WP7 Thoughts By Readers: Martin Schmidler

May 5, 2010 | By WenWP

Here are some more thoughts by one of our readers who seems to like the idea MS has brought to us, and he makes sure to document it nicely:

I have been a Windows Mobile poweruser for quite a while now; I started with a HTC Herald, then switched to the Touch Cruise
and now I own a HTC TouchPro. Let me get this straight right at the beginning: I absolutely love Windows Phone 7 and here’s why.

With Windows Mobile 6.x users have lots of possibilities to customize and hack, that’s a fact. And while I often find it
exciting to test new ROMs and new software I also have the strong feeling that it is wrong. Especially when I am in a stressful situation
and I need my phone to simply work properly WinMo leaves me standing in the rain.
I can’t note something down quickly because it takes time to get to the notes app and then the keyboard lags or some graphical issues
appear… we all know this, there’s just a constant need to softreset, having stock ROMs or custom ROMs doesn’t really matter.
And even the best UI overlays fail because they don’t cover the whole system. At some point you come across some old-style (meaning Windows 2000-style)
elements and I as a design-fanatic can’t stand that.

I love Windows Phone 7 because it offers a completely new approach in terms of user interface, it combines some great projects from Microsoft
such as Zune, Xbox Live and Windows Live plus it has some great technical details (Silverlight, XNA, update-system, social media integration)
that make it stand out from the crowd of mobile OSes.

And all at the same time it is based on Windows CE. I know some of you still don’t get it, so I repeat: It is based on WINDOWS CE and that means Xda-Developers can hack the heck out of it. Also, think about custom ROMs: Flashing those ican be compared to jailbreaking the iPhone but in contrast to Apple Microsoft has got a different philosophy, they are not interested in completely sealing off everything the old WinMo fanbase and the nerds love.
They just want the average consumer – and that’s the masses you make the big money with – to feel comfortable when using a Windows Phone.

For me Android isn’t attractive enough (lack of 3D gaming for example) and the iPhone is, as we all know, the most locked down platform of all plus
there is no model with a hardware-keyboard. I will await the reviews before I buy anything but in my opinion Windows Phone 7 is the most promising candidate.

About myself: I’m a 20 year old tech enthusiast, living in Austria, Europe. My gadget collection also includes Apple products, like my MacBook Pro.
You can find my weblog (german + english) which focusses on technology and austrian politics at http://www.martinschmidler.com

If you do not agree with his views, please do not be a child about it, just comment nicely, or even submit your own thoughts to me and it shall be posted (99.9% of the time).

About Wen M

Working for WMPU is awesome. Love to write personal articles, and I do it very often. I am the reviewing editor (self appointed), so you will see alot of reviews and giveaways from me. I own quite a few devices not just Windows Phone but Android and others. I live in Minnesota, USA and love traveling to other places.

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Tagged thoughts, Users, windows phone 7

msft

How can someone "absolutely love" a mobile OS that he hasn't even used?
msft

How can someone "absolutely love" a mobile OS that he hasn't even used?

John

how can someone "absolutely hate" it either?
Venkat

There are several demos to show what it is capable of.

http://www.avianwaves.com Parrotlover77

"we all know this, there’s just a constant need to softreset, having stock ROMs or custom ROMs doesn’t really matter."

We all don't "know" this. I can't think of a time my Touch Pro 2 has needed to be reset for any reason other than installation of an app. In my experience, I've found that when you start digging with people who complain about the performance/crashing of WM, almost every single one has jumped recklessly into the registry, modifying values just because they read somewhere that it "helps." Don't even get me started on ROMs that apply all kinds of odd tweaks to various caches and other snake oil, all in the desperate hope to squeeze out a little more performance from their modest CPUs.

I'd love to meet one person who has to "constantly restart" or "live in stress" who uses a stock ROM and doesn't apply the multitude of snake oil registry tweaks.

http://intensedebate.com/people/martinschmidler martinschmidler

Those issues are definetely not related to modifications in the registry (in my case at least). I'm using TAEL and now Exquisite Series ROMs and both have their issus. That's just in the nature of things, it's just WM 6.x itself that isn't really stable/smooth. Building the platform completely new without backwards compatibility is just the right thing to do to succeed imho.
http://intensedebate.com/people/martinschmidler martinschmidler

Those issues are definetely not related to modifications in the registry (in my case at least). I'm using TAEL and now Exquisite Series ROMs and both have their issus. That's just in the nature of things, it's just WM 6.x itself that isn't really stable/smooth. Building the platform completely new without backwards compatibility is just the right thing to do to succeed imho.

http://www.facebook.com/Bugblatter Bug Blatter

I'm not sure there's much point replying to someone who told me to STFU and stop posting here, but hey, I'm a grown-up

I'm not so sure that a brand new OS is going to be fantastically stable.

