A WM/Android User's Take - Windows Phone 7 General

1st off this is not intended to be a flaming / bashing thread. If you want to do that please go elsewhere; I'm sure the vibrant forums will welcome you. If a MOD feels this belongs somewhere else, please move it.
I have been a long time WM user and recently switched to android for the past year. I am offering my take on WP7 on the pros on cons.
Interface - Finally something completely new and wonderful. Microsoft really did hit a homerun on trying to make information at a glance approach. Mail and search apps look beautiful. I thing missing, being able to quickly jump to apps in the app menu.
Lack of Landscape Support- For as great as the UI is I am shocked at the lack of landscape support. The start menu, app menu, nor Zune have lanscape support. You can not even refresh a webpage or type in a website if you are in landscape mode. Calling this anything other than an epic "FAIL" by microsoft is sugar coating it. Especially when the HD7 and Surround beg to be in landscape mode with their kick stands.
Browser - As expected from an IE browser it is pretty good. I already mentioned the lack of landscape support which is really frustrating but there is something else that gets under my skin more. Web pages do not resize to fit the screen when you zoom in. This was/is almost a deal breaking for me honestly. I love the organization of having all the buttons at the bottom and the interface is stunning but you lose way to many options in landscape mode. You can't even access favorites without first going back to portrait. MS, this NEEDS to be addressed soon. The browser is the main feature of smartphones now.
Zune - Wonderful if you have a Zune Pass. Honestly it was one of the main reasons why I bought this phone. I expected it to be awesome and it didn't disappoint. That being said they need to add a Play Now option to the market songs. When I'm browsing the market sometimes I want to queue songs and the Add to Playlist option makes sense but how could you leave out Play now? Seriously?
Another thing I don't like is I can not fast forward to a certain spot in a movie. Video files can be hours long, why should I have to hold the fast forward button to get to the point I'd like. Let me hit the progress bar and then use the rewind / fast forward buttons for getting to the exact point.
USB Storage Device- glaring admission, but I can kind of see why. It helps stop piracy, but I loved being able to hook my fuze / tilt 2 / nexus 1 / vibrant to my car stereo and play the music I had downloaded on my phone. I know I could get an audio cable and do the same, but while driving it is so much easier to use the radio head unit to control music rather than your phone. I knew this when getting in bed with WP7, but that doesnt mean I still can't miss it.
Bluetooth- for music works just like it should. however it will not play the audio from video files threw bluetooth. It keeps coming out of my phone's main speakers and there is no way to get into the bluetooth profiles to see if something is wrong. VERY ANNOYING MS. get to fixing it.
People- Wonderful. Could anyone ask anymore? I gave it my facebook and gmail accounts and I didn't have to worry about any contacts not showing up. Love the Facebook updates also.
Dailer- No smart dialer? This used to even be in my old wizard by default. How it get left out is completely beyond me.
Announced fixes- Flash, Copy & Paste, Turn by Turn navigation can't come soon enough but I am glad microsoft acknowledged they needed them.
Local Outlook Support- I knew this before hand, but I am in the crowd that says MS needs to add this ability.
Overall- I bought my HD7 without a contract and I am pretty sure i will NOT be returning it. I love my HD7 and WP7, however this OS isn't entirely complete. That being said was iOS and Android complete when they came out? To even suggest that is laughable. I can not wait for microsoft to release all the fixes for this OS because when it does it will be a powerhouse.
I will not buy that this phone is for dumbsmart phone users. I probably done more with my phones than 95% of android users who will do nothing by bash WP7 and i honestly see this for ALL users. It helps bring the powerhouse experience in an easier way without being tied down as much as iOS.

Why not just post in one of the other 50 threads? Now people will be copy-pasting replies from those into this one.
I did notice the lack of landscape mode in IE. I think that was the only thing that made me go WTF when I used the HD7.
However, the keyboard is so good that I don't think it even mattered that much.
I guess with a 3.7-8" screen it can be a bit annoying, but on anything 4" or bigger it didn't strike me as a big deal beyond the initial shock of it not being there.
Also, lots of people dont' seem to know the difference between an Operating System and an Application.

N8ter said:
Why not just post in one of the other 50 threads? Now people will be copy-pasting replies from those into this one.
I did notice the lack of landscape mode in IE. I think that was the only thing that made me go WTF when I used the HD7.
However, the keyboard is so good that I don't think it even mattered that much.
I guess with a 3.7-8" screen it can be a bit annoying, but on anything 4" or bigger it didn't strike me as a big deal beyond the initial shock of it not being there.
Also, lots of people dont' seem to know the difference between an Operating System and an Application.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those threads became nothing but flaming / bashing threads. I thought it would be a good idea to try to get away from that.
Also a core application can be considered part of the OS. If you can not uninstall it, it is part of the OS.
I thought it was annoying not being able to get to the address bar with all that screen space.

I don't know about you guys but my Surround goes into landscape mode IE just fine...
The only thing I don't like is lack of landscape in marketplace and Zune...
also if you want a nice photo editor, Thumba photo editor for $.099 is awesome!
EDIT: Oh i see. I can't believe I have to switch to portrait to type a URL!! WTF microsoft!

jz9833 said:
Browser - As expected from an IE browser it is pretty good. I already mentioned the lack of landscape support which is really frustrating but there is something else that gets under my skin more. Web pages do not resize to fit the screen when you zoom in. This was/is almost a deal breaking for me honestly. I love the organization of having all the buttons at the bottom and the interface is stunning but you lose way to many options in landscape mode. You can't even access favorites without first going back to portrait. MS, this NEEDS to be addressed soon. The browser is the main feature of smartphones now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Overall I agree with just about everything you said. Regarding the browser, I've noticed that certain areas of webpages are zoomed in more than others. For instance, on xda, the text of people's posts is HUGE compared to the buttons such as User CP, etc. at the top of the page. What I've found is a double tap in my area of interest on a page will zoom the page so that ONLY my area of interest is approriately sized. Then, when I want to switch to another part of the page, I double tap there and the page will resize, and so on. The text does not dynamically reflow a la Android, but I think it's a pretty usable system.
-R

jz9833 said:
Dailer- No smart dialer? This used to even be in my old wizard by default. How it get left out is completely beyond me.
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Click to collapse
There is voice dialing in WP7 not sure what you mean by smart dialer???

rruffman said:
There is voice dialing in WP7 not sure what you mean by smart dialer???
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Click to collapse
By going to the dailer and being able to spell "MOM" for example on the keys and it would automatically come up with the number for that contact.

jz9833 said:
Also a core application can be considered part of the OS. If you can not uninstall it, it is part of the OS.
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Click to collapse
Lol, what? No, it's not. It's a stock application distributed with the OS. It is not part of the OS.
By the Logic people can say "Android is buggy because the GMail client is buggy." or "Windows Mobile is buggy because the Opera Browser HTC bundled with the HD2 is buggy." or "Linux is full of bugs because the KDE in that distro is buggy as hell."
Every OS comes with a set of stock applications, but they are just that, and are usually updatable independent of installing a new kernel or driver stack on the device.
In any case, I've already said I agree that the lack of landscape mode is an issue.
I just wanted to make that distinction, because lots of people on this forum are incapable of doing it themselves.

N8ter said:
Lol, what? No, it's not. It's a stock application distributed with the OS. It is not part of the OS.
By the Logic people can say "Android is buggy because the GMail client is buggy." or "Windows Mobile is buggy because the Opera Browser HTC bundled with the HD2 is buggy." or "Linux is full of bugs because the KDE in that distro is buggy as hell."
Every OS comes with a set of stock applications, but they are just that, and are usually updatable independent of installing a new kernel or driver stack on the device.
In any case, I've already said I agree that the lack of landscape mode is an issue.
I just wanted to make that distinction, because lots of people on this forum are incapable of doing it themselves.
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Click to collapse
I still completely disagree with you. Froyo for Android made plenty of browser updates so would you say that wasn't a OS update?
I like most people consider stock apps part of the OS

jz9833 said:
I still completely disagree with you. Froyo for Android made plenty of browser updates so would you say that wasn't a OS update?
I like most people consider stock apps part of the OS
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Click to collapse
Agree. Basically system is made of apps.
If email app built into it is buggy, we can say OS is buggy.

jz9833 said:
I still completely disagree with you. Froyo for Android made plenty of browser updates so would you say that wasn't a OS update?
I like most people consider stock apps part of the OS
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Click to collapse
Doesnt meam ur right and most people are ignorant in os design and the diff between an os and an app distributed with said os.
Obviously...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

