Matthew Miller: Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 – most stable mobile OS
Matthew Miller from ZDNet (previously of Nokia Experts too) has written a piece on Windows Phone, asking folks to at least give the thing a try (presumably before people bash it due to the MS name)
In a provocative title, Matthew claims,
“Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 is the most stable mobile phone OS“
As well as a Nokia Blogger, Matthew has experience of nearly every mobile OS and he says, “I can say without a doubt that Windows Phone 7 has been the most stable and reliable mobile phone operating system I have ever used”
Matthew talks about his experience across S60, T-Mobile Sidekick, iPhone, Androids, webOS, BlackBerry and more recent Symbian phones. He discusses things he likes about the mobile platforms and what he doesn’t
TL:DR “Windows Phone 7 may not be flying off the shelves, but in my extensive experience the platform is the most stable and reliable out there. I recommend that you at least give the platform a try because it is NOTHING like Windows Mobile and the Microsoft name does not kill the experience.”
I have to agree with Matthew on the stability of Windows Phone 7. It’s frankly amazing to find it is still as speedy as the first day I bought it (6 months ago) as my Symbian (and even Maemo) devices slow down over time as they get bogged down with content. I don’t have lock ups or freezes, or random lags in the core OS. The only thing that has given problem is a few third party apps (looking at the reviews, others experience the same).
Now stability may not be the most crucial thing for everyone. Some might not care. But it does greatly improve the overall experience with that OS, and the point for Nokia fans, something to look forward to.
Matthew talks about a subject often experienced with Windows Phone – hate without trying:
I get comments from readers that Windows Phone 7 is junk and think these people likely have never used WP7 or just have a hatred for anything from Microsoft. I have been getting more comments from readers that have actually tried WP7 and the majority of them agree that it is a very good mobile operating system that continues to get better.
Most of these mobile platforms are getting more stable as we move forward, but then again we still have companies releasing devices as beta for the consumers to test and then get expected updates later to address problems that should have been taken care of during initial development. I am not saying that everyone should get a Windows Phone 7 device since I am a firm believer in choice and that we all have different needs, wants, and desires so there is no one device for everyone. I am just trying to share my experiences with you so that you can make informed choices and not choices based on fear of a name or preconceived notions based on feedback from just a few.
This is something we have discussed time and time and time again here. Some folks can dislike WP perhaps simply because it does not have certain features they require for daily use. That is completely understandable. If it doesn’t do what you need it to, then the best thing is to use something else that offers what you need. However, the majority of Joe/Joanne Averages will find the core features working in NWP extremely well, overall providing an excellent user experience for them, and here stability for those features helps greatly.
Cheers Just Visiting and Ajain for the tip!
Category: Windows Phone
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Hey, thanks for reading my post. My name is Jay and I'm a medical student at the University of Manchester. When I can, I blog here at mynokiablog.com and tweet now and again @jaymontano. We also have a twitter and facebook accounts @mynokiablog and facebook.com/MyNokiaBlog. Contact us at tips(@)mynokiablog.com or email me directly on jay[at]mynokiablog.comSubscribe
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Sites That Link to this Post
- Nokia USA 2012: A Tough Road Ahead — BWOne.com | December 30, 2011
- Nokia changes date and scale of Nokia World – ZDNet (blog) « « | May 23, 2012
- Nokia changes date and scale of Nokia World | New Notebook | May 23, 2012
I’ve tried to make WP7 crash, succeeding not once thus far. Explorer I’ve managed to crash twice thus far, and this is after a month of using Optimus 7.
The first thing the Android browser did when I opened it was crash. Then the camera wouldn’t open, kept giving error until I restarted. But early days on this just yet. Maybe it’s a Samsung thing.
With browser on WP, never had a crash. Heavy sites, nada. Matthew notes some differences in hardware may give certain problems. (e.g. those who note the memory card issue, or the bricking with updates, I think that’s more to do with Samsung)
Hi, i idea Nokia E9
http://lienketdiem.com/lienketdiem.com/nokia_e9/e9.html
I do hope you know that Nokia has dropped that scheme of naming models..
looks more like a dream nokia of someone since it has a 680mhz processor..
I haven’t had a crash since nodo, Mango nothing either. It is very stable and fast. Gets faster on each release too! Can’t wait to see how fast Mango is on the newer hardware which is showing triple benchmarks scores!!
I have tried windows 7 with a htc device and the os s quite good but the hardware companies that promote windows 7 is quite garbage! Don’t hate on it until you try out. I just purchase a Nexus S and to be honest it really sucks and once again after trying other top android devices it doesnt do anything impressive for me except the browser. The two best phones I’ve ever owned or experience is my Nokia N900 and the iPhone 4. If the N9 is as impressive as it looks then I’m totally happy even without the physical keyboard. Still Apple is hard to beat simply by convience.
I agree, none of the actual hardware Phones for Windows Phone 7 really appeal to me. Hopefully Nokia will change all that though!
Apple is also hard to beat in the marketing department!
Windows and Stable don’t go together
They do for me!
That’s just a fanboy statement with no computer knowledge on it, except for Windows Me and Vista lol
and XP and 7 even but far far far less but we all know the stigma
Windows Phone 7 and desktop windows have little in common.. perhaps only their names.
There’s a typo in the headline. Correction below:
“Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 – stalest mobile OS”
For sure it does not crash, because no one uses it!
Well it’s pretty hard to crash other feature phone OS’s too, such as S40 for example. Once they upgrade WP7 to a proper smartphone OS, it will crash as much as any other smartphone OS. But now it’s still a feature phone OS with just few basic features.
+1
-1 It’s obviously not a feature phone OS. I don’t think you will need to do WAP browsing on a WP7 smartphone.
WAP is old tech, not feature phone tech. Feature phones can use WLAN and 3G (or “4G” as some 3G technologies are called in the US) to browse the full internet (not in any way limited to mobile web sites).
