Now that Windows Phone 7 products have finally hit stores – in New Zealand at least – reviews are finally starting to trickle out. Unfortunately, my own favorite, the Dell Venue Pro, hasn’t been made available yet, and most are using the HTC HD7 or Samsung Focus for their reviews. However, some clear advantages and shortcomings have been identified, which should point out who will like this mobile OS a lot, and who won’t.
Who will love Windows Phone 7
Ironically, the folks who really like Windows Phone 7 will likely be those that liked the simplicity of the initial Palm Pilot. The device does a few things really well, and they mostly surround PDA-like functionality. Granted, the phone really prefers a Microsoft Exchange environment for full capability, but e-mail, contacts, calendar and even SharePoint support stand out ahead of the pack. If you are a Zune user, you’ll likely prefer this phone as well, because it provides the full subscription Zune experience, eliminating the need for multiple devices.
The interface is simple and intuitive for once and it gets out of the way of what you need to do, once again building on the idea that if what you want is a good phone that does a few things well, this platform may appeal to you over the others. The browser is one of the best in the market, though it, like Apple’s, doesn’t support Flash at the moment (it will likely be added early next year).
Finally, this phone loves Facebook and has the best connectivity with that service I’ve so far seen.
Who will hate Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone 7 doesn’t yet have cut and paste, but that is due early next year and, personally, I’ve never used that feature in a phone. Since you can click-call a phone number, the only reason I might use that feature is already handled better, so the omission is really much to do about nothing. However, there are some bigger issues, starting with multi-tasking and state retention, which is why you’ll note I left off Xbox Live gaming from the “loving it” section. This is because while the phone is capable of multi-tasking, it is not accessible by most of the existing applications. In addition, these applications don’t remember state, so if you have to leave them to do something else or the phone suspends, you’ll likely have to re-launch the application and restore from a saved state, assuming the application has one.
For gaming on a phone, the lack of multi-tasking can be forgiven, because it would kill phone performance, but not remembering the state the game was in, something earlier versions of Microsoft’s phone platform did well, is huge omission. I think this is a deal breaker for those who want to game on the phone.
Applications are light, and my own favorite, TweetDeck, is not yet available on the phone. This means if you are in love with a number of applications on the iPhone or Android platform, there is a good chance what you want isn’t yet available on Windows Phone 7 yet, and you’ll likely miss it a great deal.
So while this could have a gaming advantage, because it doesn’t retain state, it doesn’t, and if you love a lot of applications, particularly popular ones like TweetDeck; it may be awhile before they show up. I’d wait until they did.
Looking Forward
The first batch of Windows Phone 7 devices being reviewed are largely pre-release phones, and the full application suites aren’t available yet, which means they will likely get better over the next few weeks. However, the lack of the ability to retain state in games and other applications will probably not be corrected for some time, perhaps even not until the next version, so if that is an issue for you, you’re best off waiting until it is fixed.
On the other hand, reviewers are trending toward the unanimous opinion that this Windows Phone 7 is a contender, because of how well it does a few things, and the elegance and competitively advanced user interface. The fact is that while Microsoft didn’t pass Apple or Google, they did get within shooting distance, and started so far behind most didn’t think they could even get that far. They made the race, and enhancements this year or early next should significantly close the gap, but contending for the lead will likely have to wait until Windows Phone 8. For Microsoft, it is often the last little bit they didn’t get done that screws them up, and this time it is the inability to retain state or more effectively multi-task.
Recommendations
If you love simplicity, want an easy-to-use phone that just does the basics well, and don’t like the complexity of existing Android or Apple products, this might be a better alternative for you. On the other hand, if you are looking for something similar or more capable than an iPhone or Android product, you’d be advised to wait. In the end, it is all about knowing what you want and finding the best product to meet your own unique needs.
General advice holds for this OS: Wait for three months until all of the initial bugs are worked out, and most of you will like the second version much better than the first. My recommendation would be to wait until more apps and bug fixes are available on Windows Phone 7 before picking up a phone. Early adopters are not being rewarded with anything special at this point.
I tire of people complaining about what WP7 doesn't have out of the gate. iPhone had issues and limitations initially. It is much better now. Droid had many issues initially, well, they continue to have some issue, but they are better now as well. I think it is silly to expect WM7 to arrive complete and unblemished day one. No company has done that (unless you consider Nokia and their simple, basic OS). You are comparing an initial market offering to two competiors that have had the benefit of additional generations of hardware and software to improve their platform. WM7 is OK and it will get better.
Good post by @Tom.
I have an HTC Pure. I agree that Window Mobile 6.5 is not responsive enough and sometimes gets stuck but the there is multitasking and copy-paste. That still did not make the platform a success. In fact, I am certain that in one year of owning this phone I have probably used copy paste less than 5 times.
I can't wait to upgrade to Windows Phone 7 when it releases in North America!
I think it should be up to the OS to be able to multitask apps properly, rather than it being up to the developer of an individual app. If it requires apps to implement it individually, then the OS is still at fault.
I've heard Microsoft people say it may be 6 months before copy/paste comes, and maybe 9 months for a better implementation of multi-tasking. Therefore, it would be better to hold off until 2011 before considering Windows Phone 7. Maybe even late 2011 before some of these major issues are fixed. In other words, wait until Windows Phone 8, or alternatively, just get an Android or iPhone.
The Windows Phone 7 platform has potential for the future, but in its current state it is not very usable.
Do you think Apple has stricter guidelines on this for their iPhone?
Another note about the app state saving stuff… if you launch the application AGAIN from the start menu, it's going to start from the beginning. In order to go back to a previous state of an app that was previously launched, you have to use the "Back" button. This is important to understand since most apps have a linear navigation timeline where the back button is also used. In other words, you can expect an app to pick up where you left off after starting it again because that breaks the history timeline saved by the back button.
This Phone just Rocks! I can't wait to get one.
What rocks about it?
I have just sold my htc desire to my dad and got a htc hd7, apart from the xbox live extras npot working (this will be fixed very soon) I have no fault with it. multitasking only serves to kill battery, fact. most apps do remember where you are its just some games and the ones i have played so far you can just click save then do what you need to then go back to it.
Plus messaging, music etc all do multitask so you can see it when your in an app and do whats needed so tbh what else really do you need it for? i mean other then going to you mates down at the pub oh get this i can multitask on my phone and them all going what a loser.
wp7 is a proper revolution in mobile phones and i will say if you are early you will get a few niggles but these are nothing compared to what you gain, Android is basic unreliable and fragmented. IOS is plain and boreing and you have to load an app for every little thing you want to do. wp7 is by far and away the best os for a phone and i have used all the big names ios4 android 2.2 blackberry 6 and at lengh and i can hand on heart say nothing compares to the quality and usability of wp7.
ps 800+ apps first day ios = less then 500 and there is over 1000 still in processing and getting added hourly.
Android UI is too choppy.
just a note about the app state stuff, it is up to the developer to resolve this, not the OS. I've read the wp7 app certification requirements and it makes no mention of the app requiring to always go back to the first screen, only that it should load up within 20 seconds (most should load up instantly). So if you want to see applications handle states properly, it's actually the developer's responsibility to handle this, not the OS.