N8ter said:
Doesnt meam ur right and most people are ignorant in os design and the diff between an os and an app distributed with said os.
Obviously...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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then you are going to have to disagree with almost all people. This isn't a techy vs jock debate. These are apps which are built into the os and therefore part of the os.
But anyway this thread is meant for objective evaluation of WP7. If you want to continue this debate we should continue it somewhere else.

jz9833 said:
By going to the dailer and being able to spell "MOM" for example on the keys and it would automatically come up with the number for that contact.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use search in the people hub for something very similar. Admittedly not an exact substitute but it works well enough for me.

jz9833 said:
I have been a long time WM user and recently switched to android for the past year. I am offering my take on WP7 on the pros on cons.
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Click to collapse
Good post
jz9833 said:
USB Storage Device- glaring admission, but I can kind of see why. It helps stop piracy, but I loved being able to hook my fuze / tilt 2 / nexus 1 / vibrant to my car stereo and play the music I had downloaded on my phone.
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Click to collapse
How does this increase piracy? If the files you buy on Zune are locked down they can still do this even if there is a common store of files accessible as usb mass storage. Either by drm or by using isolated storage for those files.
jz9833 said:
Local Outlook Support- I knew this before hand, but I am in the crowd that says MS needs to add this ability.
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Click to collapse
If you do it this way, then you are working with two sets of data (email, calendar, tasks, contacts, etc.) neither of which is guaranteed to be up to date. I don't see why people think this is preferable to a server-based system.
jz9833 said:
I will not buy that this phone is for dumb smart phone users.
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Hopefully this will be true; I will keep my fingers crossed. Currently, as I see it, they are targeting people who don't understand what files are, and would be confused by files, and who believe that music consists of songs arranged by artists into albums. I.e. the dumb mass market.

CSMR said:
How does this increase piracy? If the files you buy on Zune are locked down they can still do this even if there is a common store of files accessible as usb mass storage. Either by drm or by using isolated storage for those files.
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Click to collapse
The cintent u purchase in zune have no drm..... The piracy statement is legit.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

though given you just purchased for your zune account, you can then access it on zune desktop, and burn discs from there. so no necessarily correct.
however, what i think of a common storage area is a good idea. just have it so that the pictures, videos, music, documents are in a folder view for when you plug the phone into your PC. it would really only require a bit of mapping within the OS to make it look like a storage unit. Even if it was just more restricted down to just the documents section, that's still something. better than nothing imo as i don't have access to skydrive at work. but aye, i can live with it, it's not going to make me want to return the phone.

The Gate Keeper said:
though given you just purchased for your zune account, you can then access it on zune desktop, and burn discs from there. so no necessarily correct.
however, what i think of a common storage area is a good idea. just have it so that the pictures, videos, music, documents are in a folder view for when you plug the phone into your PC. it would really only require a bit of mapping within the OS to make it look like a storage unit. Even if it was just more restricted down to just the documents section, that's still something. better than nothing imo as i don't have access to skydrive at work. but aye, i can live with it, it's not going to make me want to return the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its 2001, people pirate with digital media. Cd piracy may still be hip in the third world, but I haven't operated a cd player in years (or used my computer to play one), much less bought or burned one.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

N8ter said:
Its 2001, people pirate with digital media. Cd piracy may still be hip in the third world, but I haven't operated a cd player in years (or used my computer to play one), much less bought or burned one.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how about an MP3 cd? to play in your car? to lend to a friend? or your USB stick? as soon as it's available on zune desktop you have a copy of it... there is plenty ways around it. i'm not saying you should do it, i'm saying the possibilities are there.

N8ter said:
The cintent u purchase in zune have no drm..... The piracy statement is legit.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the files are not DRMed, and Microsoft wants to protect them, either it can DRM the files, or it can keep them in isolated storage. The existence of common storage doesn't exclude isolated storage.

Related

Application HUB ??