Windows Phone is of course a proof for all this, but the same goes also for S40 and Bada, just to name a few.
you should have read Cnet’s Molly and her view of WP7.she was complaining about her Droid X and microsoft sent her a wp7 phone with mango update to test it for 2 weeks hoping that she will prefer it over her android experience.things didn’t go well as the OS crashed a lot.in the end she said that she liked it but she doesn’t love it and her next phone will be an android and not a WP7.see the truth is,even with the mango update,it still doesn’t offer something that make people move from iOS and andriod to wp7 (well besides being smoother and has deeper social integration).remember that mango will compete with iOS5 and Ice Cream Sandwich and we still don’t know what those 2 will over for their platforms.wp7 might get better when the apollo update comes next year assuming that iOS and android won’t offer anything or any update at that time.
OI:
That’s totally false. The OS never crashed in her review, but the crappy HTC phone would shut off and restart.
from her review “Again, this may sound nitpicky, but if someone texts me an address, and I’m already in the car, I can’t very well copy and paste it into the Maps application (which I have to do) without, well, crashing.”
but yeah I guess she was complaining more about reboots (which isn’t a good thing anyway).
Crashing, as in crashing the car while trying to do something on her phone while driving.
I’m pretty sure the only “crash” she was referring to her was her hitting a tree because she was busy copying and pasting instead of driving.
“Again, this may sound nitpicky, but if someone texts me an address, and I’m already in the car, I can’t very well copy and paste it into the Maps application (which I have to do) without, well, crashing.”
@oi…she was talking about crashing (while driving her car)! Her complaint was about the poor navigation tool in Bing maps…..
oops sounds like she meant it that way.sorry guys
Clicking on any address, be it online, in a text or IM automatically launches the maps application… No need to. “copy and paste” and there are hints throughout the OS that that’s the case.
Has been that way since launch. I call fail on that section of the review
…because without an OS, an HTC phone will turn on and off!?!? Try making sense next time .
uhm what do you think a “crash” is?
Oh yeah I forgot about that Windows Phone (Mango) test. Another guy was the Scott Adams creator of Dilbert.
Here’s the news via wpcentral.
http://www.wpcentral.com/dilbert-s-scott-adams-declares-windows-phone-winner-against-iphone-3gs-evo-3d
“The Windows phone has the best user interface experience, although the onscreen keyboard is problematic just as it is with the other phones I used. The Windows interface is intuitive, simple, and has a liveliness that I find appealing. Voice call quality was good, and battery life seemed good too. I declare it the winner compared to my iPhone 3GS with AT&T and my HTC EVO 3D with Android on the Sprint network.”
…”If you want a smartphone that is easy to use, performs well, has a good battery life, and doesn’t frustrate you, the Windows phone is the best choice of the three options I tested. All you give up is some hipster credibility and access to lesser-used apps.”
He also noted the that MS isn’t cool, app catalogue not like other two and not liking the on screen keyboard (actually this is one of the best kb implementations FOR ME. Rivals IOS keyboard, better than the Android one)
Also Molly Wood story
Here’s the news via wmpu
http://wmpoweruser.com/windows-phone-7-challengemolly-wood-likes-but-does-not-love-mango/
Navigation, UNTIL WP gets Ovi/Nokia maps will forever suck.
you know this is all just cheap marketing jay,since the Nokia windows phones are coming out soon……
Pretty fair review from Molly, although it seems there a few strange mistakes in particular on Skydrive and Zune integration. However, if she is so lost in that regard, I gather something may need to be improved in WP to make it more apparent. Perhaps the “integration” paradigm can be taken too far and some people prefer to have a dedicated, separate app for most things?
N9 UI design is so much more clear than windows phone os and what is integrated is done better and more simple way.
how so? not saying it isnt, just askkng you to be more specific so its more useful.
And seems its in the works already:
http://wmpoweruser.com/official-skydrive-app-with-music-capability-coming/
you got it.
there is just one os that would bring people to move from android or ios – meego on the n9!
@oi_
You didn’t read the pages of comments that followed her hit piece?
How she didn’t know where the Office app was on the phone?!
How she falsely said in her article that you couldn’t easily upload photos??
How she had never heard of all the Windows Live services??
How it turned out she had NO idea how to use the phone??
The only thing I dont like in Windows Phone is the lack and heavily modified microSD. We have cheap microSD’s here and yet Microsoft insisted on making proprietary ones which are heavily expensive.
Again, that’s the thing I bashed about WP.
I know Android and Symbian are better on that aspect, but at least you can use them, not like iOS.
I have 16gb, and tons of apps. I still have about 10gb, no problem with microSD at all. Plus we have 25GB Skydrive for FREE, yes FREE…again, FREE.
yes FREE… again, FREE (for now).
Fix’t.
Trusting to a greedy corporation to give you freebies is never wise. They only do it with monetary gain in view. Yes, at YOUR expense. At a later date when you will be unable to refuse their “offer”.
This is why having access to your own hard storage is the better option every time.
Well, it’s not really free.
The real cost is using your capped data plan. Now if every time you went online and used Skydrive, the carrier didn’t count it against your data minutes (I’m not talking wifi, I’m saying your 3G data connection), then you can make an argument for *free*.
But really, it’s not.
For me it’s free. We have unlimited plans
Right, here in France we have unlimited data plans. So I would put music and videos up on Skydrive and live the dolce vita!
And really, if I want to watch a movie on my device, why should I need Skydrive for that? I want plenty of storage to store all my music and movies on my devices.
I have a 120 gb Zune, nearly full, and a 16gb Windows Phone won’t cut it.
No phones run with storage higher than 64gb at this point in time. Further to that, Memory cards work JUST fine with WP7.
Been using one out of my old 5800 from day one without so much as a hitch.
32gb + usb otg (poor nations) = weeeeeee
How can it crash if it doesn’t do anything useful like USB OTG.
That’s one of the most overrated feature EVER!!! Who’s going to be carrying around a cable for the USB drives all the time? In most of the common situations the feature is totally useless
I carry it always!
If you dont use a feature doesnt mean it is not used by others…
haven’t you heard of thumb drives?
Are you kidding me! This is the most underrated feature ever! Imagine someone saying “phhh a USB port on your computer is sooo overrated”
Did I miss something, did USB ports suddenly start connecting without cords, correct me if I’m wrong please.
“phhh a USB port on your computer is sooo overrated”
Totally nonsense… Why would you want a keyboard, mouse or a web cam attached to your phone?
that is kind of the idea of all these cloud services. You don’t need to carry your data with you, you always have it.
