Your verdict on Windows Phone 7 – Yay or Nay

February 15, 2010 | By Surur

Now that we have all seen the demos what do our readers think? Is Windows Phone 7 competitive, or so out there that it will never find customers?

In short, is is hot or not?

[poll id=”18”]

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 mwc 10, poll, windows phone 7

http://intensedebate.com/people/mohsen7x8 mighty

I think it's exactly what we feared… media player poweruser anyone?…
http://gadgetmix.com GadgetMix.com

I'm disappointed. It is a Zune Phone, not a Windows Phone. Terribly disappointed. I want to get my work done. I did not get an iPhone because I love to have control over my device. This is just another (good) iPhone clone with media centric features.

Time to get myself a dumb phone. Nokia 8800 Arte, here I come. No point in being with the Windows Mobile

—-
Windows Mobile user (2002-2010)
ali

yes this is dumb interface, media center edition phone.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

please explain your views on how the interface is dumb. your one liner isn't saying much.

http://whyohwhyHTC.com whyohwhyHTC.com

HTC HD2 not getting windows mobile 7 what gives.. HTC using there own rumour mill to lead people thinking HD2 was going to get mobile 7 series. and that includes msmobile.com you guys suck.
motty69

I'm not all that impressed now, but I won't be elligible for an upgrade till summer of 2011. So even though I am voting no right now, I'm willing to keep an eye on it and see what WP7.5S brings to the table.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

how can't you get work done? I don't understand your logic, or maybe it's just that you're not making much sense.
I loved that Microsoft merged both lines. I see myself getting way more than work done on WP7.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

wmpoweruser which ever company you have running the servers please change. because the site keels over really easily.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Darnell_Chat_TN Darnell_Chat_TN

I'm planning to move from Sprint to T-Mobile and get the HTC Touch HD2, but after seeing the WM 7's presentation today. I don't want WM 7 on my Touch HD2. This year I'll do the Touch HD 2 with WM 6.5 and next year I'll see if WM 7 has matured to have simple things like Flash support and back-ward compatibility. If it does not offer more than was presented today by mid next year, I may have to find something else outside of the WM camp.

I would have been happier, if they just added some more bells and whistles to WM 6.5.3, called it WM 7 and been done with it.

I like WM 6.5 and simply wanted to be able to connect to my Windows Media Center for music and video. But a little extra media while losing back-ward compatibility, becoming more "cloud dependent", no Flash support, unable to get more modified UI (and I don't think Balmer's analogy of DOS to Windows is comparable)…sorry MS. Just give me WMC capability in WM 6.5 and leave me be. Or help the folks at ORB to get their software to stream video over WM 7.
Alan Strangis

I think the first three commenters missed a few things. WP7S has a lot more potential than just a media interface. MS didn't get into a lot of details regarding productivity, but the Office hub looks intriguing, and the calendar application looked fantastic. I expect that it'll be a lot better than the current iterations of Office mobile.

It's also worth pointing out that they did explicitly say that manufacturers would be able to do customizations, and different form factors (slide out keyboards etc). WP7S version of Sense UI, and a lot of hacks on XDA. What makes this even better is that with a much more strict set of hardware specs, it'll probably mean easier code portability between different manufacturers.

NuShrike

Yes, understand your point about potential. The problem is MS has never delivered in this area so potential means nothing. At the end of the day, having this kind of device is not about what it "could" do, but all about what it IS doing.

The lag time to wait for what it IS doing is very very likely mid-2011 so really, what's the point of waiting for MS to sort it out? It would be okay, if it was like XP where we could wait, but competition being what it is, MS is way too behind to have that luxury.
http://intensedebate.com/people/mohsen7x8 mighty

I'm thinking about "jailbroken" WP7 devices…

http://gadgetmix.com GadgetMix.com

Hey Surur, listening? It is time to spend some extra pounds on server (rather than sponsoring Mr Edward for coverage).
http://gadgetmix.com GadgetMix.com

Well, let me say it like this – "if you love iPhone, you will love this". I'm pretty sure that one will have no control over the file system, like iPhone. You will no longer be able to control or hack it like old windows mobile.

It is a Zune with a GSM/CDMA radio + Office suit. Accept it. Have a happy time looking over those smooth GUI animations
http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

how are you sure there will be no file system? because they didn't show any? they didn't show that it supports voice search either but it's there, a rep mistakenly activated it and it was caught on video. the voice search isn't done coding yet. and same can be said for the file system. not because you don't see something that doesn't mean it's not there.

oh, and I don't like the iphone os. it would of been much better if you said, anyone who likes the zunehd os will like this.

http://gadgetmix.com GadgetMix.com

Read my previous post again. I did not say there is "no file system".