I would like to know if there's gonna be an application HUB in the new Windows Phone 7 Series??
Would be nice to have a hub where you can add your favorite 3rd party applications like:
- Location/Navigation software (Google Maps, TomTom, iGO, CoPilot etc.)
- Browser software (Opera, Skyfire etc.)
- Games
- Multimedia software (CorePlayer, TCPMP etc.)
Sorted by example on Category or Most used.
Would be nice, usefull and marketable.
I don't get why Microsoft would introduce an "Application Hub" when the point of Hubs was to get rid of the "applications".
Games would be in the games hub, multimedia would be in the multimedia hub. There's an applications list in alphabetical order on the start page if the right arrow is pressed...
according to http://www.modaco.com/ there's a marketplace hub. does this mean this is the only entry point to install applications? Makes me get panic attacks!
I guess that there'd be another way to install applications, unless they want to have corporate users stay with WinMo 6.5.* for the future, as when a company wants to have a mobile app tied to there custom company software for in house use, they for sure wouldn't want it to take the way over the Marketplace.
As for having the most used applications easily available: you could just pin them to the Startscreen a.k.a. Live-Tiles. You can pin single contacts, single albums, single songs there and I believe somebody already said, that u could pin programs from the App-List to the right too. Depends on the application how it then uses the Live Tile (to display highscore, in-game scenes or what not).
StevieBallz said:
I guess that there'd be another way to install applications, unless they want to have corporate users stay with WinMo 6.5.* for the future, as when a company wants to have a mobile app tied to there custom company software for in house use, they for sure wouldn't want it to take the way over the Marketplace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a good point. I hope you are right. Not being able to run whatever program I want to is a big deal breaker for me. If this were the case I would go Android unless WP7 gets jailbroken (I feel so sad using this term for WM/WP; it is so open right now. Why restrict it in such ways?).
the reason that they are restricting the apps, is to make the system more stable. They want the experience to be amazing on every phone, eg making the hardware requirements so strict. They want to be able to evaluate what an app does to the system before it is released. They are making the submission parameters easier to comply with, so it will be easy to put your work on marketplace. They new marketplace specs for 6.5 will give developers the ability to make links straight to the app on the marketplace.
Initially I was starting to kinda freak out, but I think this is for the best. It will force people to use the marketplace, and since it won't support old apps, it will move all the applications for windows mobile to one spot, it is just one more way they are trying to compete with apple.
And on a side note, I'm not actually sure that winpho7 has a file explorer... Nothing in the demo gave me reason to think that one would be there. I think they are trying to replace explorer with the hubs.
If you swipe left on the start page, you get a list of all your applications.
I don't think there's a seperate, categorised hub.
I believe you can also add shortcut tiles on the start page, but that's all I know.
(And yeah, I too would like to find out whether WP7 has a file explorer...)
webpatrick said:
I would like to know if there's gonna be an application HUB in the new Windows Phone 7 Series??
Would be nice to have a hub where you can add your favorite 3rd party applications like:
- Location/Navigation software (Google Maps, TomTom, iGO, CoPilot etc.)
- Browser software (Opera, Skyfire etc.)
- Games
- Multimedia software (CorePlayer, TCPMP etc.)
Sorted by example on Category or Most used.
Would be nice, usefull and marketable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't mean to be rude but this doesn't make any sense.
Add your favorite applications to your Start Screen. All the rest are in a list when you swipe to the right.
Apps that fit a certain category would go in that category's hub. Why would you have Games in an Application hub and then have a Games hub? Remember under the Music&Video hub there was Pandora (right now they have it under a list of apps under the hub).. that's your Multimedia software.
I do agree that additional hubs would make sense.. we don't only care about people and pictures etc. but also things like RSS news updates, or like you said, location and navigation. An Internet hub would be a good place for Favorites/Bookmarks, History (shared across every installed browser), RSS, IE8 Web Slices, website notifications (not every update on Twitter and Facebook is by an actual person/contact), etc. If you give the same treatment to Location/Mapping, then suddenly you don't have the standalone apps of IE and Bing sticking out in the hub-centric experience.
but a bunch of shortcuts to different programs doesn't make sense as a hub, just pin them to Start.
reformedctrlz said:
the reason that they are restricting the apps, is to make the system more stable. They want the experience to be amazing on every phone, eg making the hardware requirements so strict. They want to be able to evaluate what an app does to the system before it is released. They are making the submission parameters easier to comply with, so it will be easy to put your work on marketplace. They new marketplace specs for 6.5 will give developers the ability to make links straight to the app on the marketplace.
Initially I was starting to kinda freak out, but I think this is for the best. It will force people to use the marketplace, and since it won't support old apps, it will move all the applications for windows mobile to one spot, it is just one more way they are trying to compete with apple.
And on a side note, I'm not actually sure that winpho7 has a file explorer... Nothing in the demo gave me reason to think that one would be there. I think they are trying to replace explorer with the hubs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that you have to pay $100 for your spot at the marketplace table. Even if your app is free. Simply not fair. No more xda members coding up their own programs and releasing free.
And hubs is not a file explorer. I dont want a device that thinks it knows what I want to do with my files. If I want something that restricts where I get apps and what files I am allowed to store on my device I will get an iphone.
The only thing wp7 might have over iphone os (besides interface; I do think wp7 has a very cool and original ui; that is a matter of opinion though) is multitasking. While details are slim and it sounds like multitasking capability will be very restricted, it sounds like background processing will be available to third party apps at least in some form. Thats more than iphones can say.
Unfortunately I think its android time for me. But I'm not sad about it. Ive started really looking into it and it seems pretty cool. It has full multitasking now and the latest phones are sporting some awesome hardware. I will probably get my first android phone over the summer and i'm excited.
I'm not waiting nearly another year to get hands on an actual wp7 device. Maybe when more details come out it won't be so bad but I doubt it and I'm not waiting to find out. The direction of Microsoft is back in time toward more restriction and control of the product. It's time I jump ship to an open source OS. Sad because I love MS desktop products. My computing world is a constant battle between google and MS. I use windows 7, outlook, exchange, windows mobile office ect. But I choose google over ie, google over bing, and soon android over wm. Will be interesting to see how well this combination will play together.
I don't think installing Cab files will change all too much..I believe it will be much like it is today except we aren't putting the cart before the horse this time. I mean Marketplace just launched months ago even though WinMo has been around for over a decade...its hard to have an effective marketplace when people who want apps know the better places to find them. This time around the app store will launch with the OS so i think it puts more emphasis on the App store (to the average consumer) as well as being better integrated into the phone...but who's/what's stopping us from just downloading Apps the same as usual? Microsoft has mentioned that Activesync will still work with WP7 (Zune will be just for music, pictures, movies) so why is it all of a sudden impossible just to do what we've been doing for years?
It seems odd the exodus that seems to be happening lately. Its like you guys were perfectly happy with with Windows the way it is now?!?! If you are then stay with it the way it is now..lol. I personally can't wait to the what the guys here are gonna come up with for HUB's...hell I can't wait for HTC to put their special touch on WP7..I can imagine the HUB put together in a TF3D fashion...with their own additions of Weather (with that gorgeous UI) stocks...etc. I'm not gonna lie...the possibilities are as endless in the future as they are with the current OS. I think it will be fun to see in about a year, how many of you guys who are riding the fence or doubting the upcoming release will change your minds.
I once had to drag my best friend on a double date....he didn't want to go, he complained the whole way there...saw the girl, and did everything he could to make an excuse to get out of there (she wasn't his type)...now they're married, crazy things happen when you give something a chance. I've waited 2+ years for this and won't back out now just because I see something I don't know the answer to...once I get the OS in hand I will make my decision. I think thats the most logical way
~style~
style1 said:
I don't think installing Cab files will change all too much..I believe it will be much like it is today except we aren't putting the cart before the horse this time. I mean Marketplace just launched months ago even though WinMo has been around for over a decade...its hard to have an effective marketplace when people who want apps know the better places to find them. This time around the app store will launch with the OS so i think it puts more emphasis on the App store (to the average consumer) as well as being better integrated into the phone...but who's/what's stopping us from just downloading Apps the same as usual? Microsoft has mentioned that Activesync will still work with WP7 (Zune will be just for music, pictures, movies) so why is it all of a sudden impossible just to do what we've been doing for years?
It seems odd the exodus that seems to be happening lately. Its like you guys were perfectly happy with with Windows the way it is now?!?! If you are then stay with it the way it is now..lol. I personally can't wait to the what the guys here are gonna come up with for HUB's...hell I can't wait for HTC to put their special touch on WP7..I can imagine the HUB put together in a TF3D fashion...with their own additions of Weather (with that gorgeous UI) stocks...etc. I'm not gonna lie...the possibilities are as endless in the future as they are with the current OS. I think it will be fun to see in about a year, how many of you guys who are riding the fence or doubting the upcoming release will change your minds.
I once had to drag my best friend on a double date....he didn't want to go, he complained the whole way there...saw the girl, and did everything he could to make an excuse to get out of there (she wasn't his type)...now they're married, crazy things happen when you give something a chance. I've waited 2+ years for this and won't back out now just because I see something I don't know the answer to...once I get the OS in hand I will make my decision. I think thats the most logical way
~style~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you have misunderstood the announcements. Activesync (as in sync with PC) will NOT be available. It also seems that there is no way to access the file system on the device. The only way to install apps is through the marketplace. They are removing the ability to just install a cab as we have always done. That is the problem. I am not saying I won't give it a chance. These points may turn out to be wrong. All I am saying is that current info suggests that this is the case and if so WP7 is not for me. Of course I am not going to pass final judgement until it is released. But since all indicators point to the negative I am not going to wait to find out for sure when there are tempting alternatives. And no I am not satisfied with WM as it currently is. The problem is that WP7 fixed what was wrong with WM6 and at the same time trashed everything that was good about WM6 (once again, nothing is for certain but this is what evidence points to).
ok even if it's like that it's microsoft.
Even iphone has jailbreak. In our case we will not have to worry for warranty.
The so called no oem sw will return as bumerang on them.
This is the most hardcore forum on pda's and every one says bhaaaa on MS.
When they did their survey they mast asked only iphone and simple phone users, sertainly not wm users. )