Every time I have to plug something in a part of me dies
OMG! You really don’t know what you’re talking about! I use USB OTG every day!
Just out of curiosity, what do you use it for on a daily basis?
usb otg is godsend in countries where cloud comp is a joke, snail speed and expensive “legal” internet connections.
its like carrying a wired headset in your pocket… it cab be quite useful in some cases
I would like to see some use cases of USB OTG, I still think it’s a practically useless feature for me.
I carry my otg cable every day. I use it to charge my G2 when Android drinks the battery juice and transfer files to my N900.
I also use it to charge other peoples phones.
Do you realize the use you give USB OTG is totally uncommon?
I imagine walking in the street and asking random people: “Do you have a phone with almost zero batery charge that can be charged with USB and you happen to have that cable in you pocket??? – Yes…- Great! I have USB OTG and I carry the cable.- Yay!!”
It’s definitely not needed for mass market, that’s my point.
I agree. I mean it’s definitely a nice feature, but I never found myself in a situation where I would think to my self “boy, I could really use usb otg right now”
+1
make a video an share it in simple way with a friend.
Bluetooth works. It may be a slow way to do it, but it is still effective and fairly simple. While it may be nice to have USB OTG, still doesn’t make me say “Boy, I wish I had USB OTG right now.”
No one is saying it isn’t a usefull feature, it’s just not a necessity and it certainly isn’t a deal breaker.
can bluetoot connect pendrives to your phone?
No. But really, is that needed? Just connect your damn phone to a computer. Or send files via bluetooth. Or email the damn files. This is a nice feature, but people are acting like they can’t live w/out it. Is really that much of a deal breaker? Sorry, but I don’t think so.
Totally agree. That’s why I said it’s an overrated feature.
People don’t even carry the batery charger, I think that a feature that requires to carry a cable all the time is definitely not a dealbreaker.
can pen drives connect to bluetooth audio receivers??
My point is: you’re talking nonsense
iOS was very stable 2 years back but now with all those apps and OS getting bulky, it lost its stability.
Wp7 in its current guise is like S40(my X3-02 hasn’t crashed once in the last 3months and I have only switched it off once to change the SIM). I’m expecting the stability to go down a little bit with Mango. This isn’t WP bashing but its the truth. When we add lot of features to existing software, the stability does go down no matter how good the code is.
“Most of these mobile platforms are getting more stable as we move forward” – This happens mostly when you don’t add new code in the software while fixing bugs but when new code is added, it goes the other way…
+1
And don’t forget MS is a software company. They will charge for every software update!
They are giving it free updates like NoDo, etc just coz they themselves know they are lacking in basic features as well!
It would be nice to know what would be the stragegy of MS to upgrade Mango headsets.
I am afraid the minimum hardware requirements will be raised (giving reasons e.g. smooth functionality)
If MS is successful, then it will surely change the whole mobile industry and will run it like it is running PC’s. And Nokia will be a sore looser. They will be loosing their only biggest advantage i.e. Only company which has good hardware and software expertise.
Some people will argue that Nokia will keep developing software… Infact they are more like utilities e.g. Maps…
I have nothing against MS, but I think this partnership will be skwed in favour of MS than Nokia.
I don’t usually comment on any blog, but you just got pretty much everything so wrong that I have to correct.
(1) Mango will be available to every single WP-device free of charge.
(2) Hardware requirements were lowered in Mango (for example CPU req from 1ghz to 800MhZ) and the next update, Tango, is going to be especially focused on making WP run on low end hardware.
(3) If WP is going to be succesful Nokia is definately going to be the least of a looser from all OEMS (except Apple maybe).
(4) Nokia will keep protoing “the next distruption” on Meego and will keep on fully controlling the development of S30 and S40. Nokia will also keep on developing Qt. Qt in Nokia is infact recruiting all the time.
Becoming just an OEM makes Nokia a loser. Not using their own smartphone OS is a huge loss.
“the next disruption”…Nokia already has that: N9. N9 with MeeGo & Swipe UI is the most refreshing thing that has happened in smartphones since iPhone. But since N9/MeeGo is not benefiting Microsoft Flop doesn’t like it and practically killed it. Either that or he’s a total moron for not making N9 Nokia’s new flagship device and a big sales hit.
N9 is on a road to nowhere, just like Nokia before Elop. Give it up.
Yet he is the one who finally got it out.
A phone that the previous management didn’t want also (according to previous Nokia employees)
No, “he” did not.
First, yes he did in the sense that as the CEO he could presumably have cancelled it. Second, yes he did in the sense that I am sure he too had a part in making the Harmattan-Maemo-Meego team work doubly hard to just the damn thing finished.
Meanwhile, Apple and Google, two companies both worth more than MS, sit back and play the roles of the “little guys.”
I admire Apple’s marketing dept. for convincing the masses that their billions of $$$ in the bank doesn’t exist.
And Google’s marketing dept. for convincing the masses that while they have their fingers in every cookie jar on the internet, their only interest is the end user.
You just make clear that you definitely know nothing about programming.
The code necesary to run an S40 phone and a touch screen phone simply can’t be compared.
Unless you forgot, the newer S40 devices support touch too..
I wasn’t comparing S40 with Wp7. My point was the stability of current WP7 (not Mango) would be higher because the compactness of the OS. When more is added, the stability goes down. Happened with iOS and even Symbian. It happens all the time with every OS..
But it’s not just about the OS size or features. For example, IMHO Debian is A LOT more stable than Android.
For some reason i don’t trust in this statement. I tried and used every MS OS product even the Windows 3.0 and every of them crashed. But GNU/Linux that’s the another story, even when something(some app) crashed you can always recover. This is not fan-boy rant because i still use Win for some of the jobs and it still crashing.
Then you should check your hardward and/or drivers. My Windows 7 laptop has NEVER EVER crashed and i use it 24 hours non-stop.
That plus the fact that you are off-topic. We are talking about mobile OSes here
My windows 7 laptop kept having random restart problems and blue screen of death. It was so annoying. It turned out to be an issue with Acer and their non recommended BIOS update that actually fixed my laptop.
