Microsoft softening their stance on Copy and Paste in Windows Phone 7, plans ‘good’ implementation’

April 2, 2010 | By Surur

Previously we have heard many mixed messages regarding Copy and Paste in Windows Phone 7. Some member have been pretty strident about the lack of need for the technology, feeling their context sensitive one-click system was more than enough for most people.

At a DedvDays presentation in the Hague however program group manager Charlie Kindel acknowledged the howls of protest heard across the internet.

"We’ve heard your feedback loud and clear," said Kindel. "We look at this case and we will do the right thing,"

He said Microsoft was now working on a “good’ implementation of the copy-paste functionality in Windows Phone 7” although it is not clear if this will make it to the first release on devices.

Is this enough to entice our readers to the new OS? Let us know below.

Source: Tweakers.net via Allaboutphones.nl

About Surur

Site Admin and Windows Phone enthusiast, he has been using Windows Mobile devices since before they were called PocketPC’s. He is currently sporting a HTC 7 Trophy.

Tagged microsoft, windows phone 7

http://intensedebate.com/people/Northerngeek Northerngeek

Whilst it doesn't seem to be anything strictly new here I would commend Microsoft for being open enough about it that they'll publically admit that they're taking criticism on board.

The primary reason I stay with Microsoft is that unlike other companies who would claim they have som grand plan (which just happens to address shortcomings of heir exisiting devices) Microsoft often admits that it has gone back to the drawing board.

Hopefully this makes a few people happy.

http://intensedebate.com/people/chinch chinch

no doubt. Charlie is a breath of (humble) fresh air in the tech industry that is filled with blow-hards and shovel-ware salesmen
GP007

I keep telling people that MS does infact listen to devs and users more than they think. This isn't Apple so lets drop the whole iPhone copy bit. C&P aside, I also expect them to be very loose when it comes to allowing 3rd party apps to multitask if there's no other way for them to work. They've said as much about that as well, it'll be case by case of course, but then they'll open up those API's more over time as well. Way faster than Apple does. I'd even bet they'll be on par with the Android update cycle, they'd have to at this point.

Jake

I still think that they should have concentrated on things like c&p from the beginning but I'd prefer to see a proper implementation that takes a while longer than a half-baked one that's available from day 1 but never gets updated. It would probably help me decide on a purchase if they could be a bit more up front about their plans though.

Things like text selection and c&p are almost broken on the HD2 with its capacitive screen so I hope MS do do this really well.

GP007

I think that was always the plan though. They never wanted to do a half-baked c&p system in something so new like WP7s. Trying to downplay the need for it, I figure, was one way to cover for the fact that it might not make it in time for the first release of devices but in a later update. Which, personally, I'm ok with. The new OTA update system is here, and updates will come from MS directly, not be stuck in carrier limbo for months anymore.

So if the first phones that ship in Sept-Nov don't have it, but MS has a update with it by Jan or Feb of 2011, that's good with me.

Rico

This is really just an official confirmation of what we've heard before.

GP007

Yeah, but people forget. Lots of people seemed to think it wasn't coming or being worked on at all.

Rico

i think it was more the fact that sites like this harped on the news that it *wasn't" coming at all. It didn't help that MS was so wishy-washy about this and multitasking.

Now Mr. Kindel's making out like they were against copy and paste, but because enough people complained, they decided to add it in. i expect people to demand they add back features until we're back to WM 6.5 now… :-/

GP007

I dunno, what else is actually missing that we need? I guess "true" multitasking? But if most apps out there don't need to keep running in the background sucking up CPU and RAM then they shouldn't. Just save your state and freeze until you're needed again. So what's next? Bring back sense or other shells? No thanks. I think the tiles and hubs are very extensible and we could very well see a "sense hub" specific to HTC phones as a middle ground of sorts. That and whatever other customisation MS adds in as per users requests.

Rico

Add copy and paste and allow for multitasking for some apps and i think it would be pretty darned happy with WP7. Even a workable multitasking hack would suffice. But even without multitasking and with the promise of copy and paste in a future, hopefully the first, update and i'm quite pleased with it.

But you have the Old Windows Mobile Guard which post here and on other WM sites that basically wants WP7 to be Android — a more modern version of Windows Mobile. (Yes, that's a poor simplification, but i think it's obvious what i mean.) They want sideloading. Memory cards. All-you-can-eat multitasking. Backward compatibility. Some don't even want transitions, which mask load times and replace the wait cursor.

derliebewolf

"Is this enough to entice our readers to the new OS?"
Let's say it a good start for that. but how about Application installations without the marketplace? A native development environment (ok, that just won't happen) and all these other things?

I am not convinced yet…
Fdo35

Although I personally would have been just fine if you could just select text and send it to a Word/OneNote document, this is still really awesome. Especially since we know that we can demand and protest for features and Microsoft will indeed listen. So…file manager and task manager in the final release anyone?;)
Murani

Its just common sense that Microsoft was going to include copy and paste. Apple who is Microsoft's true competition at launch couldn't ignore the screams from WinMo users when even the iphone gained such a feature by popular demand.

At some point though even longtime WinMo users (myself included) have to embrace change. Stop trying to have WP7Series be the same old OS but with a fancier UI. Give feedback to Microsoft and be open to the experience before moaning about every little thing.
http://www.celljudge.com celljudge

This is a very good sign people. Come on everybody and lets voice our other concerns about this promising(yet feature lacking) OS. All of our complaining is obviously working so keep it up. Everyone continue to contact MS with your concerns. Especially the no registery and file access.