"Multitasking" Stopwatch

Just to repeat myself about "tombstoning" and how it can represent multitasking as most people think of it, this article gives you an idea:
http://www.clr-namespace.com/post/Windows-Phone-7-Multitasking.aspx
Oh wow... so we can have (inaccurate) stopwatches "running" in the background on WP7? Great!
So, when I build a satellite navigation app, I set up a tombstone when the application is closed and when it's reactivated, I can calculate where the user is, because I knew where he was and how fast he was driving when he closed the app?
Awesome!
(oh and of course I don't take any responsibility for car accidents caused by my app - blame Microsoft or the idiots who said multitasking isn't needed when you got tombstones!)
You know, you would just use GPS for that
Yeah because usually it takes 0.000001 seconds to get a GPS fix!
Awesome!
Wait..... but how is my app supposed to give directions when it's closed? Hm, maybe not so awesome after all...
Satellite navigation is one of the most important things a smartphone must do and it sucks with WP7.
And have you heard that most of the mobile web traffic is porn, Pandora and Youtube?
WP7 does none of those three things! No Youtube, no Pandora, no porn... (don't know why people want porn on their phones, but I understand the Youtube part).
Seriously, how many moronic defenses can you fanboys come up with? This OS will be an even bigger failure than Kin if Microsoft doesn't change directions fast!
How are your application supposed to give directions if you're not using it?
I don't have a device to test with but I doubt it takes long for an app to get a fix. The OS probably keeps the GPS somewhat hot. Remember, Bing uses it when you search so they don't want it taking forever either.
And Bing has Satnav. Yea, I'm sure some will want a 3rd party solution but for most people, the FREE included nav will be just fine.
Fermat said:
Yeah because usually it takes 0.000001 seconds to get a GPS fix!
Awesome!
Wait..... but how is my app supposed to give directions when it's closed? Hm, maybe not so awesome after all...
Satellite navigation is one of the most important things a smartphone must do and it sucks with WP7.
And have you heard that most of the mobile web traffic is porn, Pandora and Youtube?
WP7 does none of those three things! No Youtube, no Pandora, no porn... (don't know why people want porn on their phones, but I understand the Youtube part).
Seriously, how many moronic defenses can you fanboys come up with? This OS will be an even bigger failure than Kin if Microsoft doesn't change directions fast!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well Flash is coming to the phone just after launch so that will solve your Youtube/Porn issue.
Windcape said:
How are your application supposed to give directions if you're not using it?
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Click to collapse
It allows you to continue using your turn-by-turn GPS while conducting a phone call
Windcape said:
How are your application supposed to give directions if you're not using it?
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Click to collapse
By giving voice guidance in background, for example.
RustyGrom said:
I don't have a device to test with but I doubt it takes long for an app to get a fix. The OS probably keeps the GPS somewhat hot. Remember, Bing uses it when you search so they don't want it taking forever either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you search you don't need GPS, cell tower location is sufficient. Not so for driving. That cell tower location data helps to get the initial fix faster in modern devices, but still it's not instantaneous, which is a problem when you get an incoming phone call while using satnav in areas you don't know well. Otherwise, of course the OS doesn't (and shouldn't) keep GPS on. iOS 4 will keep it on while you're running satnav apps. WP7 won't.
RustyGrom said:
And Bing has Satnav. Yea, I'm sure some will want a 3rd party solution but for most people, the FREE included nav will be just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, that will depend on where you live and where you travel. Bing Maps has horrible coverage worldwide. Apart from that, online satnav apps are an absolute taboo while roaming, you'll end up with thousands of dollars in your bill.
I think that incoming call doesn't suspend your app, the app will be allowed to keep working on foreground.
Also, GPS fix (cold) takes about 20s on my TP2, warm is instant . (Depends on if I have downloaded QuickGPS data though, but that's why I have data plan for.)
Funny how things change. When Apple did this it was the end of the world. Microsoft does it, its great, it's a new direction. Funny
vetvito said:
Funny how things change. When Apple did this it was the end of the world. Microsoft does it, its great, it's a new direction. Funny
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when I had a iphone when I switched apps they didnt pause I had to start over when I returned to it, on wp7 it pauses it so in most cases its the best way to do it..it helps save battery while still being able to what you need to do. very few apps need to run in the backgroud besides GPS & streaming apps, once MS gives access to those apps that need to run in the background then yes it will be a great new direction. for now i dont mind it, i dont use Pandora & even on my tp2 when i use GPS i keep it on screen so i can do without it until they add it
Yeah pretty much like IOS4...
My problem with the iPhone's lack of multitasking wasn't so much with background running as with the fact that there's no easy way to switch between applications (namely, the incoming call while using satnav scenario, which is a major PITA in iPhone's case). I just need to minimize the dialer and keep using navigation. If that's handled (and it is in WP7's case) then the only issue is getting the fix again. Quite frankly, I find the recent iOS approach optimal for most cases, apart from the fact that it only has one button and an ultimately crappy task switcher. WP7 will allow me to go back to satnav with one tap of the Back button, so that'll work.
For other, more rare cases than those covered in iOS 4, I would really struggle to find real-life scenarios where a background process would really need to consume CPU cycles all the time (i.e. actually run). WM has a set of APIs called SNAPI, where background processes simply "register" for certain events and work only to process them. That can be done so that it won't really hurt either battery life or performance.
For the most rare cases where programs actually do need to run in background - well, I see lots of reasons why those can be really restricted, but, like with native APIs, MS could actually make exceptions in certain cases without allowing them by default - at least I would certainly agree with such a policy.
Maybe all this will be done with time, they never said multitasking won't be implemented, they'll just need to think about how to approach it better.
I personally think that lack of multitasking may be a problem, but it's actually the least of my worries with this OS. Much more relevant and serious issues are lack of c&p and lack of ways to register applications as system-wide filetype handlers. These are real bummers (apart from miserable language support and marketplace coverage of course).
vetvito said:
Funny how things change. When Apple did this it was the end of the world. Microsoft does it, its great, it's a new direction. Funny
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except iOS didn't have a "pause" API from vanilla. They introduced something like tombstoning in iOS 4.
Windcape said:
Except iOS didn't have a "pause" API from vanilla. They introduced something like tombstoning in iOS 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They did, since the OS 2 release in 2008
In WP7 there's an Application_Deactivated event fired when the user is leaving the app, in the iPhone pre-iOS4 the event function was called applicationWillTermimate but the purpose was exactly the same : allowing the developper to save data before the app shutdown. Some apps were implementing it before iOS4.
In iOS4, the OS save the application state when you leave it (pretty much like Windows hibernation), whereas in WP7, the developper has to do some work to support tombstoning (and i'm not sure all of them developpers will)
I just hope that, when they support background running services API, the task manager won't be as lame as Apple one, showing programs that aren't even running...
My 2 cents
@kooled: Ah, my iPhone knowlegde is flawed then. Thanks for the clarification.
I think we can expect to see a background-service API, once they figured out how to design one that prevents from the phone lagging out entirely, like all Android phones does these days.
Android have taken over Windows role as the OS that requires constant restarts
Windcape said:
Android have taken over Windows role as the OS that requires constant restarts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is really funny - it looks like you really believe these fantazies.
It's a really stable OS.
Fermat said:
And have you heard that most of the mobile web traffic is porn, Pandora and Youtube?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you need porn on your mobile device I suggest you better get a girlfriend
I think it's only US people who care about Pandora since it's not offered over here in Europe. Hey and we are all still alive over here even without it
Anyways: A Pandora app IS being developed, they were called out as a partner (see http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/15/microsoft-announces-windows-phone-7-series-dev-partners-sling/ ).
I think they might be able to integrate into the Zune hub and use the zune player API too.
The difference between the 2007 iphone and 2010 wp7 not having c&p and multitasking, is that when asked Apple's response was that you didn't need it, and Microsoft's response is that it's done not yet.

Dear Steve Ballmer and Microsoft (WP7 Related)