MS is helping themselves by locking things down, but still they'll have a lot of people writing apps that do things in a way they hadn't tested. Say what you like, it's still a very immature OS.

I rarely reset my HD2, although it's annoying when I do have to. I have to reboot my Windows 7 machines a lot more often.

I use Miri's XtraLite 6.5.x ROM with SPB Mobile Shell. Very stable, very fast, loads of spare ROM space. Shell isn't as pretty as Sense but gives faster access to what I need access to.

http://intensedebate.com/people/martinschmidler martinschmidler

I told you to STFU because most of your comments to me simply sound like trolling (this one does not, actually).
I mean, obviously you are a complete hater of WinPhone 7 and there will be hardly any new apps/games for WinMo 6.5 in the near future. So by the end of the year or next year you will have to switch platforms as well.

"apps that do things in a way they hadn't tested" sounds WinMo 6.5 to me. Or do you mean in the future, when Xda-Devs found a way to sideload apps, that there might be problems? Of course, but that's the risk of hacking.

I own a Xbox360, besides the RRoD there are no real issues with it. It's quite fast, smooth, user friendly. Same thing with Windows7 and ZuneHD, all those are success stories.
Having to reboot it several times a day might be because of your hardware components (did you build the PC yourself?)

Customizing a phone is nice. But it isn't what a phone is designed to be. If you want to be creative get a camera, start painting, play music, act…whatever. And because I as most people want to easily access and work with information a consistent user interface is mandatory.

http://twitter.com/illusive_life @illusive_life

Zune HD is about as much of a success story as the DEC Alpha processors.

Note, I'm not attacking the device, as I see it as quite a nice little MP3 player, but in no way a replacement for my 120gb Zune. What I am saying it is though, is a complete failure in sales. I've seen multiple Best Buys that don't even have the devices charged on the display because not only do the employees know anything about it to sell it, but no one else has a clue what it is either.
http://www.facebook.com/Bugblatter Bug Blatter

I invite anyone to look over my past posts and see if I'm trolling. How many 39-year-old Software Development Manager trolls do you know?

I think you regard anyone with a different opinion to you as a troll, and you very aggressively attack them.

I've never said that I hate WP7; I've always maintained that it's targetted at a demographic that doesn't include me or many other existing WM users. That's Microsoft's choice to make.

"apps that do things in a way they hadn't tested" is absolutely every OS ever. It's impossible to test for all possible code that could ever be written, and it's impossible to thoroughly test every app that's submitted to the app store.

A few years ago I submitted my own app to MIcrosoft (for Windows) and had it approved. They never asked a single question about it, and I can guarantee that they didn't test it thoroughly. It's just not practical for any company to thoroughly test every 3rd party's software.

I never said I had to reboot my Windows machines several times a day, just that I rebooted them more often than my HD2. We're still only talking around once every week or two unless I'm installing.

I built the server myself from top-notch components and it runs very nicely thanks; the laptop I didn't build of course.
http://twitter.com/illusive_life @illusive_life

You can remind these people all day it seems that you aren't saying the phone isn't perfect for them, and they'll still be childish and say that you are a troll for a flamer. Remind me of the iPhone fanboi's through and through.

