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Hey Guys
Video and Piccies
http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/15/windows-phone-7-series-hands-on-and-impressions/
http://www.slashgear.com/windows-phone-7-series-hands-on-1573973/
It doesn't look to be more hardware challenging than sense + wm 6.5.3 .... I wonder if they changed the boot-loader requirements much
Well... I thing it's time to give a try to "you know who... Harry".... (iphone) LOL. First impresion, i don't like WM7.
I can't believe that they haven't had a leak of it yet
and if all apps are restricted, android here i come
I can't post links for some stupid reason, but there is a REALLY long video demo on channel 9. It is called:
First-Look-Windows-Phone-7-Series-Hands-on-Demo
just got to "channel9 do msdn dot com" and search for the above.
windows 7
goodbye winmo,hello android,have used winmo for ever,but microsoft have shot themselves in the head this time,instead of the foot as usual.
you can forget cooking roms etc for 7 series,ms are going to lock up os so that folk cannot "improve" the software,ms is bored with htc making them look stupid.
looks almost as if ms have given up on rest of the world and are looking to survive with american market.
a bing hardware button !!,there are only 15 people in the world who use bing and they all work for ms.
x-box and zune support intergrated,cor that should please a few dozen more folk.
this was meant to be the start of great new things,apple etc must be laughing them selves stupid.
series 7 to go up against iphone, winmo 6.5 for enterprise.
looks like most of the rumours of a two os system etc where right..
Note how he skips questions on prompts for lockscreen.
Also how he skips out on showing any of the day to day features and how they will look.
The rep in the slashgear vid also avoids all relevant questions.
TBH consumers and certain sites bemoaned WM6.5 for crippling devices like the HD2 and TG01....yet now they are all upset that this is too simple. It is a phone for noddy.
Guys in the media, make up your mind!!!
I hope XDA can come to the rescue of this pos. eye candy only goes so far, but it offers no nutrition that we can use daily.
This is not looking one iota like a business capable device.
Terribly disappointed with Win Phone 7. It's a regular person OS. Completely built around Social Networking with very little appeal to the business user and with ZERO appeal to us tweakers and hackers.
I hate the all text interface. Looks like i'll be sticking with 6.5 for a long time to come.
Time to start saving funds... to buy a new baby capable for WP7S
Hey flar!!! make this **** A News on the XDA portal!!!!
new era for XDA developers! hope all the big masters are now thinking DAMN! this is freaking cool!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdDAeyy1H0A
wow what a waste of RD money. Still very slow and lagging. Looks nothing more then a UI upgrade over wmo6.
I am off to the next google phone!!
Interesting thoughts, but I disagree. Apple isn't laughing. WinMo7 looks aimed straight at Apple’s consumer-dependent heart. So Microsoft is tightening down platform constraints and cooking ROMs may become a thing of the past...when it comes to market share, so what?
Lack of development transparency at the OS level hasn't hurt Apple’s market share. Frankly, it has helped Apple build a tightly integrated consumer appliance that doesn't water itself down by pandering to corner contingent s of users. Apple has proven that extending the platform through application development and NOT allowing customizing the platform is the current recipe for success. WinMo7 is co=opting this recipe, but still allowing far more development flexibility than Apple does.
Realize that the real play in Mobile is about the consumer experience…this is why your complaints about Bing, Zune, etc. don’t make any sense. These functions are usage enablers, just like Google Maps and the iTunes are on the iPhone. No one cares about the brand; they care what they can do with the device. If I can do everything as slickly on a WinMo7 device that I can do an iPhone, do I really care if I am using Google or Bing? End-to-end, WinMo7 is going right at the core of the iPhone consumer value prop, while providing a more open platform that far more robust than the iPhone and still enables all of the Enterprise scenarios with ActiveSync and Exchange Policy integration
Sure, WinMo7 is no Android; in terms of open source code or ROM customization, Android will be the new king. But WinMo7 doesn't need to be and if anything, WinMo 6.5 has proved that an open platform isn't the ultimate deciding factor for the success of a mobile platform.