Dear Steve Ballmer & Microsoft,
Before I begin my rant, please allow me to say that I have used many many many PDA phones. And WP7 has without a doubt, some of the most GLARING problems I have ever seen in a mobile OS.
My phone history (in no [particular order]:
-T-mobile Pocket PC (the 1st one)
- SE P800, P900, P910I
- Xperia X1
- Many different WM 5.0, 6.0 6.5 phones (maybe 10 or more). If I were to list them all this would take all day. My most recent WM phone before this HD7 was the HTC TyTN II.
- Nokia N93i, N95, N900 (still got it)
- Nokia Communicators 9210 and E90
- Iphone 1st Gen
- Kyocera Palm OS phone
- Probably other stuff I forgot about along the way.
(Btw, all of these phones had address books which worked great)
I am in no way saying that I am some PDA expert, but I think its safe to say I've used alot of PDAs.
Good afternoon. I really hope somebody from Microsoft or Steve himself or some MS dev is reading this.
I recently bought a HTC HD7 and after using it for 1hr my initial impressions were very good....THEN i used it a bit longer and I started to realize something.
Cons:
1. The contact list function is really really bad. You guys replaced the standard address book function with the Facebook contact list. It is horribly bad. It is so bad that it leads me to believe that NONE OF YOU have actually used facebook in your life. If any of you developers were actually familiar with Facebook, you would have realized that most consumers definitely do not want 80% of their Facebook contacts cluttering/polluting their cell phones address book. Also, why am I not able to browse through my Facebook contacts photos? Am I missing something? Why cant I simply just tap the portrait of my facebook friend and look at his profile pictures?
2. The WP7's media playerss seek function needs to work like a STANDARD portable TOUCH SCREEN media player. Why am I not able skip to the part of the video I want to watch by simply sliding my finger along the time bar until I reach my target moment? Why am I forced to press a seek button instead? I thought this was a touch screen phone, not to mention the fact that Pocket PC, Pocket PC 2003, WM 5.0 WM 6.0 WM 6.5 all included this missing function. Do you guys even watch movies on your cell phones? Or are you guys still using Nokia 5200s?
3. Xbox Live is buggy as hell. I download a game through Xbox Live and it says I need to connect my phone to my computer or connect to wifi (It was already both) in order to complete the install. There is no easy way to check the progress of the installation of download unless I try to download another application. Is the ability to check the progress without downloading another app hidden somewhere? If so, why is it hidden?
4. When I try to visit a previous webpage and I press the hardware backwards arrow botton, it kicks me out of IE.
5. The hardware buttons have great sensitivity, but I am constantly pressing them by accident (with my palm), thus closing my active program unintentionally.
And let me tell you, I do not have large hands.
6. I dunno why it doesnt work as a USB drive natively. Perhaps this is some sort of piracy control measure or you are trying to mimic apple.
7. Cant copy and paste. I dunno why this is so hard for you guys. You guys could have some sort of hardware button, that when pushed activates a 2nd function to the screen pressing. Instead of clicking on a link, if the hardware button is pressed, it would allow the user to select the letters and highlight them. Then copy/paste somewhere else.
8. I cannot delete/hide my recently browsed youtube video history. I was looking at videos of girls shaking their butts and afterwards when I went to my zune application, I saw the video thumbnails there! I cant delete or hide them? Where is the privacy?
9. Doesnt support Divx codecs, which it should because this is a phone for a "mobile life style". Why would I want to sit at my computer for hrs waiting for my videos to convert? Why do you guys and apple insist on your own proprietary formats?
Sub-Score: -9
Pros:
1. Works fast, very smooth. Is this a result of the reduced interface .
2. Web browsing is pretty good, except I cant fast forward through youtube videos by sliding my finger on the time bar.
Sub-Score: +2
Total Score: -7
I do not believe this phone is beyond saving. Surely you guys must have noticed some of the things I mentioned. Why you did not remedy these issues before the release? I do not know. If you guys were unaware of the problems I mentioned, well now you know. Please fix these issues soon and FFS, please add a proper address book application and allow me to use my finger/time bar to seek through a video/song/youtube vid.
Currently, I would have to say this phone is nothing more than a portable media player with some phone functions built in. And you guys already screwed up with the media player part.
If I could go back in time (which was only yesterday) I would have bought a HTC Desire HD. But I cant so I can only pray that you guys fix some/most of these issues.
If I am sorely mistaken and some of these functions actually are included and hidden somewhere, why are they not intuitive?
Thanks.....for nothing.....
I always liked the N95 symbian address book that allowed me to create groups for my contacts and I liked all WM previous phone dialers which would cross reference all incoming and outgoing calls with the numbers I was pressing.
Microsoft should atleast make a dialer thats as good as their previous ones, and maybe learn a thing or 2 from Symbian.
Edit: I just read that it was possible to cut down the number of contacts from facebook that appear in your phone, but it still should not be this difficult. I should be able to simple long press the contact and select delete or hide.
Nice One Star thread repeating issues in about 20 other threads
One thing I'd like to agree with the OP about is the Capacitive buttons. They're a good idea in theory (the Vibrant has them as well), but they're practically terrible. They are very prone to hitting by accident.
Lots of OSes can learn from Symbian, but being the Jack of All Trades has not worked for any OS to date. Windows Mobile also supported a ton of stuff and it's marketshare in the US suffered a lot. Symbian has great marketshare overseas because the OS is used in low-end feature phones as well. They aren't strong in the mid-high end smartphone market.
And they would be, if they didn't put such small NANDs in the phones, skimp on the RAM in the phones (it uses a Virtual memory architechture, but the phones still need at least 348 MB RAM, IMO), and have such an embarassing user interface. I really like that it has the most flexible development environment of any smartphone OS, though (similar to [again] Windows Mobile on that front).
Blazerfan722 said:
Dear Steve Ballmer & Microsoft,
Before I begin my rant, please allow me to say that I have used many many many PDA phones. And WP7 has without a doubt, some of the most GLARING problems I have ever seen in a mobile OS.
My phone history (in no [particular order]:
-T-mobile Pocket PC (the 1st one)
- SE P800, P900, P910I
- Xperia X1
- Many different WM 5.0, 6.0 6.5 phones (maybe 10 or more). If I were to list them all this would take all day. My most recent WM phone before this HD7 was the HTC TyTN II.
- Nokia N93i, N95, N900 (still got it)
- Nokia Communicators 9210 and E90
- Iphone 1st Gen
- Kyocera Palm OS phone
- Probably other stuff I forgot about along the way.
(Btw, all of these phones had address books which worked great)
I am in no way saying that I am some PDA expert, but I think its safe to say I've used alot of PDAs.
Good afternoon. I really hope somebody from Microsoft or Steve himself or some MS dev is reading this.
I recently bought a HTC HD7 and after using it for 1hr my initial impressions were very good....THEN i used it a bit longer and I started to realize something.
Cons:
1. The contact list function is really really bad. You guys replaced the standard address book function with the Facebook contact list. It is horribly bad. It is so bad that it leads me to believe that NONE OF YOU have actually used facebook in your life. If any of you developers were actually familiar with Facebook, you would have realized that most consumers definitely do not want 80% of their Facebook contacts cluttering/polluting their cell phones address book. Also, why am I not able to browse through my Facebook contacts photos? Am I missing something? Why cant I simply just tap the portrait of my facebook friend and look at his profile pictures?
2. The WP7's media playerss seek function needs to work like a STANDARD portable TOUCH SCREEN media player. Why am I not able skip to the part of the video I want to watch by simply sliding my finger along the time bar until I reach my target moment? Why am I forced to press a seek button instead? I thought this was a touch screen phone, not to mention the fact that Pocket PC, Pocket PC 2003, WM 5.0 WM 6.0 WM 6.5 all included this missing function. Do you guys even watch movies on your cell phones? Or are you guys still using Nokia 5200s?
3. Xbox Live is buggy as hell. I download a game through Xbox Live and it says I need to connect my phone to my computer or connect to wifi (It was already both) in order to complete the install. There is no easy way to check the progress of the installation of download unless I try to download another application. Is the ability to check the progress without downloading another app hidden somewhere? If so, why is it hidden?
4. When I try to visit a previous webpage and I press the hardware backwards arrow botton, it kicks me out of IE.
5. The hardware buttons have great sensitivity, but I am constantly pressing them by accident (with my palm), thus closing my active program unintentionally.
And let me tell you, I do not have large hands.