MoB

I particularly dislike the Windows Phone 7. It seems like a total mess, strange, bunch of something. They were not talking about multitasking – which means they won't have any (otherwise they would say "in contrary to iPhone… bla bla" No way…
http://intensedebate.com/people/Darnell_Chat_TN Darnell_Chat_TN

That is interesting that they didn't mention multitasking.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

I wonder if as the development continues if those tiles will be transformed into big "live" icons with some sort of translucency?
http://www.dag.cl optimusdag

I'm very disapointed for the way it handles the touch navigation through the "pages". It waits for the flick to finish and then reacts, so you cannot get the feel if the flick is working out or not until 500ms later or so. It would have been better to have an instant response like the one on Android, SPB Mobile Shell or iPhone interfaces.
All the rest is looking pretty good.
I hope it has an accesible filesystem and more important MULTITASKING!!!!

http://intensedebate.com/people/mohsen7x8 mighty

yes dude, the software is unfinished and this is obvious from the videos. just wait

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

sigh….it's still in development…it's been an early build. early builds are never too good, they maybe ok, but not that great. maybe this is something you don't know. so now you know. go look at some early builds of some software you love and see how it performs.
http://gadgetmix.com GadgetMix.com

I feel bad for the WM developers, esp the ones behind today screen plugins. Gone are the days of informative today screens. Everybody is now busily engrossed in flashy today screen plugins.
Tersoth

I'm sticking with 6.x since I can customize it the way i want, have more power, and control over my device. I'd rather have the HD2 with 6.x than a WP7 media phone any day. I'm so glad they are still developing 6.x. Besides I still prefer Sense to the Zuneish interface.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5401995 Christopher Hippolyte

More power and control to do what????????????? Mess around with installing the latest version of sense, and then hacking it to work in landscape until the HTC releases a Keyboard version, and then right back to installing the latest version of sense? And so the cycle continues? That's not productivity, that's waisting time for nonsense.

Argenys

Finally Someone speaks the truth! The main reason people do these things is because WM6+ is not that very good at default.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Darnell_Chat_TN Darnell_Chat_TN

In this video, MS confirms WM is no longer all about the business user any more.
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/LauraFoy/First-Loo…
efjay

I like it, and will be getting a W7SP as soon as they launch. If there is no upgrade to 7 announced by HTC for the HD2 I will skip that device. This is a must have for me.

I wonder though what exactly would have made the detractors happy. Everyone said WM 6.x.x was crap, yet when MS does something completely different its still crap? It has full exchange and office functionality so what exactly is missing for business users? If you dont want to use the social features, dont input your details and I'm sure the phone wont magically connect you to facebook, etc. And since the tiles can be rearranged you can have your relevant office data (appointments, corporate email) right where you can see them.

And I for one am happy things like Sense, Mobile Shell are gone, Too often they proved to be too resource intensive and buggy causing the device to misbehave which is then blamed on the OS.

Finally you do have a choice. Stick with wM 6.x.x, or switch to another OS. I feel though that MS has kept the best of both worlds for the business user and average consumer and am looking forward to upgrading to Windows Phone 7.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

same here, but I'm not going to be skipping the HD2 at all. it's going to be my next device. seeing as it's going to be the baddest phone in the US for some time. I don't see anything coming down the pike to beat it yet.

granted on the homescreen in WP7, I would change up the tiles a little. they wouldn't be that flat…I would have them looking like the icons on Windows 7's superbar when an app is running. throw some translucency in those big icons so when they start of flow over the background image

http://www.facebook.com/AdamSulli Adam Sullivan

Being a podcast junkie, and my top app being beyondpod, all I need to know is if you can update podcasts directly to the device or if you have to sync with a pc. Syncing with a pc is definatly a step backwards for me.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

well a podcast hub only seems like a simple dev app away

netboy

sure, the wm7 interface is nice, but after looking and playing that garbage for awhile, you will get tired of it! when i click on something, i want it access to it immediately! not wait until this stupid wm7 animation interface finish doing it things!
Fdo35

At first I HATED it, but then I realized it was actually pretty good and started to like it.
Fdo35

Oh, I just remembered. In a video interview with a Windows Phone 7 developer on MSDN, he said that Windows Phone 7 lets you customize the system colors and stuff like that. I'm posting this because that means Windows Phone is STILL the only mobile OS that lets you customize the look (and no, the Android homescreen is not what I'm talking about) of your device right out of the box.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

looking at the office hub images, it seems like users will be able to download things to the device as there is a tab there for "download"….so there's at least some sort of file system in place or in the works.
Seven MSS

First of all I really like all the hyping and off course, all the WM7 news today. Now that it is over, this is what I think.

What I decided is to enjoy my HD2 with WM 6.5 and Sense on top. IF it will get an update (official or not) it will still take months till that moment. I would not want the WM7 as it is ATM on my HD2. It is not finished yet.

