Horrible APIs? All I've heard from the developers I know have been good things.


Then again, I'm not even sure what youre trying to argue.

I don't think Tibby knows what APIs even are.

WinPhone7 is MISSING APIs. It doesn't have horrible APIs. It also has an old old version of Silverlight to run on. The XNA side is solid though.

Doesn't matter, it's easier to write apps for WP7 than any other phone. WPF/Silverlight are insanely easy and powerful.

What part of "not the same project" do you not understand? And actually, Kin was fine. The lack of suitable data plans for teens played a big part in its demise. Parents didn't want to pay $70/month to give their kids a Kin.

The problem they're facing is the same one WebOS did. It's lacking basic stuff, like file system access. Applications like Dropbox are essentially impossible.

Also, the silverlight implementation is supposedly terrible, that or people don't know how to use it. Lots of reviews complained about how things like speed and scrolling were abysmal on third party apps.

I suppose you think cell phone companies actually give "free" phones with their plans as well. I can actually use your same logic to say that Droid sucks so bad Verizon has to throw them at people to get them to sign up.

That's because newbie developers have no idea what they're doing with it and don't know how to write optimized programs in Silverlight. Just cause it runs well on your super-fast computer doesn't mean your crappy code won't crawl on a mobile phone. Hell, most of the developers don't even have a clue that bitmap caching exists in Silverlight.

Well written third-party apps (Facebook and Netflix for example) are buttery smooth. And missing APIs will come in time. Hell it's only been out for a month and a half in the US and a fairly major update is in the cards for early 2011 already.

Also, basic stuff like file-system access is something that iOS still doesn't have either... In iOS, apps have access to their own isolated file store, and the few special groups of things exposed by the OS like photos. In WP7, guess what, you have Silverlight isolated storage and things exposed by the OS like photos. It's pretty much the same system.

I've had the HTC Hero [Android 3g] on Sprint since it dropped. Palm Pre before that, but I love this one so. It came with like Android 1.5 I think, but I finally got around to updating it to the latest [2.3?] a few weeks ago and am quite pleased.

I've got a couple mail accounts that notify on it, an ssh client to manage my servers, a barcode scanner to look up books or whatnot, apps for my credit cards and bank account including an ATM-finder, GPS+navigation bundle.

On occasion I even use it for phone calls.....

well I'm one of the (apparently few) people who jumped on WinMob7 when it came out a month or so ago.

Overall I'm very happy with it at the moment...but this is coming from good ole symbionOS on a nokia, so anything was likely to be better as a "smartphone".

WinMob7 is clearly behind in terms of certain features compared to iOS and Android, cut and paste is one I've found wanting on a few occassions, but nothing a bit of using my head didn't solve (amazing what you can actually remember if you try and stop being lazy). With microsoft controlling the updates, much like iOS and the planned updates coming think and fast in the new year I get the feeling anything missing compared to the others will rapidly be added.

I like the OS, it looks flashy but is damn quick with everything I've needed so far, great integration with facebook (which made updating friends/contacts easy as pie) and I've arranged the live tiles so that pretty much everything I need updating on is shown on the main page.

Sure it's not the complete article yet, but its got some great features and a good deal of potential.

Pretty much how I feel about it as well. C&P is missing, but it's coming in a month or two most likely (there's already a beta version of the update floating around that has it), and the "Share" functionality that's already in there takes care of 90% of the C&P use cases anyway.

It's not as mature as iOS or Android, but that doesn't bother me one bit. I went from using an iPhone running iOS 4 to it, and I don't regret it at all. Everyone I know who's switched loves it too.

I very briefly (probably not long enough to accurately judge) saw a Windows 7 phone demo'd today. After having my Droid for 5 days, I wasn't impressed.

Here's the kicker for me:

What are reasons to get WinMo7 over Android? Because I can't think of any. People say it's not so bad, but you have options, so why pick something inferior?

It would have been far better if they waited another 6-9 months for development and got more app developers involved.

Here's the kicker for me:

Why does it bother you so much that other people have different tastes and opinions on platforms than you do? Why is everything that you use automatically superior?

WP7 has plenty of good stuff that I prefer over Android like:
The UI (this is a big one, not a fan of any of the iterations or skins of the Android UI that I've used/seen)
The development environment
Kick-ass Zune Pass integration
Tighter control over specs/less fragmentation and MS controlling the updates, so users on different models and carriers should get the updates at the same time instead of waiting weeks to months

But please, continue to try and poke holes in my opinion or tell me why I'm wrong for not liking the platform that you like.

Almost everyone I know who's bought into the platform loves it, and they did their research and knew exactly what they were and were not getting with it. The platform's fine for me. It's going to get updates quickly. Don't like it? Don't buy it, but don't tell me that I'm wrong for liking it.

I wasn't even talking to you in specific, why are you so defensive?

When the time does come that I am seriously considering a smartphone I will look hard at the Windows phones. I will be interested to see if there is an XM app for it as well and if Limbaugh has released his app for the platform (he did say that Android and Blackberry are coming but he didn't mention Windows). I am interested in Google Calendar, Documents, and mail integration but I assume it will be nowhere near the caliber of what google will have on the droid. Some of my PDA games should run on Windows phones so that will be a plus. I am an Xbox Live subscriber and intend to start using Media Center more (again) whenever I upgrade to 7 so I suppose those will be feature MS phones will be better for.