My older XP laptops (not that old but I chose XP over Vista and then 7) were fine. Only had severe hiccups after I did some poor registry edits.
XP and 7 are surprisingly quite solid (now)
we are talking about wp7 here..
Windows Phone and Windows for PC are totally different things. Is like comparing the reliability of MacOS X to iOS
All OSes crash. You only need to strain the system sufficiently. However, some crash alot…
I’m quite looking forward to it. One of the things that really annoyed me about S60 was that while it could do a lot, it would crash repeatedly, and I ended up not using many of the features. I’d much rather use something that’s less featured, but everything that it does do it does without a hitch.
I tried copy and pasting something here in the android browser and it crashed. I thought I must have been pressing the exit button but no, it just randomly crashes at times. It’s quite annoying. It’s happened a few times already, I’m not sure what’s causing it.
It’s Android. Android is still a buggy OS, but somehow it gets a free pass in the media.
Android is a buggy system. That phone is beautiful though! You are lucky!
Try using a different browser lije Opera, Chrome, or Dolphin HD.
The problem might be on you side. Never heard or seen android crashing in that rate
WP7 most likely so far is best OS MS has made as ideology is iOS and start with very little features and add them slowly. Will it be stable in future? that remains to see.
Even Windows 7 still has same problems that older windows had and you can get windows 7 messed up and only way to fix is fresh install. Blue screens, game crashed takes whole OS down, and overtime it slows down but not as fast as XP did.
Windows 7 also still have very complicated settings for basic feature that people might need what comes to home network, sharing, etc.
I have similar fears that future updates will break not just stability of WP, but also speed.
Demoes so far showed even faster opening times on early Mango builds compared to even NoDo (which was faster than original) but I remember seeing a video where demo guy said he felt some things were slower. That was not RTM version though and on a HTC (which because it uses MicroSD for memory, it takes longer than say, Omnia 7)
Well, it depends on the modularity of the code and the optimization of the code.
With good separated modules with proper interfaces the code is a lot easier to optimize without loosing reliability.
I don’t expect less from Microsoft. They did wrong with Vista but the team came out with Windows 7 which is:
1) More stable
2) Faster
3) Has more features
The problem with adding features is when you didn’t think of adding features when you first build the software, and casually this happens to be Symbian situation
Not true. The adaptability of Symbian is one of the best in the industry. Only Maemo/MeeGo beats it in that respect. WP7? I don’t know, not familiar with it enough.
Symbian wasn’t conceived to use a touch interface, there’s where the problems come. They used the same menus that were designed to be used by buttons in an interface that is the whole screen, and when trying to change more things, it’s harden to not break other things.
Beside N9 is most stable OS in my book but it has it’s flaws about some features and some features not work in every content like copy paste is not really working everywhere where is text.
That is awesome to hear. I can’t wait to try it. What’s battery life like so far? Is it still pretty stable with many apps in background? (SGS2 doesn’t like browser when I have apps in background).
I Think this one has best battery life so far Nokia has made for phone that feature is to keep data connection open all the time for feeds,social,chat.
I been able to do over 24hours from 98% to 16% battery with 3G or Wifi connection open all that time for feeds,email,chat. Some browsing and gaming and music also.
I am never been heavy user more like moderate use and for me I can run full day with this for sure.
No I will not try Windows Phone 7 ever, not even try it. I think WP7 looks really nice and incredibly functional.
We buy products from the brands we like, duh:
-When Microsoft sues every Android manufacturer over dubious, broad-reaching patents in what I amount to extortion, it does not make me want to buy a WP7 phone.
-When a Microsoft Executive comes to Nokia and declares that the OS I’ve been waiting for for many years will be discontinued even if it sells well and an amazing phone (Nokia N950) will not even be sold IT DOES NOT MAKE ME WANT TO BUY A WP7 PHONE!
-When Microsoft makes an OS (WP7) that doesn’t allow me to change the search engine connected to the search button on all their phones to essentially force a user to use Bing I don’t say “thanks for being anti-competitive, don’t worry I’m sure Bing is exactly the same as Google anyway” I also don’t appreciate that they did the exact same thing by integrating Internet Explorer into Windows. This does not want me to buy a WP7 phone.
I want to own my phone-
-Could WP7 have a file manager? Of course it could but Microsoft has made the conscious choice not to include it. So on a windows phone you cannot download a file from the internet or upload a file, meanwhile every recent Symbian phone comes with USB-On-The-Go, this does not make me want to buy a WP7.
-When I transfer media to my phone I drag my videos into the videos folder and I transfer my music into my music folder, it has worked this way since the….
I am sick of writing these rants, people just don’t get it. Microsoft needs to change everything, they can start by not suing every Android manufacturer, they can make WP7 an actual platform rather than just an interconnected network of all Microsoft’s online products they can finish by innovating rather than striking deals with every partner they can to force their products on people.
Can I get my Nokia N9 now?
I agree
It amazing that they think people want to use products like skydrive and bing. Please be realistic Microsoft, people use google docs and google. Although hotmail has more registered users, most current genation people use google products.
Microsoft is just not COOL. And im gonna give up google services for microsoft, downloading stuff on my phone and glorious feeling of watching microsoft fail after they’ve completely ruined the pc industry.
How many pc manufacturers are doing well right now?
Not even one.
Partnering with microsoft leads to zero profits in the long run
What are you talking about? Hotmail is great and there is NOTHING that even comes close to Skydrive. It gives 25 GB for free(!) and a very pleasant ui
Hotmail doesnt not sync well on my mac, symbian phone or ipod touch. If you read an email from any device it is not marked as read on all the others. Gmail syncs perfectly
It doesnt matter how many GB they give u. Bing gives people cash back to use their service and people still choose google.
People will still choose whatever they want regardless and the people have chosen google.
Bing’s marketshare is steadily increasing. I wouldn’t be so quick to judge
MArket share they picked up from yahoo and from paying people money to use their services.
Thats untenable in the long run
Thanks for bringing this up. Yahoo is indeed powered by Bing.
Bing is a great alternative to Google search. I know people who use it and they haven’t received a dime by anyone
Really? How come I don’t get any checks on the mail?
oh very interesting. I also have problems with hotmail on my c7. And no, it’s not symbian. Im syncing with another adress on the phone with no problems.
