing catchup but I'm afraid it could be too late.

[spudtrooper]

The UI is personally the most horrid thing I ever saw (and I'm not the only one around me that agrees).

The copy of Apple's model of operation (lockdown lockdown lockdown) seals WP7's fate for me.

If you think Android is a pretty UI then "lol".. iOS just works and WP7 is amazing.

BTW, what do you mean lockdown lockdown lockdown? You can buy a developers license and unlock your phone legally cheaper than what it costs to buy a developer android device or iOS device and you can sideload away without having to jailbreak your phone. Hardly "lockdown"

[George P Global Moderator]

Apple and Google are not standing still, by the time Microsoft ship some update to fix those things, iOS and Android will still be better. MS is playing catchup but I'm afraid it could be too late.

This doesn't really mean anything, it's easier for MS coming from behind to catch up and match the others who are ahead and have to come up with something new and innovative from scratch. It doesn't take much time to take what someone else has already done and use it as well, the idea is there and the implementation is more or less there as well, it's not like it'll take MS 3 years to get WP7 to the point where it's mature like it took Apple to do with the iPhone since they started first.

Call it copying or w/e, but this is just a fact, innovating takes time and is way harder to do than just doing something that's already been done by everyone else. I doubt it'll take MS long at all to add new things or missing things, the way some of you make it sound it's like it'll take them years to do. For all we know 6 months from now we could be looking at WP7.5 or something with lots if not all of the missing bits back in. Only time will tell in the end. That whole too little too late bit also doesn't fit into this type of market, people change phones all the time, they're not like PCs, TVs or cars that you buy and keep for 5-10 years, people go through them like hotcakes, a market that's always in flux has no neding, no finish line, thus you're never "late" to get new buyers when the next cycle hits.

[jakem1]

Maybe it was "okay" back in 2007 to release a phone with no multitasking or missing some bare bone feature like Cut/Paste. Back in 2007 when the iPhone was released, it offered many things that no other smartphone had. So it sold like hotcake.

Forward today, in 2010, with iOS 4.x doing multitasking, Cut/Paste, .... And with Android offering all those features too. HOW can Microsoft expect customer to just be happy with WP7 with missing features like that? If WP7 came out at the same time as the first iPhone or first Android, it could be excused of those missing bits.

But again, we are in 2010 and Microsoft expect us to be happy with something fresh (new UI) with basic stuff missing.

Apple and Google are not standing still, by the time Microsoft ship some update to fix those things, iOS and Android will still be better. MS is playing catchup but I'm afraid it could be too late.

It wasn't "okay" to release a phone without multitasking or copy & paste in 2007 yet the iPhone sold despite that. Whether you like it or not, the iPhone's success was largely based on successful advertising and mindshare but there's no denying that Apple were pilloried for years for the lack of these basic features. The iPhone still doesn't really multitask (and WP7's multitasking is not that different) but clearly most people don't really care all that much.

The big difference between Apple and Microsoft is that the latter aren't going to make users wait years for these features and they've already demonstrated a commitment to listen to users. Copy and paste will be with us within months (or weeks as some reports claim) but WP7 already contains features that make the lack of c&p or full multitasking more palatable. For instance, smart linking reduces the need for c&p in many cases and hubs provide simple multitasking capabilities. That may not be enough for you and others but at least you know that a more capable solution is on the horizon.

Apple and Google may not be standing still but that doesn't mean that the changes they are making are compelling. iPhone OS appears to be stagnating and the inclusion of new features like folders to fix the broken icon UI is a sad joke. Meanwhile, Google have massive fragmentation issues to get around before they can even begin working on basic features like a usable UI. Should we count them out in the same way that you're counting Microsoft out? Of course not. People will accept these deficiencies or some useful features may be added but both platforms will continue to attract customers for a while to come. WP7 will be the same.

The important thing is that

[Woelfel]

What I find funny in all these features that people are talking about is that Microsoft stated from MIX that all these features were'nt going to be there at launch. So alot of people are acting like this is NEW news. I find it laughable. To each his own on the UI but I can tell you right now that every person I showed the phone to (girls included) loved it, prolly around 20 something people (that are in their 20s). Of course you can take that as a grain of salt since it's such a small number but still. Microsoft knows what everyone wants, 2012 is the year that everyone should be looking at cuz that's the year where it really shows what's going to happen going forward. MS will prolly have all of the major "kinks" rolled out and try to implement new features. Iphone 5 will be out and Android will be baking something new.

2012 - The True Smartphone Wars begin! (i'm exluding RIM,HP Palm cuz I don't feel they will be big enough but it's my opinion)

[ZekeComa]

I personally find the WP7 awful. Yes the looks, the lock out of really doing anything, from everything I've read no multitasking, no customising really. My phone the N900. I can easily do whatever I want with it. I can customise it out, overclock it(just saying), don't have to worry about if they'd allow my app to run or not, I can install pretty much anything I want on it, I can ssh from my phone to my server at home. I can run any programming language on it (I dunno about Java), I have multitasking, aim, msn, yahoo, irc clients. I doubt WP7 can do a lot of that. Most people just buy the WP7 just because it's made by Microsoft. Personally, I don't know how anyone could like that phone (personal bias aside).