6. I dunno why it doesnt work as a USB drive natively. Perhaps this is some sort of piracy control measure or you are trying to mimic apple.
7. Cant copy and paste. I dunno why this is so hard for you guys. You guys could have some sort of hardware button, that when pushed activates a 2nd function to the screen pressing. Instead of clicking on a link, if the hardware button is pressed, it would allow the user to select the letters and highlight them. Then copy/paste somewhere else.
8. I cannot delete/hide my recently browsed youtube video history. I was looking at videos of girls shaking their butts and afterwards when I went to my zune application, I saw the video thumbnails there! I cant delete or hide them? Where is the privacy?
9. Doesnt support Divx codecs, which it should because this is a phone for a "mobile life style". Why would I want to sit at my computer for hrs waiting for my videos to convert? Why do you guys and apple insist on your own proprietary formats?
Sub-Score: -9
Pros:
1. Works fast, very smooth. Is this a result of the reduced interface .
2. Web browsing is pretty good, except I cant fast forward through youtube videos by sliding my finger on the time bar.
Sub-Score: +2
Total Score: -7
I do not believe this phone is beyond saving. Surely you guys must have noticed some of the things I mentioned. Why you did not remedy these issues before the release? I do not know. If you guys were unaware of the problems I mentioned, well now you know. Please fix these issues soon and FFS, please add a proper address book application and allow me to use my finger/time bar to seek through a video/song/youtube vid.
Currently, I would have to say this phone is nothing more than a portable media player with some phone functions built in. And you guys already screwed up with the media player part.
If I could go back in time (which was only yesterday) I would have bought a HTC Desire HD. But I cant so I can only pray that you guys fix some/most of these issues.
If I am sorely mistaken and some of these functions actually are included and hidden somewhere, why are they not intuitive?
Thanks.....for nothing.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. There's a separate Facebook app in the marketplace. If you don't want to integrate everyone, get it.
2. Agree on this point.
3. Never happened to me. If you want to see the progress stay on that page. A little bar begins to fill up. So I don't know what you're talking about.
4. Only time that happens to me is when I exit IE and then try to come back in.
5. Sorry, but that's user error.
6. There's already a workaround. You can use it as a mass storage device.
7. Its coming in the update. Why is that so hard to get?
8. Don't browse inappropriate videos? Or play a few more things after to make it replace the history items.
9. Kinda agree, but its not unheard of at all. So why would they do it?
EDIT: Poster above was more succint.
The problem isn't DivX as far as I understand, it's avi. Divx is just an implementation of MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile, which is supported. And the strange part here is that avi is Microsoft's own proprietary format, while mp4 is Apple's. Strange times.
Scrubbing is needed not only for long videos, I use it all the time for YouTube and music (especially podcasts, many of which aren't properly separated into chapters).
WOW, only the 20th "I hate WP7" thread for today so far? Hmmm, the trolls are slacking.
eternalemb said:
1. There's a separate Facebook app in the marketplace. If you don't want to integrate everyone, get it.
2. Agree on this point.
3. Never happened to me. If you want to see the progress stay on that page. A little bar begins to fill up. So I don't know what you're talking about.
4. Only time that happens to me is when I exit IE and then try to come back in.
5. Sorry, but that's user error.
6. There's already a workaround. You can use it as a mass storage device.
7. Its coming in the update. Why is that so hard to get?
8. Don't browse inappropriate videos? Or play a few more things after to make it replace the history items.
9. Kinda agree, but its not unheard of at all. So why would they do it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He got the phone. It has many limitations he doesn't like.
So what's your problem?
"Coming in the update" means nothing. It may be month or 5 months.
Nobody buys a device to wait for update, well, maybe only tech geeks, but that's not the phone for them.
doministry said:
He got the phone. It has many limitations he doesn't like.
So what's your problem?
"Coming in the update" means nothing. It may be month or 5 months.
Nobody buys a device to wait for update, well, maybe only tech geeks, but that's not the phone for them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And he, like everyone else who bought one, should've known the deficiencies the devices carry atm. So, what's your problem?
You don't like the features a phone has or is lacking, you don't buy it. Simple, no?
And the update is expected in January.
f1restarter said:
WOW, only the 20th "I hate WP7" thread for today so far? Hmmm, the trolls are slacking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, no, I'm watching ....
Blazerfan722 said:
Dear Steve Ballmer & Microsoft,
1. The contact list function is really really bad. You guys replaced the standard address book function with the Facebook contact list. It is horribly bad. It is so bad that it leads me to believe that NONE OF YOU have actually used facebook in your life. If any of you developers were actually familiar with Facebook, you would have realized that most consumers definitely do not want 80% of their Facebook contacts cluttering/polluting their cell phones address book. Also, why am I not able to browse through my Facebook contacts photos? Am I missing something? Why cant I simply just tap the portrait of my facebook friend and look at his profile pictures?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do know that you can disable Facebook friends as contacts in the settings, don't you?
CR1M1N4L said:
You do know that you can disable Facebook friends as contacts in the settings, don't you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People these days expect the phone to pop up push messages from the microsoft servers for days after they buy it detailing every single detail of the device.
Reading, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking... These sorts of things are out the window these days.
N8ter said:
People these days expect the phone to pop up push messages from the microsoft servers for days after they buy it detailing every single detail of the device.
Reading, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking... These sorts of things are out the window these days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bet your house on that. Our society is getting dumber, lazier and more malleable by the minute. Though I digress...
LOL... This guy's not a troll!
He's genuinely disappointed with his purchase and has every right to complain about it. If you WP7 sympathisers were honest with yourselves, you would recognise that there are currently plenty of problems with this platform, and disaffected users have every right to complain.
There's no point pretending the problems don't exist.. it's obvious they, perhaps you only ever read Microsoft blogs and listen to Channel 9. If you want a true indication about how many users are feeling, just read the Microsoft questions and answers forum.
Guys,
This is still a new OS, it's been out for ONE month, many of these things gonna be replaced or added with updates. Just wait and see. The most important thing now is that's a fast and simple OS. Just remember what ****ty phone iPhone was, look what it became now... Time does miracles!
Alright guys, I'm leaving this open thread to know the answer, if it occurs.
And also for others to vent, but we will maintain an acceptable level before they start fighting funboys because of companies.
AceofSpades25 said:
LOL... This guy's not a troll!
He's genuinely disappointed with his purchase and has every right to complain about it. If you WP7 sympathisers were honest with yourselves, you would recognise that there are currently plenty of problems with this platform, and disaffected users have every right to complain.
There's no point pretending the problems don't exist.. it's obvious they, perhaps you only ever read Microsoft blogs and listen to Channel 9. If you want a true indication about how many users are feeling, just read the Microsoft questions and answers forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed,
Unfortunately I have the feeling that most people here now refuse to see the obvious problems with this platform (no USB, no DivX, and so many others...)
Seems like there is no right to judge and criticize the OS.
We shall not become like the iPhone fanboys. Seriously.
I also think that WP7 is a truly disappointing experience as I don't like to be forced to use all these external MS services (Zune, Skydrive, Marketplace, etc...) that just make me waste my time.
And I expect nothing from the so-called January update.
I love threads like this. Keep em coming lol jk. But man the pole jockers in here have fits when anyone say something about wp7. I dont know what everyones country rules are. But mine is freedom of speech. So if the dont like what the guy or troll have to say, dont feed him. Case Closed.
To the OP, I suggest you spill your mind on these boards http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsphone7/threads
At least it gets some exposure for Microsoft.
lqaddict said:
To the OP, I suggest you spill your mind on these boards http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsphone7/threads
At least it gets some exposure for Microsoft.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good tip, if OP find interesting; closure here, and this link is for future users to enjoy!
Thanks!