Microsoft is not cool.. according to who .. you? You heard of Xbox, Zune and Kinect? How many Google products have that “coolness” status as those ? And you are are not even factual with what you said.. you could use Gmail, and Google calender in a wp7 phone.. its Google’s prerogative to make apps for wp7 not Microsoft.. why did Google make a search app for wp7 but they cant make other apps as on android?
Kinect is cool. Thats about it. Xbox is cool, haha. Now thats a joke.
How many people, especially outside of america have xbox and are happy with the product. RROD rings a bell, pun intended.
What is Zune, few people use that. There is a much more popular product called itunes
There is a reason why google is a verb and not bing. I never said u couldnt use gmail or google calendar on wp7 at all. I’ve only used one in passing so i wouldnt kno.
I think WP7 is an alright device. Its prob one of the better products made by microsoft.
I vehemently object several things but most importantly i object
microsoft forcing me to use their crappy services as well as even giving a monopoly another chance to monopolise another product.
Microsoft don’t force you to use their service.. they only make it the first option.. just like anyone does it.. just like Apple makes itunes the default music option on Iphone.. just like Google makes Google search and Google maps the default option on every android… As yourself why there is Google search on every android by default?
You don’t like Bing, Hotmail you are free choose from several option including those offered by Google.. Theres is not Google maps , Google docs because Google will not develop those for wp7.. are you going to blame MS fro that?
And now your talk of Bing not being a verb is laughable.. how many years have Bing been in existence compared to Google.. why don’t you compare the popularity of Windows and Chrome OS if that’s fair. Maybe is not cool where you are but where I am it is cool and the sales figures seem to support my point. Could you seriously tell me things like Google Tv, Google docs, chrome OS are cool?
I will to try to answer your points to the best of my knowledge.
-When Microsoft sues every Android manufacturer over dubious, broad-reaching patents in what I amount to extortion, it does not make me want to buy a WP7 phone.
In an ideal world every company develops its own technology and never steals anything. We do not live in such ideal world. If Google has infridged copyright Microsoft has to take action. Google does the same, Nokia does the same, Samsung does the same, you-name-it does the same. How is it any different with Microsoft? It isn’t.
-When a Microsoft Executive comes to Nokia and declares that the OS I’ve been waiting for for many years will be discontinued even if it sells well and an amazing phone (Nokia N950) will not even be sold IT DOES NOT MAKE ME WANT TO BUY A WP7 PHONE!
I don’t know where you get the sales figures from but they are wrong. In this highly competitive market selling does not suffice. You need to sell better than your competitors. And you need an ecosystem. Do not underestimate this concept.
-When Microsoft makes an OS (WP7) that doesn’t allow me to change the search engine connected to the search button on all their phones to essentially force a user to use Bing I don’t say “thanks for being anti-competitive, don’t worry I’m sure Bing is exactly the same as Google anyway” I also don’t appreciate that they did the exact same thing by integrating Internet Explorer into Windows. This does not want me to buy a WP7 phone.
There are ways to change the default search engine in Windows Phone 7. Power users can change other features too. Search for these hacks. They exist in every major platform, iOS users call it jailbreaking, Android users call it rooting, we wp users call it registry hacking.
As for integration of Internet Explorer in windows what did you expect? Chrome? Or do you think Google will ship Chrome OS with Internet Explorer. Some things are too obvious to explain. You can uninstall Internet Explorer and install any other browser.
-Could WP7 have a file manager? Of course it could but Microsoft has made the conscious choice not to include it. So on a windows phone you cannot download a file from the internet or upload a file, meanwhile every recent Symbian phone comes with USB-On-The-Go, this does not make me want to buy a WP7.
About a month ago i sold my Android smartphone. Why? Because it took itself too seriously. The smartphone is not a computer. I could write a book about how the PC paradigm can totally kill a smartphone experience but i want to be brief so i’ll just mention that one day while doing my daily running exercise i found myself spenting an hour searching songs in the file manager. And when i finally managed to locate those songs i was faced with a nasty dialog to specify a music player. When i go running with my wp7 i focus on exercising not on the file manager. And yes you can download files from the internet and open them in windows phone 7. Pdf files, images, document files, etc.
USB-on-the-go? I think i like this and hopefully it will be one of those Nokia-exclusive features on Windows Phone. Fingers crossed.
-When I transfer media to my phone I drag my videos into the videos folder and I transfer my music into my music folder, it has worked this way since the….
You are describing the syncing feature in Windows Phone 7. You simply drag your photos to the photos-zune folder and they are synced. Drag videos, music, they are all synced. And… Wirelessly too! Yeap, wireless syncing! If you like you can also specify additional/other folders for syncing. The Zune desktop software is great and a pleasure to use.
About syncing Videos\Music: What if the PC I want to transfer from doesn’t have Zune installed? MS’s decision to have this feature (a direct lift from iOS – iTunes) is a BIG step backward..
Zune is free to download.
And it’s so light on resources there’s really no excuse to not have it
( wmpoweruser.com/zune-desktop-agent-uses-less-memory-than-itunes-helper-samsung-kies-or-rim-launcher )
On a Linux too? And why on earth should I bother installing any crapware when I can do those things perfectly without it? It makes no sense.
Standards are good. They make life easier. Zune, iTunes, etc are not. They are exactly the opposite. Making things incompatible with each other and harder to use. Imagine if every single manufacturer had their proprietary data interface instead of USB. Would you really want that? Really? I wouldn’t.
I don’t know about Linux (i can check if u want) but there is support for Mac
Not every computer, notebook has an internet connection to download it.
You only have to download it once. Where do u live? In Zimbabwe?
Here’s an example…. on my work computer i cant install certain software. I want to transfer a file but there is no zune on the computer. What do i do???
And this is y i dont like the iphone either.
There should be no idea to install someting on my computer. I want to be able to go to any computer and send or receive items from my phone. Its ridiculous to tink i want to do otherwise.
+1.
Not Zim but close to it… And this problem is same in most of the places in Africa and Asia.. That is why Symbian and Android sell well in these markets..
Nokia plans to make WP7 phones for every market and if they want to make Wp7 a big success, they have to succeed in the Asian and African markets..