[jason13524]

At least everything about Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft's invention and no Linux underpinnings and this in my opinion is a good thing as well as .Net and silverlight development meaning its probably the easiest phone to develop for add in Xbox, Office and Windows live integration and you have the start of a fine phone.

Remember this is just the start, it will improve, I guess thats what everyone knows and is worried about... it will get better and possibly sell more than the Iphone and Android. Microsoft in in for the long term just like they were with the Xbox for example. They have the cash to make this phone great.

[D.J.P]

If you think Android is a pretty UI then "lol".. iOS just works and WP7 is amazing.

BTW, what do you mean lockdown lockdown lockdown? You can buy a developers license and unlock your phone legally cheaper than what it costs to buy a developer android device or iOS device and you can sideload away without having to jailbreak your phone. Hardly "lockdown"

I like a UI that looks decent, and yes, I see Andriod's UI as decent unlike WP7.

Really spend more money on top of the cost of a device? I really hope you are kidding. Smart Phones are expensive enough as it is. Here in Aus, looking around $700-$1200 (different prices I've seen - unless you want to go on a plan)

[HawkMan]

Android is an inconsistent mess, and I say that as a user of the OS who also thinks it's a great mobile OS.

but it's disconnected. It's so modular everything feels disconnected, it doesn't feel like a phone, it feels like a PDA that has a phone module you can start, and an SMS module you can start... you can hate WM6.5 as much as you want, but at least the phone parts where a lot more integrated into the OS and it acted like a proper phone OS. Then there's all the other nags, bad programs causing crashes, the fact that all programs fill up the entire root of your memory card with their own folders instead of having an app folder on the memory card where all the app can put their stuff (you know like /AppData on windows, you'd think they would have learnt this by now). The terrible multi tasking, where apps will close by themselves with no control by you what apps are running or closed.

WP7's "multitasking" is a lot better than that, at least you know the other apps are "paused" when not on the screen then, which makes a lot more sens then killing your browser at random times because it's not active. I don't get the problem with WP7's multitasking anyway. background apps get "paused" but all live tiles apps can still run, so you don't have iPhones problem with music apps and such. what more do you really need ?

[WelshBluebird]

Most people just buy the WP7 just because it's made by Microsoft.

If anything, its the other way around IMO. Microsoft have generally had a bad rep in the mobile space. Many people (including myself) have been left very disapointed by previous attempts MS has made with a mobile OS.

[Osiris]

this guy sounds like a jaded Winmo user to be honest. Largely sensationalist piece probably not worthy of 121 posts nor me adding to it, but I didnt start the fire. Anyhow the whole thing is based on subjective failures followed by incorrect analysis of MS position.

MS knew they were rebooting themselves in the market, unlike WinMo which captured and held the business/enterprise markets for many years and failed to vertically diversify themselves into the much larger consumer market - despite having devices which offered superior technology and abilities than the original gen iphones - WP7 as a complete reboot had no choice but to go for the largest market, the consumer market. You make inroads with the consumer market and as we are seeing with the iphone its easy to diversify upwards into the business/enterprise arenas from there.

MS has also learnt alot of lessons from their own past failings, ie having the niche, top of the market and letting it slip, to some of the iphones strengths. I cant be stuffed writing an exposition paper on it but;

- controlling the out of the box user experience, over the air updates, carefree integration (xbox, zune, social) and marketing. They are leveraging with their OEMs and telcos to promote and advertise the platform something never done with WinMo.

Plenty of people doubted the xbox, xbox ran at a loss for how long? MS isnt letting WP go silently into the night. Will it ever overtake the iphone in market share? I dont know but theres space in the market and over the coming years the OS' will definitely be going toe to toe with each other and the beauty of that is, we (the consumers) are bound to win from that :)

[drunkgoat]

Good post Osiris, nice to see some thought put into a post for a change.

[schubb2003]

I completely agree with everything in this post. I was disappointed when I found out IE 7's engine was included in Windows Phone 7. I'm also hoping they port IE 9's engine over when it's finished.

So, should they have waited until IE9 is complete or shipped with beta code? Neither product relies 100% on the other, therefore one cannot hold up the other.

Maybe it was "okay" back in 2007 to release a phone with no multitasking or missing some bare bone feature like Cut/Paste. Back in 2007 when the iPhone was released, it offered many things that no other smartphone had. So it sold like hotcake.

Forward today, in 2010, with iOS 4.x doing multitasking, Cut/Paste, .... And with Android offering all those features too. HOW can Microsoft expect customer to just be happy with WP7 with missing features like that? If WP7 came out at the same time as the first iPhone or first Android, it could be excused of those missing bits.

Wait, what? Back in 2007? Wasn't multitasking added in IOS 4 which released this year? So Apple in 2010 gets multitasking, all praise Jobs, Windows Phone 7 gets released without it 4 months later and somehow Apple has redefined the market so far that MS can't catch up?