I agree with 100% of what you just said, and will add that I think it is going to be an AWESOME phone, just not a replacement for Windows Mobile for me, or many others I know.

http://twitter.com/illusive_life @illusive_life

I've now gone about 3 weeks on my HD2 with heavy use and haven't reset it either. My Tilt was the most stable though, as I believe I went over 2 months at the longest point until I locked it up playing with reg tweaks.

http://www.avianwaves.com Parrotlover77

Modifying the registry can have extremely unpredictable results. It is not just a repository of harmless tweaks. There are many things in the registry that control system behavior that can and will crash your phone if you set it to values that are not compatible with your phone.
http://www.facebook.com/sephiroth.vg Raffay Ali

man….dont flash custom roms if u want to bitch about them…cook your own and then complain ok? n about bakwards compatibility? How many phones u know can beam their GPS data through blue tooth? or act as WIFI cards? None i have heard of ever……so legacy apps like these is THE treasure trove MS is leaving behind ..and about 6.5.x? Miri makes the most stable roms ever…and if u WOULD have time after playing with your iGadgets you can search a bit on google (unless ur a google noob- a heck load of people are) and find programs which can do what you want ..

http://twitter.com/illusive_life @illusive_life

I rely on my phone for work all the time, and have never had an issue with "not being able to catch that call" or anything of the sort.

What is entertaining is one of my coworkers and their iPhone when they run out of juice in the middle of the day and forgot their cable. I carry a spare battery for such occasions

http://www.avianwaves.com Parrotlover77

Before I get flamed, I should point out that there are some good registry tweaks that modify the behavior of your phone to augment certain behaviors to suit your needs. I'm talking about snake oil like setting your glyph cache to ungodly large numbers and then complaining that GWES.exe is consuming all your memory.
Guest

I respect Martin's views on WP7, but disagree with the statement that since it's built on winCE it can therefore be hacked easily. The ZuneHD is also built on winCE and was not "hacked" till recently and even after being cracked open, still doesn't have much of a community… but it's only been 1/2 a month.
It's up to MS to decide what level of anti-"Jail breaking" effort to be put in WP7, so we really can't say until it comes out or somebody gets their grubby hands on a unit that was "left on a bar floor"

http://intensedebate.com/people/martinschmidler martinschmidler

You pointed it out, ZuneHD's community isn't as big. And there are some really, REALLY talented people at Xda-Developers. As I wrote in my article MS is just different from Apple, there is lots of evidence for that.

Mort

I'm not sure whether the CE base is really an advantage. And the UI is an important layer between. With Android, there's not much you can do with the base Linux system as well, except in an terminal emulator with a rooted phone. But you can't make it show anything on the common UI screens. I might very well be the same with WP7s.

And being at Android: Of course there is 3D gaming. It supports OpenGL 2.0, and every device has 3D accelleration. Admittedely, there aren't that many games about because the Droid/Milestone was the first Android phone with really good hardware and, maybe more important, noticeable sales numbers. Also, OpenGL 2.0 is only supported since Android 2.0 (though you could do some pretty nice things with 1.x, which was supported from start, as well). A great 3D game isn't hacked down in 3-4 months…

Regarding the UI, I think it might be a nice idea for casual users, but I'd be really annoyed by having to open and close hubs (and then scroll to the right page) all the time instead of customizing a single home screen with the mostly used apps/widgets. But, as said, if you won't take the time to customize, it might be a good thing.

TheHellsLord

Just a sidenote – isn't the Live-Tile System exactlly putting the things u need regularlly on your home screen? Yes they put u into a Hub or App when u open them, but ideally the information most important would be displayed in a tile.

Thinking of Sense 2.5 on my Touch HD – I can read a little in what it displays for E-Mails in that Tab but otherwise I have to open up the mail anyway, so if important info is compressed in a tile it's just a more compact representation.

Interesting question though: if a live tile shows me that there are new messages: will it put me directly to those new messages when i click it or just open the hub and leave me with finding the correct page myself. Well, as technically it would not be too hard – I hope MS will put us where we need to be.

Sephiroth

I think this 'tech-enthusiat' guy is just another apple fan…if u REALLY want to do something in a manner which is like…..wirtten in a book or something….get a iphone and PLZ stop bitching about about Win Mo 6.5.. Its a great plateform which you havent even EXPERIANCED on the HD2. So unless you HAVE TRIED out stuff dont whine about it please…..HD2 rocks n i think it is WAY better then what 7 can be (in the coming year) in terms of my useage (Movie Playback, Chatting). So again…dont whine…if u really hate having to reset and all that…get an iphone and stop being a kid TY

P.S: I am not flaming or anything…just telling you to stop whining and get something else if u hate it so much

http://intensedebate.com/people/martinschmidler martinschmidler

lulz dude, you ARE in fact flaming. and I am absolutely not whining bout WinMo 6.5, I'm just being realistic, it has got it's issues. Also I used my brothers HD2 for quite a while. You are imputing to me I never used it although you don't even know me — epic fail!