Windows Phone is indeed becoming increasing successful in those parts of the world, especially in key markets such as China and India.
Bing is now the exclusive provider of English content for Baidu, China’s largest search engine
I read recently have windows phone marketplace doesnt even work in china sometimes. Its not officially available and u cant sideload apps.
So how is it suppose to be successful. And i kno for a fact that facebook an twitter integration r useful there since fb and twitter doesn’t even work in china
What metric r u using to judge the ‘success’ of WP7
heard of the Ovi Store? big in China for Nokia and part of what Nokia can bring to the ecosystem. second, of course they will work to improve it on the MS side too.
you don’t have internet you have no business using a smartphone.. its just not worth it.. how do u download apps?
Astroturfing for MS are we? Different people have different priorities. Let the people that do not like MS have MeeGo or Symbian. Else I can guarantee that hey will chose android as the lesser evil..
They have Symbian. No one is telling them not to buy it.
They are still buying Symbian phones… What happens after 2016 when they stop support for Symbian? They’ll mostly go for Android…
By 2016 we will have flying cars..
It’s way too far out to make such predictions.
Arrogance at its best…
Symbian succeeded because of this. It came with all those features in built and didn’t had to rely on downloaded apps..
Moreover if you download the sis ones, you can transfer it to other device through bluetooth.
And why do you think this cant be done with wp7 too? they could preinstall most of the relevant apps
and what is if i have a very slow internetconnection or when im not allowed to install software?
His point is, for example, if you need to sync from a work computer, a university computer or even a friend’s.
What, are you going to start downloading the Zune software to all of the above, just to drag and drop a document, video or mp3 file?
“I don’t know where you get the sales figures from but they are wrong. In this highly competitive market selling does not suffice. You need to sell better than your competitors. And you need an ecosystem. Do not underestimate this concept.”
-> So, as per you, MS is selling more phones than competitors???
Also, Does MS has better ecosystem???
bah ecosystem!
There are ways to change the default search engine in Windows Phone 7. Power users can change other features too. Search for these hacks. They exist in every major platform, iOS users call it jailbreaking, Android users call it rooting, we wp users call it registry hacking.
-> Lets all become a power user now and then start using MS Mobile softwares !!! What are you talking??? You made it look as if all users should be power users now???
Let WP7 be for power users…
-So, as per you, MS is selling more phones than competitors???
Not yet. But we’re getting there fast. Gartner predicts that by 2015 it will be the nunber 2 mobile OS globally. I believe that.
-Also, Does MS has better ecosystem???
The partnership with Nokia creates a MERGED ecosystem that will be better than any of the two individually
-Lets all become a power user now and then start using MS Mobile softwares !!! What are you talking??? You made it look as if all users should be power users now???
No, in fact i said exactly the opposite! Android is for power users. But it’s good to know that windows phone has a place for them too if they so desire
“No, in fact i said exactly the opposite! Android is for power users. But it’s good to know that windows phone has a place for them too if they so desire”
No, you suggested that in order to change the default search engine in WP7 you’ll have be a power user and use hacks. That’s not easy and user friendly. That’s especially hard and complicated way to do things.
Changing the default search engine should be easy. Just selecting it with a tap. No hacks or power user status should be required. I don’t believe an average user “desires” (as you put it) to hack his phone in order to do as simple thing as changing the search engine. It’s just crazy to expect a user to do that.
where do u draw the line? Should there be an option for everything? (That was by the way MS’s previous OS approach and it didn’t work out). UI clutter is bad for the user
Honest question as I don’t know: how easy is to set other than Google as your default search engine in Android?
I did note when trying to open the calendar on my brother’s new Android phone that it insisted creating a Google account first… WHAT? Just to view the calendar?
If other search engines have apps and you download them, when you hit the search button you have the option of choosing it.
As far as calendars go, I do believe everything is synced via gmail or an exchange account. You can import other calendars to gmail account and see them that way, but either way, you are correct. Only through a google account or exchange.
“Not yet. But we’re getting there fast. Gartner predicts that by 2015 it will be the nunber 2 mobile OS globally. I believe that.”
What?! Getting there fast? You are delusional. WP7 has been losing market share this whole year (it’s most likely under that 1% now) and its unit sales are getting smaller and smaller. The WP7 manufacturers are making it less and moving WP7 capacity to Android instead. Those are the facts and they don’t particularly support your beliefs.
Gartner can predict whatever but the fact is that 4 years is a lifetime in smartphone business and nobody can predict how things are in 4 years. Four years ago Android didn’t even exist!
oh well, let’s ignore Gartner and believe you instead. You sound more credible
At least he sounds more logical, using existing facts as his base. You, on the other hand, seem to believe Gartner is the Messiah and can say no wrong. To each his own.
Agree.
He made up those “facts”. WP7 is most certainly not losing marketshare. Windows Mobile (the previous OS) is, and that is totally expected.
He has a point when he says that 4 years is lifetime in this business as huge changes can take place but at the same time he is deliberately ignoring one recent such huge change:
Google’s acquisition of Motorola. He says other manufacturers are moving to Android when in fact with its recent move Google alienated those very manufacturers and they are about to either shift priorities or defect altogether
@Anastasios-Antonios Toulkeridis..You’re posts are ALWAYS awesome! I’m glad there are posters like you here on MyNokiaBlog as your comments help clarify so many misconceptions about WP7.
And I’m with you – usb otg as a feature specific to Nokia WP devices would be kinda cool. I used it only once on my N8 just to see how it works. Is it a need to have feature? No, not in my opinion; Nice to have? Sure.
Thank you. There is much hate towards Microsoft in this blog. I’m trying my best to make sense of it
“There is much hate towards Microsoft in this blog. I’m trying my best to make sense of it”
You don’t understand why?
Because most of the readers are Symbian/MeeGo fanboys. But this will change. There’ll soon come a day when Nokia and Windows Phone are synonyms. There’ll be no Symbian, there’ll be no MeeGo. Just Windows Phone. Then you’ll all be history
You fool noone with that smilie. Your avatar is more representative of your inner desperation and anger
“You fool noone with that smilie. Your avatar is more representative of your inner desperation and anger”
I like my avatar but I also appreciate the fact that you confirm that some of us are right to resent WP7.