Thank you WMPU and other WP blogging websites for bringing this into the open and expressing our displeasure.
aleis

step in the right direction. now reverse everything with the same ui and it will be good!
10k apps and everything that 6.5 does but better.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Foamy Foamy

I think their main problem with WP7 is the idea that "more than enough for most people" is good enough. my main issues with WM6 is not big problems but that i constantly hit small obstacles. Lots of "good enough most of the time" features means you will sometimes want to do something slightly different and have problems. If these situations happen regularly then they give the impression of a poorly designed OS with no real focus for what the problem is. this will make you hate the whole OS and not just the lack of one feature or substandard performance in specific areas.

A truly great OS has their great general features (like this context sensitive text thing) but also has a backup system which is flexible and reliable.this means that at the worst you'll just run into features which seem slightly out of date rather than features which are completely missing.
http://intensedebate.com/people/mohsen7x8 mighty

It's really good to see they're listening. We shall see how far they can be pushed. Open development and app installation is what I want most. Then file explorer.

GP007

Open development in what sense? Native code? I doubt we'll ever get that. App installation is there though, if you're talking side-loading. They've said that a system will be in place for devs and business to side-load their own apps without going through the marketplace. For consumers though, I think it's better to have one central hub "marketplace" that brings everything together. And, they do allow carrier specific stores to connect to the marketplace hub as well. So technically, though it's one central hub, it can be more than one app store.

As for a file manager, I dunno, I figure one will be in there just locked, so they'll probably find a way to hack that so you can use it if you want to.

PedroDelaRiva

On one hand it's a positive point to see that Microsoft is listening to the complaints concerning WM7, on the other hand Copy & Pste is just a basic/essential feature. Sad to think we have to celebrate the fact that it will be include.

There are still many negative points about WM7 and I will not be convinced if Microsoft does not listen and change its mind : it means ability to install apps outside the MarketPlace, true multitasking, real copy & paste, external SD card, access to the registry.

I fully understand that Microsoft has to start WM7 from scratch, I fully agree that most old WM6 applications shall not work on WM7 (this is good, most WM6 apps are so old, with an old-fashioned UI. Time to turn the page), I also understand that WM7 devices shall be more standardized… But please, just don't make WM7 a kind of IPhone, where everything is blocked. WM users love their freedom to much and will probably never accept it.

Murani

My biggest rebuttal to the whole "WM users love their freedom to much and will probably never accept it." point is that 90% of WinMo users don't even know these types of forums exist or have any desire to power tweak their phones. Us power users get caught up in yelling about what we (power users) love about WinMo OS and what we definitely need but the reality is that we are a silent minority. I'm sick and tired of the iphone's bland, unchanging platform. I call it "Smartphone for dummies", but in reality i'm one of the minority who customizes their phone and cares about the depth of openness the previous OS has.

http://intensedebate.com/people/ParsaCalavera ParsaCalavera

im not going to like this, they dont even know what to do really !

maybe next time they should hand out wish lists for users and then begin development !!!!
Paul

They really should have C&P at launch, so this is potentially a good sign. Just please don't have it look like your drawing, because the howls of copying Apple will be endless. Plus, I still haven't figured out C&P on my iTouch. Some rave about it, but I don't find it that functional.
Mark Jonson

I really hope they get this right. By dropping "series" from the name and including Cut/Copy/Paste, they will at least be on-par with the iPhone. Now they just need to make sure they don't fall behind this summer if the speculation that Apple will enable multi-tasking comes true. Microsoft better make multi-tasking a sweetener for WP7 because it will receive never-ending criticism from the Apple crowd if Apple can enable multi-tasking in their next iPhone hardware and/or software release.
Rodney

This is a start to getting me back on board, but it's not enough. Needs multi-tasking, ability to set different programs as the default, sideloading apps, etc.
Mellowmelmo

Now we need to petition for multitasking and we're set
Durishin

So long as they deliver the APIs to let real apps (Pocket Informant….) be implemented, I'm on board. Else, I am off to Android.

Dave C

Durishin, you hit the nail on the head. It doesn't get mentioned very often, but the APIs in Windows Phone 7 are not suitable for complex applications. It's not going to be up to standard in the first release. It will take Microsoft 18-24 months to make it better. The API and SDK weaknesses will be the death of Windows Phone 7, as it means the glory applications won't be there.

Craig S

Their problem really was that due to its sandboxed nature, Silverlight doesn't have copy/paste (try it in bing.com/maps/explore) and they were too scared about being late to work on adding it.
http://twitter.com/TurboFool @TurboFool

Give me this AND user-swappable memory, and you may have me back on board. It's the latter that still bothers me the most, though. If this is meant to be a Zune, I don't think the 8GB minimum (which most manufacturers won't bother to go beyond) is acceptable. I don't care if it requires me to jump through hoops to run a special tool to backup the data to my computer, then initialize my new card, then transfer the data back after upgrading the card, or whatever, but give me the ability to decide how much memory my phone has on top of what the manufacturer builds in. Give me an 8GB phone and the ability to add a 32GB card and I'll manage with that. But don't rely on the manufacturers to do the right thing and give us options. They have too much market fragmentation to be able to pull that off properly.