Five Reasons to Switch to Windows Phone 7

PCWorld ^ | October 08, 2010 | Tony Bradley

[SmokingJoe]

It's not here yet, but next week Microsoft is hosting a media event where it is expected to unveil launch details for the highly-anticipated Windows Phone 7 platform. With Microsoft's virtual absence from the smartphone arena in recent years, and the rise of iPhone and Android, Windows Phone 7 may be too little, too late. However, there are a few compelling reasons to take a closer look and consider making a switch to Windows Phone 7.

1. Hubs. The hubs concept is one of the smartphone paradigm shifts imagined by Microsoft. Grouping apps and functions based on general categories is an innovative and effective means of navigating the smartphone. Case in point--since Apple introduced the ability to nest apps in folders under iOS 4.0 I have essentially gone through and implemented a similar concept by creating categorized folders and housing the appropriate apps there. The iPhone version just requires more manual effort on my part.

2. Tiles. Rather than a smartphone display filled with little app icons a' la iPhone, or Android (or a Windows PC), Windows Phone 7 uses tiles. These large squares let you see at-a-glance what is going on in your connected mobile world. How many e-mails have arrived, how many phone calls or voicemail messages have come in, or what's new on your social networks. There are apps and push notifications on iPhone and Android that perform similar functions, but not as clearly and intuitively as the Windows Phone 7 tiles.

[B Knotts]

I was really looking forward to Maemo, but it never really got going before it was absorbed into the less-interesting MeeGo.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Meanwhile...we have:

Samsung ships 5 million Galaxy S smartphones

And Apple has shipped even more...and has the iPad....

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What a flood of stuff....

[kevkrom]

Even apps that are free place a burden on me to then uninstall them.

Wouldn't you have to uninstall "try before you buy" apps you didn't want to buy?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Speaking of Palm....

Wonder what in the H...***l HP is going to do with that acquisition...?

[tacticalogic]

Showing how WP7 is still WAY behind. By then Android 3.x will be mature and shipping on all Android phones, and Apple will probably be at iOS 5. Microsoft, always forgetting to lead moving targets.

Do you think Excel will ever catch up to Lotus 1-2-3?

[McGruff]

N/a for me because I work at a company that doesn’t allow camera phones. I have an old Motorola phone that I can still use because it doesn’t have a camera. Just as well probably.

[antiRepublicrat]

Do you think Excel will ever catch up to Lotus 1-2-3?

Excel only won because Lotus was slow in bringing 123 to the dominant Windows platform. Microsoft has no such leverage here, and WP7 isn't even compatible with earlier Windows Mobile applications.

[tacticalogic]

Excel only won because Lotus was slow in bringing 123 to the dominant Windows platform. Microsoft has no such leverage here, and WP7 isn't even compatible with earlier Windows Mobile applications.

That's amazing. Microsoft can get trashed in one arena for keeping things backward compatible, and trashed on another for not doing it.

[for-q-clinton]

Android is beating iPhone in the US.

[Still Thinking]

Not much of a flame with such a small wick!

Oh, my.

[Still Thinking]

Wouldn't you have to uninstall "try before you buy" apps you didn't want to buy?

That was my first thought too, but if they're drawing the distinction, maybe you're trying it out in proxy online, or maybe if you don't buy it by the end of the trial period, it uninstalls itself.

[lefty-lie-spy]

Touché ;) I would lose my comedian license if I didn't take advantage of that one! It's not personal.


I know. That's why its funny. Now if this were DU, well, you might call me an @$$hole or something, but we're compassionate bigot, racist, homophobes here, and have a sense of humor to boot.

(I've always wondered about the etymology of that idiom, so, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=boot)

[for-q-clinton]

Showing how WP7 is still WAY behind. By then Android 3.x will be mature and shipping on all Android phones, and Apple will probably be at iOS 5. Microsoft, always forgetting to lead moving targets.

What IOS was iPhone on when Android launched? And already Android is selling more than iPhones in the US. Nothing is permenant. Not saying Windows Phone 7 is great (haven't seen it yet), but this market is too new to declare someone the victor already.

[Still Thinking]

Google android is snoopy and intrusive on privacy in order to collect marketing data.

Is there a patch/workaround for this yet? I'm interested in Android but not interested in giving Google any information, for free or any other way. Well, maybe a picture of my bare, hairy azz, but that's it.

[martin_fierro]

6. The BSOD on a cell phone is smaller and cuter.

[lefty-lie-spy]

Cut and paste is not a big deal!? I find that amazing. If I couldn’t quote FR posts from my iPhone it would be useless. I use my phone as a personal computer and mail client more than my desktop. If you don’t have a need for cut and paste, you must not be using your phone to the fullest of its computer abilities.

[lefty-lie-spy]

Speaking of Palm.... Wonder what in the H...***l HP is going to do with that acquisition...?


The same thing Carly did with Compaq; kill it and company profits.

Besides her being a RINO, that was the thing that really pissed me off about that acquisition. I met her once when I worked at the Roseville, CA campus doing desktop support. Nice lady, but not sure of her political future in this Tea Party climate. RINOs have no place in our world. Lew Platt was a decent dude too. Then there was the Agilent spinoff and their acquisition of the company I worked for and....well, fun times back then.

[Ro_Thunder]

No tethering.
No cut and paste.

I’ll stick with my HTC Touch Pro 2 (Tilt2), that supports BOTH of these features.

[lefty-lie-spy]

Android is beating iPhone in the US.

And Obama is a centrist who is bringing people together and lowering the oceans.

[Clock King]

This is the same mess that led to the Dot Com Bust of the late 1990’s — people repacking the same old ideas as something new, and companies dumping millions of investment dollars into the development of nothing. Eventually, they look around and realize that nothing new has been created and all of those dollars have gone up in smoke. The Emperor has no clothes.