You are a relic of the past. I’ll be here smiling
- Don’t twist the facts, the only android manufacturer Microsoft is in court with is Motorola and Motorola also sue them back. With all the other companies they decided to enter into a license agreement with Microsoft. Just as Nokia has entered into with Nokia.. Also don’t forget MS is also been sued by a whole lot of under companies
- They integrate Bing into wp7, its their perogative.. the same way Google insists their android certified phones use Google..
You won’t buy WP7 products, and the whole of the United States hasn’t bought a Nokia product in a decade. Nobody even knows the name “Nokia”. They failed. Symbian failed, by their own admission. Meego, failed. Read some of the stories on the inner workings at Nokia. Their own OS’s failed. It wasn’t going to work. Nokia would be bankrupt.
And the United States > the WORLD!
Right?
Americans these days..
Nope, didn’t say that at all.However, the US is a HUGE market for cell phones, and Nokia is an unknown here. In that sense, they failed. Completely. I was using it as an example. It’s sad to see. My daughter asked what phones we would be getting next. I told here Nokia. She had no idea what I was talking about. She went to search on google. I had to spell it for her. That is an entire generation that has no idea who or what Nokia is.
here is the funny thing.there are 2 kind of fans here.symbian fans and nokia brand fans.the first group loved nokia cus they loved the symbian experience they had on nokia phones.and they believe that symbian is better than any OS until nokia create something better.weather they are write or wrong,they stick to what they like (even though they could be stubborn sometimes and doesn’t give credits to any OS or believe that another OS might be better than symbian).
the other crowd (nokia fans) well they go to what the management says.the problem with those people (and to make it fair I’ll say half of those people if not most of them) is that they always change their opinion not because they believe in what they say but because they follow a brand.lets take allaboutsymbian for example.before 11/2 event,they used to tell you how symbian is the most complete OS out there.how apps don’t matter and iphone isn’t all that because it has so many limitations and that apps aren’t important because most of iphone top apps have a workaround in symbian or a replacement.how meego is the next best thing.and I hated their comparisons with other phones cus it was obvious that they were trying to make any symbian phone win (when the symbian phone is cheaper,they mention it and give that phone an extra point but when it’s the opposite,they don’t mention price at all).but all that changed after 11/2.
suddenly symbian had problems.symbian isn’t usable in some cases.meego doesn’t have an ecosystem (even though they knew that from the beginning yet they didn’t complain but now it’s an issue) and now wp7 is the best choice out there.this is funny because wp7 right now even with mango shares almost the same limitations we always bashed iOS about.another funny thing is,between wp7,iOS and android, the closest OS to symbian in terms of functionally and freedom is non other than android.but since elop declared it the enemy,it’s the new thing to bash after years of doing that to iOS since it was the enemy before.I wouldn’t be surprised if those people will change their mind again if someone from samsung became the new CEO of nokia and declared wp7 a failure and that bada is the future.we will see a lot of “wp7 actually sucked” and “bada is the future if you gave it a chance” threads.
another problem is that they always try to show you how great wp7 is better than android and iOS with some little issues that won’t matter.actually they do.I could post a huge list of problems with wp7 but you can read it yourself in xda-developers in wp7 general section.someone is asking why people complain about mango and some are replying with “wait until apollo comes next year” wait I thought mango was supposed to be the update that puts wp7 on par with iOS and android (maybe with iOS but I won’t say that about android).sure it’s smooth and has deeper social integration but it doesn’t bring something that convince other users to change (let alone the fact that some people don’t like microsoft and they don’t want another monopoly in the smartphone world). well I guess mango didn’t do that.and remember that mango is competing with iOS5 and Ice cream sandwich and we haven’t seen everything from those 2 updates yet.if you think about it,if android is a clone of iOS because of the look,wp7 is a clone of iOS in terms of functionality (smooth,pretty ui but with a lot of limitations).
will wp7 be better in the future? maybe who knows but right now it doesn’t give me any reason to have it instead of an android phone or an iphone.so yeah symbian fans (who still prefer symbian and doesn’t like any other OS) might be stubborn and hard to argue with but at least they believe in what they say.as for nokia brand fans,good luck arguing with them cus they just follow what the management says “OPK,Elop,the next CEO and the one after him).
+10^64 pts.
I. Hate. Betrayal.
One can be a Symbian – or any other OS – fan and acknowledge give credit to other OS, even if one feels that Symbian – or any other OS – is the best OS for his/her purposes.
Now, I have no problem stating that I’m a biased Elop detractor.
Very well said… Can’t be said better than this.
So true, they’re all sellouts. Rafe is the worse, what a sycophant.
Sounds like you haven’t read AAS long and _carefully_ enough. Nuance is something you have to put effort into to capture it. Details, even single words matter.
Absolutely the best post I have read in a while. +1000
There’s a third category too. Microsoft fans.
It’s funny that you wrote 5 paragraphs about how limited Windows Phone is yet forgot to specify those limitations. And by limitation we do not cound features that were left out BY DESIGN. So for example the lack of file manager is NOT a limitation. It was considered by the wp team that it has no place in a smartphone and i agree with them. So again i challenge you to mention JUST ONE, seriously not two, ONE, such limitation that is not by design. (If you consider a missing -by design- feature is a limitation then i challenge u to convince us why it is good to have it)
FI does not matter for the user whether something is left out by design or not. You either have the feature or you do not. In fact is may be worse if it is left out by design as this is a sign that it will newer be supported. Good luck with the MS penny pincher schemes. All MS fanboys may rot for all I care. However, if Nokia is interested in all its current customers, they should provide updated Symbian phones as a lot of them would rather buy Android than WP.
There’s a reason why Microsoft ditched the pc-as-a-phone approach (windows mobile) and chose a different more user-friendly approach (windows phone 7). Just because a smartphone can have a file manager doesn’t mean it should have it or it is a good idea to have it. That’s way i challenged him to convince us about the importance of any missing features. I’m still waiting to be convinced
well I could post that huge list but since you asked for just one then lets talk about custom ringtones.now let’s say that you have a song in your phone.can you easily make it as your phone ringtone or there are some requirements (aka limitations) for that? oh and can we choose it as an sms/alert ringtone?