Ok. About WM7 in general.
Please MicroSoft think about other things than Facebook.
1. Multitasking.
2. Good looking AND useful interface (why those huge letters? Maybe it works really well, I have not used a Zune HD before, but it looks like wasting space).
3. I want to be able to customize my 'start'/home screen, a LOT. Not just the colors. Give us many options to choose from. Having a lot of choice is ALWAYS good.
4. Freedom. I want to have the CHOICE between your own browser (I have seen nice improvements, but still) or Opera browser. Or skyfire. Or firefox in the future.
5. Do what you must to make the Appstore/Marketplace a SUCCES. Don't think Xbox Live service is all we need regarding apps. I want games that are not on Xbox Live. And I want other apps, not only games.

They are going the right way. If they make the right next steps, they have a winner. And then it is going to get intresting, to see multiple succesful 'titans' on the same market. (iPhone vs. Android Phone vs. Windows Phone, and don't forget about Palm and Blackberry. Also Nokia is going the good way… damn)

Maybe 2011/2012 will be a hard year for me to pick a next smartphone haha.

http://intensedebate.com/people/wmphone wmphone

1. Multitasking.
>>> One thing i don't understand why some users need a real multitasking (taskmanager) … it should just work. What i see in the demos is that it works!

2. Good looking AND useful interface (why those huge letters? Maybe it works really well, I have not used a Zune HD before, but it looks like wasting space).

>>> Its just cool and new … test a zune hd and you will love it!

http://intensedebate.com/people/wmphone wmphone

3. I want to be able to customize my 'start'/home screen, a LOT. Not just the colors. Give us many options to choose from. Having a lot of choice is ALWAYS good.

>>> Sure and it will have it. Developers will have a lot of options to implent functions. See more at MiX10.

4. Freedom. I want to have the CHOICE between your own browser (I have seen nice improvements, but still) or Opera browser. Or skyfire. Or firefox in the future.

>>> One good browser still enough!

5. Do what you must to make the Appstore/Marketplace a SUCCES. Don't think Xbox Live service is all we need regarding apps. I want games that are not on Xbox Live. And I want other apps, not only games.

>>> It has a marketplace with normal apps. Games will based on XNA (looks fantastic -> test PGR on Zune HD!) no need boring old wm games)
Argenys

For those flipping out about WP7 need to calm down. We probably don't even know about half the things in store to WP7 it's not coming out next week people. Its coming out in 8+ months from now. There are many things that weren't shown or talked about because either its not ready and/or they are not going to give all the details in one day. They are going to milk it as much as they can to keep WP7 in the minds of people. Please CALM DOWN.
http://themobileninjas.com RileyFreeman

I have got to say the poll is too bare. There should be an option that im waiting to see. I currently have an HTC Touch pro2. I am leaving the platform I started on for an iphone. By the time this has been released and all the lil kinks i saw in their video I will determine if I am going to go back or not.
illonexxx

I'm still going with the HD2; and from the looks of WP7, I don't want it on there. I much prefer what I've seen of HD2 sense UI to what I'm seeing of WP7 UI.

Why those big blocks on the home screen? That's not the problem though. The real problem is that the WP7 home screen has no personality; just a big fat scrollable list of tiles. In an effort to make the list not look too monolithicly drab they've made some of the tiles off centered; yet all the same, it still looks drab. And with no 3rdParty UI's allowed we are all stuck with the drabness.

illonexxx

Cont.

The #1 thing MSFT got right with WM7 would be zune integration. Direct zune pass acess, zune (album, artist, song) navigation, everything zune is awesome; for music, not the whole damn OS. If they released the "zune tile" as an app that would work on WM 6.5.3 I'd be in heaven.

They didn't dive far enough into the calendar tile to know how superior it is, but a more functional finger friendly calendar is most welcome. But again, I can get a 3rd party app for WM6.5.3 and be happy.

Contextual search is also a good add.

As far as all the bringing together people, photos, social aspects; it's not a bad addition. From what I've seen of the HD2 sense UI, I would prefer HTC's version of it. Honestly, I think this comes down to how drab WP7 looks compared to Sense. Contextual should put WP7 ahead of Sense (not sure if it has it) but the screen looks so boring.

Jay

wow, some of you do need to calm down. I think this interface is absolutely amazing. The interface on the current Wm devices are so windows 95. I can not understand why some of you would want to keep what you have. The start screen is basic and perfect. For anyone who has handed a Wm phone to someone and have someone say they don't know how to use this. The iphone is so basic with icons across the screen. WP7 gives you a much better experience. I don't have to run a facebook or twitter app to see updates. I don't have to run a program it's all there built in. I think you're all afraid of change. It's not what you're used to so it scares you. I think once you get it in your hand, you'll see the difference and realize it's good.

All the press that has held this in their hands have said how great it is. I Love the animated tiles, and the fact i'll be able to customize them. I'm certain that they're will be developers who will create different tiles for us. Don't lose hope.

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