I've used several Android variations and the UI on all of them had laughably amateur mistakes. WP7 was much better in that regard

As one of the people on this thread who has WP7, your comment was directed at me because you denounced the platform I chose as "inferior." I'm just pointing out that people have other tastes and opinions than you do, which is something you seem to not realize quite often (or if you do realize that, you just disregard them anyway).

I mean, can they really afford to do that from a marketing perspective? The Android's been out almost 2 years and it's just starting to get good market share.

The Iphone 5 is also probably going to be announced soon.

It's a catch 22. No one wants to develop apps for a platform that doesn't have market share, and no one wants to develop apps for an incomplete platform.

So far, most users don't seem to care that it's incomplete, so it's probably working.

Thing is, only one of your offered reasons was anything of an opinion (the UI). Development environment I know is good, to debate that is retarded (wholly missing APIs is brutal however, which will and is causing the same situation WebOS faced).

Zune Pass is no longer relevant (and this is coming from someone who was a diehard Zune Pass fan. In fact, I too specifically looked forward to WP7 for that reason.). There's better services out there that do streaming combined with offline storage/caching. Grooveshark is one example, with a much larger library, cheaper price, works on Mac, works via the web, and most mobile phones.

As for control/fragmentation, there's a LOT of downsides to this. MicroSD cards that can't be removed, no USB storage support, most devices are identical, and there's so far very little indication about carriers not getting their way with the platform.

Wookie: Beware, there's almost no Google integration allowed. In fact, Bing search is mandatory across the device as far as integrated services goes.




Microsoft actually pushed really hard before release for development of apps. There's no reason they couldn't have done even more in that area (contests/straight up payments/etc).

Umm, how are those other things not opinions? Because you say so? And dismissing them as being "retarded" or "not relevant" just because you say so doesn't really make you sound any better than an Android fanboy who can't accept that someone else likes a different platform.

And I know there are downsides to control, but guess what, I think the benefits outweigh the downsides. You're preaching all the anti-WP7 talking points that I've heard 1000 times over, and knew about before I bought into the platform.

I guess the fact that I also love the Office/SharePoint integration doesn't matter either. Or the fact that I think MS made the best touchscreen keyboard I've ever used on a phone.

What if they didn't want to? WP7 is not about tons of apps, and you're delusional if you think app count is why the majority of people buy iPhones. The iPhone works as a phone and as a platform. Apps are great, and lots of people use them, but WP7 is specifically targeted at people that don't want to get caught up in that garbage. Meave is a perfect example

Oh, I figured. I guess if I can sync with Outlook it's not that big of an issue but being able to access gmail on the fly would be cool. I'm leaning towards droid but if it turns out that a windows phone suits me better maybe I'll go that way. Either way, probably won't look for a phone until the fall.

You can hookup Gmail through ActiveSync and get push Gmail on WP7. You can also access Google calendars that way. That's how I have mine setup.

Things will also likely be a lot different on both fronts by the fall too.

I disagree with your entire post. WP7 doesn't know what it's for. There's already services that cover both extremes: iOS and Android. iOS is stupidly simple to use, and Android is the tweaker's favorite. You want a good example of just how confused Microsoft is itself on WP7? Watch the Dive Into Mobile Q&A video with one of the developers.

Also, I can't imagine what you mean by "getting all caught up in that garbage". What garbage? You don't HAVE to get apps on any platform. But to pretend in this day and age that good apps aren't important on a smartphone is ... well you'd be delusional.

App count isn't the important factor, its quality apps and apps that cover major usage scenarios. WP7 still has a large dearth in that manner, and there's no way you can say it hasn't impacted its reception as a platform thus far.

Having used both, I think WP7 does a better job of putting your information directly up front and in your face. No hunting through a stupid home screen to figure out what to open.


I never said that.

It always annoyed me that it was perpetually 73 degrees and partly cloudy according to the iOS weather app until I actually opened it up...

I'm probably the only one here with one of these.

LOL NOKIA

LOL IT RUNS DEBIAN

Yeah, and Macs run FreeBSD

Blackberry.

Yeah, Blackberry Storm. Like a BOSS. What can I say, I refused to get anything without tactile feedback.

309484C6 for any other crackberry users who want to chat.

Wow, you must be lonely. Trying to find people to chat with on a niche device on a niche Star Wars board. Many people get like that during the holidays, I guess.

You have to have a special ID code to chat with a blackberry?

HAHA

How is it different from an e-mail address, AIM screen name, ICQ number...?

BBs are very common around here. I wouldn't say it's niche, and many people offer BB pin/phone number if you need to contact them.

Throw that piece of **** out in the trash and get an upgrade ASAP.

Still waiting on my froyo update damn you samsung

Were you able to register your samsung device? They won't accept my serial number.

I attempted to on their website but the form was so messed up I couldn't.. it wouldn't let me choose a city/state other than Singapore, not to mention that they didn't even have my phone listed.