Windows Phone 7 and multitasking

This is a clarification thread, and I will not, unlike my other attempt, be fooled into a pissing contest. There just seems to be a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to "multitasking" on Windows Phone 7, and I will try to clarify a little bit.
Problem: You're in a program, start another one, and then start the original again - and your data is gone, or if it's a game you have to start from the beginning.
Answer: This has nothing to do with multitasking, but something called tombstoning. The developers has to take into account what to do when a program is exited by starting another program, and most seem to just ignore it. That is when you lose your data or have to start the game from scratch
Problem: "Windows Phone doesn't multitask", "When will we get multitasking" etc
Answer: Windows Phone can multitask just fine. So can the programs running on Windows Phone. What most people refer to when asking these questions is really either the question above, or if developers will be allowed to run programs in the background. Multitasking is being able to more than one thing at the time, and the most simple test to see if your phone supports it or not is to see if you can receive phone calls or listen to music while you're checking mail. So - your phone can both multitask and run applications in the background (which is called scheduling, actually, as multitasking doesn't necessarily mean running a program that isn't in the foreground - uploading a picture to your sky drive while letting you browse the other pictures is typical multitasking).
Problem: "When will MS let us run programs in the background?"
Answer: There are both pros and cons to letting developers do this. A lot of developers aren't that good when it comes to using resources sensibly while in the background, and a lot of programs simply doesn't *need* to run in the background. If you're writing notes and want them back when you return, that's tombstoning. Playing a game? Well, you certainly don't want it to actually run in the background as you'll be dead when you return. Still tombstoning. One of the few applications is if you're listening to music (videos don't cound, because it doesn't make sense playing the video when you cannot watch it) or download larger amounts of data. The problem is that, if it's not done correctly, this can negatively impact performance (do you really want your game to stutter or have to wait two minutes for mail to open??), it can drain your battery, and it can even help distribute viruses. If MS wants to open this to developers, they need to have special testing procedures before they allow it. Also, misbehaving background apps will give most people a negative image of MS, which is apparent in all the threads dissing MS for not allowing "multitasking" because developers don't save data when exiting the application.
So, here's a short run-down of terms that are interesting in today's computer landscape:
* Multitasking: Being able to do more than one job at a time. Multitasking really just divides the processor time (available time to use the processor) and gives slices to different jobs.
* Multithreading: Being able to divide tasks into their own threads, thus allowing the use of more cores/processors. A multitasking, single threaded OS can only use one processor (simplification of the truth - if you know why it's a simplification, you don't need the full story. If you don't, it will only confuse you), while a multitasking, multithreaded OS can use more. Most programs, even for regular computers don't use multithreading, as it's a pain in the O to handle, but operating systems do. That's why, on a PC, Counter Strike will only use one of the cores on your brand new gaming rig with 8 cores, but all the cores will be active.
* Background scheduling: How the OS can let applications run in the background, usually by giving it less processor time (most often just free cycles) and thus letting it complete a time consuming process without making the system too slow to use. A foreground application will usually get more processor time than if it was running in the background.
I hope this clears it up, and helps people to understand what the different terms are and when to use it.
To sum up:
* Multitasking is available. There's no question about it. Windows Phone multitasks applications, and applications can multitask internally.
* Background scheduling is available, but is not an open API for developers. This has both positive and negative implications, depending on application
* A lot of developers are pretty bad when it comes to tombstoning.
Great post. There is nothing to be added. Sadly most ppl won't read the whole think or simply continue complaining.
I'm happy with the OS as it is, because I don't want all those crappy apps to suck my battery and fool with my CPU cycles.
In future real sceduling may be a capability of apps which need spezial certification. But I'm strictly against open APIs for that!
It has nothing to do with developers. If an OS is well written it will handle multitasking just fine, it's a nice excuse but a lame one. My old blackberry with a 400mhz processor and displays graphic icons can multi-task. Windows phone 7 with a 1ghz processor and is primarily text based won't allow it.
The keyword here is won't. We all know it's capable of doing it so why won't MS allow it? This is the reason why many major instant message apps are not available for this platform. What's the point of having an instant messager if it gets tombstoned when you switch screens? Big usability hole here.
the_Crispy said:
Great post. There is nothing to be added. Sadly most ppl won't read the whole think or simply continue complaining.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
See the post below yours for confirmation that people won't read, but will gladly complain
I see what you mean and for the most part you got all the definitions correct, but you also have to see how WP7 handles apps and the pros and cons on the end-user.
WP7 actually just saves the state of the app when navigated away from, and does not actually enable you to RUN two apps at once so developers have to be really tricky with how they incorporate this into the OS. The pros are saving battery and not waste resources, the cons are that you cannot actually utilize the best parts of multi-tasking.
Do you want you game "running" in the background so you die? No, but the developer should know that and code the app appropriately. Do you want to be able to stream music in the background while checking emails or texting or tweeting? Of course. Not possible under the current version of WP7. How about playing a game/email/text while driving and having turn-by-turn navigation on? Nope. Developers might be lazy at times, but they're not usually idiots.
There's no question that the OS has the native ability to do so, no one ever argued that point. The beef is that MS has locked their OS down so they only allow Zune to do it. Well some of us don't like Zune or want to multi-task other apps too.
But MS wants to play it safe and see how multi-tasking is working out for Google and Apple before they actually allow it for any 3rd party apps, meanwhile the end-user suffers and the salesguy at the t-mobile store doesn't even show you an HD7 because you "can only do one thing at a time." MS needs to wake the hell up and allow 3rd party TRUE multi-tasking for 3rd party apps. It actually made some sense to not allow it for the initial release, it could have been a nightmare with an early OS and not that many apps anyways, developers had to get fancy and had to stay smart and honest, or their app would be killed with the quickness.
But it is time to free the OS to do some core things that it is really lacking:
1) True Multitasking
2) Copy and Paste
3) HTML5 and Flash support in IE
4) Third party web browsers
5) full direct camera access to apps
6) separate audio levels for media, ringtones, alarm (android really nailed this one)
of course other bugs and stuff, but these are the main issues for me. I don't blame MS for how they handled tombstoning and multi-tasking initially, but it's time (with efficiency) to catch up with the rest of the herd.
tiwas said:
and I will not, unlike my other attempt, be fooled into a pissing contest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pillsburydoughman said:
It has nothing to do with developers. If an OS is well written it will handle multitasking just fine, it's a nice excuse but a lame one. My old blackberry with a 400mhz processor and displays graphic icons can multi-task. Windows phone 7 with a 1ghz processor and is primarily text based won't allow it.
The keyword here is won't. We all know it's capable of doing it so why won't MS allow it? This is the reason why many major instant message apps are not available for this platform. What's the point of having an instant messager if it gets tombstoned when you switch screens? Big usability hole here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tiwas said:
Thanks
See the post below yours for confirmation that people won't read, but will gladly complain
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Click to collapse
I'm not going to get into any ranting or raving or anything on this one, but please don't bash everyone who does not agree with you in this thread or claim they don't read.
The guy had a legitimate post about tombstoning an instant messenger and I have pointed out other times where MS drops the ball on this mulit-tasking issue.
Your OP is a good post and helps clear up some things, but you have to understand that there are real concerns with the OS not allowing 3rd party multi-tasking and just flaming anyone who does not think that this is the best way for the OS to operate.
It wasn't bashing. I was simply pointing out that he hadn't read the whole thing, as he, like you, didn't really understand the concept of multitasking.
Anyway, I'm not going to start arguing with you again.
pillsburydoughman said:
It has nothing to do with developers. If an OS is well written it will handle multitasking just fine, it's a nice excuse but a lame one. My old blackberry with a 400mhz processor and displays graphic icons can multi-task. Windows phone 7 with a 1ghz processor and is primarily text based won't allow it.
The keyword here is won't. We all know it's capable of doing it so why won't MS allow it? This is the reason why many major instant message apps are not available for this platform. What's the point of having an instant messager if it gets tombstoned when you switch screens? Big usability hole here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WP7 definitely has the capbility of multi tasking, or you won't be playing music while using IE. MS limited the multi tasking for 3rd party apps.
Your old phone or android phone can do multitanking without any system limit. As I know it's free for Android application to create background services. However it causes significant lag and battery drain. My captivate lose 4% power per hour on standby and I cannot even locate which app is causing such battery drain.
MS learned from apple that it's more important to keep the device running smooth than to let apps mess the phone up.
Who cares what you call it. People want to have a messenger or non zune music player in the background while they do other things and be able to QUICKLY respond to it. BASICALLY most people want what apple calls multitasking/fast app switching. Only certain things allowed and a proper save state when when leaving the app. It works great on the iPhone and i dont care what people say its simple and effective.
can WP7 multitask?
tiwas said:
It wasn't bashing. I was simply pointing out that he hadn't read the whole thing, as he, like you, didn't really understand the concept of multitasking.
Anyway, I'm not going to start arguing with you again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well I think we both understand the concept of multi-tasking, just disagree with you on the wiseness of not allowing third party apps to be able to do so, someone disagreeing with you isn't the same thing as not understanding something; multi-tasking is actually a pretty easy concept to understand.
I don't want to argue with you again either, I just also don't want readers of this thread to be misinformed and to get all viewpoints regarding WP7's lack of multi-tasking support and then they can decide if they agree or not, but it doesn't mean that the subject is not understood.
I have no desire to start any beef on this thread, just keep in mind that when you start a thread you open a discussion open to disagreements, these don't mean that people don't read or don't understand necessarily. Don't be afraid to be wrong, it happens to everyone. We're all here to get the most out of our devices anyways.
So, you are shazaming a song on the radio, and get a phone call or a txt - will wp7 tombstone the live radio for you too?
Anthonok said:
Who cares what you call it. People want to have a messenger or non zune music player in the background while they do other things and be able to QUICKLY respond to it. BASICALLY most people want what apple calls multitasking/fast app switching. Only certain things allowed and a proper save state when when leaving the app. It works great on the iPhone and i dont care what people say its simple and effective.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apple add this feature not until their 4th generation system
Let's see what the mango update will give us.
amtrakcn said:
Apple add this feature not until their 4th generation system
Let's see what the mango update will give us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what so they will add this in the 9 generation?(if you count 6.1 and 6.5)
Wow
vetvito said:
what so they will add this in the 9 generation?(if you count 6.1 and 6.5)
Wow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's named WP7 but it's ACTUALLY WP1.
WM is designed to be a lite version of desktop windows with phone features
That's why it was powerful while hurting user experience
vetvito said:
can WP7 multitask?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should read my full post. It's explained
I am absolutely sure big companies will be allowed to run in the background, and it's probably just a question about time before we get MSN Messenger running properly in the background.
There are other uses, like streaming music, but as for the suggestions of running GPS software with turn by turn instructions (you shouldn't play games or do anything with your phone while driving!) and having a game active in the background without letting your character die (cool! Let's spin our wheels! We're not going anywhere, but we sure are spending gas! ) are plain silly...
Ok, on my list of programs that will benefit from actually running in the background, I can only think of two now, but please help me put more on the list:
* Music streaming
* Messaging
vetvito said:
can WP7 multitask?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nothing other than Zune right now
tiwas said:
but as for the suggestions of running GPS software with turn by turn instructions (you shouldn't play games or do anything with your phone while driving!) and having a game active in the background without letting your character die (cool! Let's spin our wheels! We're not going anywhere, but we sure are spending gas! ) are plain silly...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well GPS would nice since sometimes you're the passenger and you still want turn by turn while gaming or emailing, so it needs to be supported in the mango update too.
Hi fellow XDA lovers
I just want to remind you all that we don't want a flame war here so keep it on topic please.
amtrakcn said:
Apple add this feature not until their 4th generation system
Let's see what the mango update will give us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it took them an extremely long time because apple is stubborn (or should i say Steve Jobs) and it is disappointing that Microsoft chose to pull an apple with WP7. But at least apple updated the iPhone....
lqaddict said:
So, you are shazaming a song on the radio, and get a phone call or a txt - will wp7 tombstone the live radio for you too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I should probably be able to run in the background if you get a call. I can play games while on the phone, but it leaves a nasty orange block on the top of the screen to notify you that your on the phone. As far txt messaging go, yea that's a bummer. I just click the message when it comes up, respond, then click back to go to the game I was playing. Just hope that game saved your previous state.