The new version of Windows Phone (Mango) supports custom ringtones
I guess you didn’t use mango yet or didn’t read how they will implant this feature or else you would have known why I asked these questions
i know why you asked this particular question and i also know that you still don’t get the difference between requirements by design versus technical limitations.
To someone who may be reading this and doesn’t know what we’re talking about, a mango ringtone can have a maximum duration of 39 seconds. That means that you first have to crop your song. I’ll admit it’s strange but is any sane person believing that MS’ developers were incapable of doing it better? It is a requirement by design that i’m sure is fully justified from a platform’s point of view. Personally i’m glad we have the capability now (there wasn’t any pre-Mango) and i’m sure it will be further refined in the future (Besides, how long anyone leaves the phone ringing? half an hour?).
You were also careful to mention sms/alerts. To those reading, Mango does not allow a custom ringtone to be used for sms/alerts.
I’m using two email accounts on my wp7 and so i constantly receive e-mails (Mango brings a unified inbox). Now imagine if for every received e-mail my device played a 39 second ringtone! Microsoft wants to protect the user experience, not ruin it. I agree with their decisions, every single one of them.
Oh, that’s easy: wifi hotspot and USB tethering.
Nope, try harder
http://mynokiablog.com/2011/08/25/video-calling-with-skype-and-wifi-hotspot-feature-in-windows-phone-mango/
WP7 is a smartphone OS, as it has its own bespoken API.
Now, that is out of the was, I believe Matthew Miller experience, as WP7 may be the most stable OS he had the opportunity to use.
However, that does not mean that his experience will be the same as everybody else.
“It Just Works™ – except when it doesn’t. I’m sure finding issues with is just a few Google searches away or browsing support forums.
My point is, all OSes have issues, despite whatever supporters of said OSes would like people to believe.
+1, including on the nonsense that WP is not a smartphone OS (not to mention the obvious point the separation between “smartphone” and “feature phone” is increasingly meaningless in even relatively low price points).
The whole OS is a big White text on a black background, of course it’s going to be stable.
Uh, actually the home screen alone is more dynamic than that of iOS and Android.
+1 to you Sir
Been using a HTC Trophy, and I have to agree on the stability. I’ve never seen the OS crash once, in the months of use (granted I’m not very active user). Only complain I have is that sometimes Marketplace will fail to work for some reason, and I had to reboot to get it going again. Hopefully Mango fixes that.
I hope some of WP7 fanboys will read this!
I had similar problem with the marketplace before the NoDo update. Have you installed NoDo?
my galaxy s2 nor ever crashed. does that mean it doesn’t crash? no
so much troll in here.
I’m not lying, I would LOVE an opportunity to try out a Windows Phone 7 device. The UI is what pulls me in: simple, straight to the point, no bullshit, precise and symmetrical. Lovely, simply lovely.
I’m a typeface nut, and my design principle takes a modernist stance. Based on that alone, Windows Phone 7 makes me go “ooh, baby!” Hearing now that it’s a super-stable OS is just icing on the cake.
Sorry offtopic. Look at the picture, it’s a Rasengan!
From my experience Windows Phone doesn’t even feel like a Windows product or a Microsoft product for that matter. Microsoft made a mistake of calling their mobile OS after Windows, Windows can be hideously unstable at times and that is not the case with Windows Phone 7 at all.
In fact the fit and finish of Wp7 rivals iOS in many regards. It doesn’t even feel like a Microsoft product. In fact if you got rid of all the Microsoft branding and showed it to any of you guys who hate Microsoft you guys would instantly love it.
Its like the experiment Microsoft did with Vista a while back.
The problem is the word “Windows” it instantly reminds people of the joke that was Vista for that reason I switched to a Mac and never looked back.
I never imagined I would use a Microsoft product again after switching to a Mac and a iPod touch, but seriously guys when a product is good it is good no matter who developed it.
And Windows Phone 7 is good, the name Windows doesn’t do it justice.
I agree in that Microsoft’s main issue, with their mobile OS, is a branding problem.
They should have come up with a different identity for their mobile phone line, apart from Windows, just like they did with the Xbox.
Nokia also has a huge branding problem, but that’s largely in the U.S. and Western Europe, where they’ve become synonymous with ‘low rent’ or ‘ghetto’.
Re Nokia brand image being ghetto: here in the US, yes, but not in Western Europe (yet). Although, there are plenty of folks who still recall 2003 and are open to Nokia putting out something interesting for them again.
I suspect MS’s decision to stick with the Windows name is due to their 3 screen strategy, which would be much less coherent if mobile was called something else, tablets OS another, and PC OS something else again. It does not help them at the moment of course.
If anything, and in spite of their not jumping on board the Android Express, Nokia here in France is one of the few who still have name recognition.
Oddly, while HTC is neck and neck with Samsung, they have little name saturation.
I bought my first HTC 7 years ago (with Windows Mobile!) and I’d tell people the brand, but they’d go, “yes, but is it Nokia?” as if they couldn’t get it in their heads that Nokia was not alone.
Now with my current HTC (Desire) people say “nice phone, is it a Samsung?” LOL!
But say “Nokia” and they’ll still say “quality and design.”
Whether or not that’s true, Nokia has managed to keep their name above the fray.
Totally agree. I said it from day one. Sticking to the “Windows” moniker is a HUGE mistake. It doesn’t help wp7 sales. In fact it hurts sales.
There are some rumors that Windows 8 will not be called windows when they officially launch. Fingers crossed
OK, now i’m really angry. They say that windows phone 7 is most stable OS. I don’t think so. They don’t know how to make good browser, and they say they created most stable OS! I’m pulling my hair when i need to make something to work on IE, even IE 9 is garbage and just crashed more then once. :/
You can spread lies but don’t expect anyone to believe them. To those who use IE9 daily you sould foolish. Go to Engadget where you belong troll
Maybe you still have IE9 Beta? You can rollback to IE8, which is what I did because I missed the dedicated search bar. But other than that, I liked IE9.
I’d say most problems on any device are due to hardware issues and end-user know-how; very little on the OS side.
Take care of your machines and they’ll take care of you. If you get a lemon then you do what any good consumer should do, and send it back!
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