And obviously you didn't even read the whole article but just the first paragraph instead. I write that I do NOT like the iPhone, because it is even more locked down than WP7 and also because of the UI style.

http://twitter.com/illusive_life @illusive_life

No, he is voicing his opinion, not flaming.

If what he posted was flaming, what you've posted could be considered flaming as well.

Why are you so against all other opinions on the matter? You can't just address what they are saying, instead you say things like "you're flaming" or "stfu."

Childish IMHO.
Sephiroth

lol dude u are WHINING that the win mo sucks this way..or that way…BUT when u look at the market….whats there to compete with win mo? symbian ? its fail……..iphone ? its hardware kinda sucks……android? still needs a lil bit maturity and wide range codec support (Read core player).. so in a nutshell..there isint anything on the market as mature as 6.5..while it DOES have its short comings..

Sephiroth

its pretty pointless to whine that it doesnt have this and it doesnt have that (eye candy mostly). But when u look at win mo again…it gets the job DONE…there is a lot of room to play around with it …..and ..for me there isint anything like it. And i kinda think that Win Mo is NOT for the average consumer because its bit complex and hard to get used to. So if u want eye candy or other stuff…get an android or iphone and stop flaming win mo…. n i did INDEED read ur article (it was same yada yada over n over again).. using the HD2? gurantees that u know all about it? ru some sort of a god that KNOWS what anything can do my just hovering ur hand over it or something? using and owning something is different….so get your facts straight..simply put the HD2 is heaven in a nutshell for me pricing-availability (nexus one and desire still arent widely available in asia-screen-power. What more do you need?

Sephiroth

and seriously…CONVERTING videos (read zune) to put in your mobile ? DRM? msn live? do we REALLY need all this stuff when we have apps like Nimbuzz which can cater to all your needs ? msn mail? (gmail is wayy wayyyy more advanced then msn will ever be) silverlight? xbox? i dont play xbox becuase simply put..it aint a PC… and if ud talk about games on mobiles.. i think just get morphgear put some roms like contra-pokemon and ur set to spend ur free time or…just fire up your browser and do what japanese do…….read stories….what more do you want in a mobile in this year? unless a mobile running windows xp comes out which can play >10 Mbps streams without problem i wont really upgrade to 7 because in terms of performance it isint giving me enough cause to spend my money

http://www.facebook.com/sephiroth.vg Raffay Ali

I can’t note something down quickly because it takes time to get to the notes app and then the keyboard lags or some graphical issues
appear… we all know this, there’s just a constant need to softreset, having stock ROMs or custom ROMs doesn’t really matter.

http://twitter.com/illusive_life @illusive_life

I've never had keyboard lag except for in Opera 10 BETA

Notes takes one click on the home screen to get to.

I agree, I don't understand what this guys issues are.
http://twitter.com/illusive_life @illusive_life

I've never had keyboard lag except for in Opera 10 BETA

Notes takes one click on the home screen to get to.

I agree, I don't understand what this guys issues are.

Sephiroth

id say one word…hes a nOOb thats the whole issue haahah

http://www.facebook.com/sephiroth.vg Raffay Ali

Tips (because ur a noob): put notepad shortcut on your home screen(2.5 sense)..as for your 'claimed' graphic glitches? Ive owned and used a X1, HD, Touch Pro, Omnia 2 (friends kept it for a few days), Tytn 2, HD2 and i have NEVER seen any graphical problems WHATSO ever..(prolly the cook tried to put it some other devices disp drivers).keyboard…only lags on BAD roms..else it doesnt (infact on HD2 its smooth as water) adn FYI…custom cooks lie Dutty and Miri makes roms MUCH much better then the stock ones can hope.. Also the onus is on YOU 'the user' to properly configure your device.

Also another point…gadget collection? its useless..because ..u have so many devices you cannot work on one well enough (I keep HD2 and a N97 (for use as a spare when im travelling and need to use my HD2 for entertaintment-so i know what its like to have 2 devices in use ..its heck). Also try CHT to make more shortcurts on your 2.5 sense rom and ull have all the things u need at your finger tips (10 programs…how many more u need for quick access ?)
Steve

Sad looking back at this post now that WP7 has turned out to be just as locked down as the iPhone.