Using WP beyond 6 months - Please comment here!

http://www.netbooknews.com/43643/why-i-left-windows-phone-7/
The reviewer here, left WP for Android after using it for 7 months.
Key issues that deterred here from using it beyond 7 months:
Lack of multitasking like Android where apps actually run in background
It did not connect to people as well as Android
Display resolution of 480 x 800
IE9 giving an error twice a month that - browser is out of date (new to me!)
Inability to share locations
You can't zoom in the maps (on pinned locations)
Can't share pics on Twitter (it's a **** experience -probably compared to iOS/Android?)
Now I for one know that I would disagree and can prove that those claims are wrong other than 3rd and 4th one as I've never had those issues. So they might be there waiting for me to discover it?
Anyone have similar issues after using the phone for more than a month or even better if you've used it over half a year!
Please don't troll.
drupad2drupad said:
Lack of multitasking like Android where apps actually run in background
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah he has a point there, although I think Microsoft's solution (toast notifications and Live Tiles) is better for the user and the battery life. However this limits the options of small developers.
drupad2drupad said:
It did not connect to people as well as Android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
drupad2drupad said:
Display resolution of 480 x 800
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least for WP7 every app runs on (almost) every device, the only thing that's missing from some devices in the front facing camera.
drupad2drupad said:
IE9 giving an error twice a month that - browser is out of date (new to me!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Newer happend to me either.
drupad2drupad said:
Inability to share locations
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can share locations on Facebook or using foursquare, WhatsApp etc.
drupad2drupad said:
You can't zoom in the maps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't really know what that means, in the maps app you can zoom in.
drupad2drupad said:
Can't share pics on Twitter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can, Twitter is built right in.
I have been using WP7 since April 2011.
slimshady322 said:
Yeah he has a point there, although I think Microsoft's solution (toast notifications and Live Tiles) is better for the user and the battery life. However this limits the options of small developers.
At least for WP7 every app runs on (almost) every device, the only thing that's missing from some devices in the front facing camera. You can share locations on Facebook or using foursquare, WhatsApp etc. I don't really know what that means, in the maps app you can zoom in. You can, Twitter is built right in. I have been using WP7 since April 2011.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you planning on moving away from WP anytime soon though?
A centralized notification area is definitely needed - probably within the 'ME' tile?
Never had any issues since Mango really, When I first started using WP7 on the HD7 early Jan 2011 I soon got bored with the lack of customisation as I had been using a HD2 and there was so much difference, I did go back to using my HD2 again but liked the new easy to use WP7 OS & after updating to mango I became more interested. I admit I don't fiddle with the phone as much any more but know it will do whatever I want when I want, Am happy with WP7 for now but eagerly await future updates to improve the few "lack of" features, I can't see me moving away just yet.
I personally do not agree with any of the issues listed and believe them to be false as far as useful experience. WP7 has been doing great for what I want and need since Mango and I actually have no plans to look at anything else. I use it for work as well and it fulfills it purpose and then some.
I have come from WM6 to Crackberry to this.
My family (4 of us) all have WP7 since VZW first released them and everyone is happy. I am the "IT" department for my family and we all came from RIMs and I have not had any "support" needs for the WP7 (same can not be said for RIM); it just works.
On a possessive note, as much as I grip and complain about WP 7; I have never had issues with IE 9 and find multitasking easy to use and don't see what people complain about. Twitter??? I personally don't use it on the phone nor the PC because it basically sucks. And about the display, well I see nothing wrong with it at all. There are so many other aspects of the phone that would have had made valid points for leaving WP which I will not bring up because I don't want to feed the troll/fanboys.
Been using it since Feb 2011. Am very happy with the platform and look forward to added functionality & features with Apollo.
I've not had any issues as he described. You can zoom in on maps. I've never seen that IE error. Sharing location is all over the place in WP and so is twitter sharing including pictures.
The resolution? Ok. Thats up to him if that is a platform killer. Can't argue with his preference on that.
Doesn't connect to people as well? Sorry I'm scratching my head here lol.
Apps running in background? Thats a preference as well, but I prefer the way MS has implemented it. When I was on Android it was a constant headache with stuff running my battery down when they shouldnt be running.
sinister1 said:
On a possessive note, as much as I grip and complain about WP 7; I have never had issues with IE 9 and find multitasking easy to use and don't see what people complain about. Twitter??? I personally don't use it on the phone nor the PC because it basically sucks. And about the display, well I see nothing wrong with it at all. There are so many other aspects of the phone that would have had made valid points for leaving WP which I will not bring up because I don't want to feed the troll/fanboys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THAT is such a change from your remaining posts through out the forum, thanks!
drupad2drupad said:
Are you planning on moving away from WP anytime soon though?
A centralized notification area is definitely needed - probably within the 'ME' tile?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I'll stay with my LG Optimus 7 for some time. At some point I will upgrade and I will probably again chose a WP7 device, but before I upgrade I would like MS to provide an option to backup my LG Optimus 7 and transfer all the data to another phone. Even though most stuff is in the cloud, I have tree stars in every Angry Birds level and I don't want to loose that
But I agree with you that the notifications should be stored somewhere.
slimshady322 said:
No I'll stay with my LG Optimus 7 for some time. At some point I will upgrade and I will probably again chose a WP7 device, but before I upgrade I would like MS to provide an option to backup my LG Optimus 7 and transfer all the data to another phone. Even though most stuff is in the cloud, I have tree stars in every Angry Birds level and I don't want to loose that
But I agree with you that the notifications should be stored somewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think your wish will come true with Apollo as a 'total' back up is scheduled to be introduced. You will be able to back up 'everything' - unlike Android full back ups like Titanium where game scores are not backed up and neither are progresses!
Probably Apollo is where WP will stop 'catching up' and start adding things
That reviewer must be on some kind of crack or something. I have not had issues with anything that he has mentioned and I have used WP since march 2011 and used all the mango betas. Only issue I have is with the disappearing keyboard and that you can't upload from the browser. I would also want a backup solution,Skype and integrated public transit directions (already found a semi-integrated solution) to be 100% satisfied.
13 month user, I didn't like WP for a week, but never put my SIM back in my HD2..that's all I'll say about that ...
Sent from The ACSyndicate Tower using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
11 months Mozart user here, since changing to WP, i had lots of free time to do my reading due to i spent less (actually almost none) time on tinkering or flashing my phone...
IMHO, I prefer the way MS integrated the "FAKE" multitasking method which I found it very suit my taste, and I can have total control on which apps I gave permission on background task, feel like I had total control of the phone (don't flame me because I know that some others had a different definition on Full Control of their device)
I find all of his accusations false except maybe 9. I think he means auto sharing location. There is some app i've seen peeps complain about because windows phone will only report your location automatically if it is in the foreground. From a security standpoint though, i'd be glad it doesn't but if you like that kind of app i guess that would be an issue.
The rest is BS. I've been using Windows phone since i got my surround for 180.00 off ebay (wasn't sure if i would like windows phone and my contract was up soon so i didn't want to waste my upgrade in case i didn't like it.) I used my upgrade to get a titan and my wife uses the surround to play games and use facebook. (she has a flip phone and didn't want to pay for data even though i swear to her i can shut the data off... i just got a purple case coming in from ebay so i may sway her )
i dont have any problems of them maybe the problem is the girl who tested DD
I have been using WP for a year. I still have my Nexus One that I used to use while travelling for Wifi hotspot and Navigation reasons. Mango and Navigon have resolved these issues. I still miss the notification tray/center and I sincerely hope WP gets it soon. Those who have used Android will vouch for me about importance of a good notification system.
Having said that, WP is my daily driver. The one thing that WP offers, that Android lacks, is the peace of mind. With Android, it was flash a ROM every week. Most of these ROM upgreades were not for features but for stability or improving some feature that google didn't integrate properly. Android reminds me of my WM days. Powerful but not a stable, cohesive experience.
I plan to stay with WP at least till beyond Apollo. I am curious to see how they integrate Windows 8, Xbox and WP8.
ive admitted only had my windows phone a week but after a serious play over the weekend when ive not been working - videos, photos, borwsing, messages etc.. you name it.
my only gripe is the volume/vibrate with no optin for silent and no vibrate.
Tother than that - coming from my HD2 which had been modded, my Titan seems very polished and smooth.
The article is BS, the only valid point is the screen resolution one.
[
my only gripe is the volume/vibrate with no optin for silent and no vibrate.
.[/QUOTE]
go to settings/sounds and ringtone/ set vibration to off
then on home screen you can toggle between ring and "silent"
pakure said:
my only gripe is the volume/vibrate with no optin for silent and no vibrate..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go to settings/sounds and ringtone/ set vibration to off
then on home screen you can toggle between ring and "silent"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is true, but it is a far from optimal workaround. Changing that setting doesn't just affect silent mode, it affects both ring and silent mode. I think what Symondo is asking for is a way to conveniently toggle between ring+vibrate, vibrate-only, and complete silence without resorting to opening the settings app.

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