While Android will be the most flexible platform moving forward, this doesn't necessarily mean that it will be the ultimate market winner...The only markets this kind of platform is guaranteed to win are those of corner case users like a ROM chef or open source code guru.
tleaf100 said:
goodbye winmo,hello android,have used winmo for ever,but microsoft have shot themselves in the head this time,instead of the foot as usual.
you can forget cooking roms etc for 7 series,ms are going to lock up os so that folk cannot "improve" the software,ms is bored with htc making them look stupid.
looks almost as if ms have given up on rest of the world and are looking to survive with american market.
a bing hardware button !!,there are only 15 people in the world who use bing and they all work for ms.
x-box and zune support intergrated,cor that should please a few dozen more folk.
this was meant to be the start of great new things,apple etc must be laughing them selves stupid.
series 7 to go up against iphone, winmo 6.5 for enterprise.
looks like most of the rumours of a two os system etc where right..
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Click to collapse
very good post, thanks a lot!
I'm sure, MS will have success with 7.
kenikh said:
Interesting thoughts, but I disagree. Apple isn't laughing. WinMo7 looks aimed straight at Apple’s consumer-dependent heart. So Microsoft is tightening down platform constraints and cooking ROMs may become a thing of the past...when it comes to market share, so what?
Lack of development transparency at the OS level hasn't hurt Apple’s market share. Frankly, it has helped Apple build a tightly integrated consumer appliance that doesn't water itself down by pandering to corner contingent s of users. Apple has proven that extending the platform through application development and NOT allowing customizing the platform is the current recipe for success. WinMo7 is co=opting this recipe, but still allowing far more development flexibility than Apple does.
Realize that the real play in Mobile is about the consumer experience…this is why your complaints about Bing, Zune, etc. don’t make any sense. These functions are usage enablers, just like Google Maps and the iTunes are on the iPhone. No one cares about the brand; they care what they can do with the device. If I can do everything as slickly on a WinMo7 device that I can do an iPhone, do I really care if I am using Google or Bing? End-to-end, WinMo7 is going right at the core of the iPhone consumer value prop, while providing a more open platform that far more robust than the iPhone and still enables all of the Enterprise scenarios with ActiveSync and Exchange Policy integration
Sure, WinMo7 is no Android; in terms of open source code or ROM customization, Android will be the new king. But WinMo7 doesn't need to be and if anything, WinMo 6.5 has proved that an open platform isn't the ultimate deciding factor for the success of a mobile platform.
While Android will be the most flexible platform moving forward, this doesn't necessarily mean that it will be the ultimate market winner...The only markets this kind of platform is guaranteed to win are those of corner case users like a ROM chef or open source code guru.
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Click to collapse
kenikh said:
Sure, WinMo7 is no Android; in terms of open source code or ROM customization, Android will be the new king. But WinMo7 doesn't need to be and if anything, WinMo 6.5 has proved that an open platform isn't the ultimate deciding factor for the success of a mobile platform. While Android will be the most flexible platform moving forward, this doesn't necessarily mean that it will be the ultimate market winner...The only markets this kind of platform is guaranteed to win are those of corner case users like a ROM chef or open source code guru.
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Click to collapse
Gotta agree with this.
I Personally dont know what to say about winmob 7. First time viewing the video was a SHOCK. It was soo radically different from what im used to looking at on 6.5 and 6.5.3.
It was nothing like sense either.
I wont say if I hate it or like it yet till I use it, or a zune HD since its nothing like anything Iv used.
It appears as if the business user focus is gone, but perhaps they will show somehow bring it back when they further demo it nxt month.
I will say one thing about winmobil 7, after years of using 6,6.1,6.5 I feel more comfortable using android then win7.
I feel windows Mobil 7 will be wm6.5's successor only in name.
I don't understand what y'all are talking about saying that this will not work for business users?!?! Microsoft is going to have functionality for all of its core business functions (i.e. word, excel, powerpoint, exchange, etc...). Am I to understand that just because a phone has the capability to appeal to the business persons life not just their work, means that it is not business capable?
Is there anything saying that the UI of a, "business" phone has to be bland, boring and lacking any modern interface? Does it have to look like windows 98?
Anyways, sign me up for the pre-order of this thing! I hope the Dell Mini 5 comes with WMSS!!!
Am I the only one who also doesnt give a frazzle about social networking?
I prefer real life updates from people who can be bothered to text or call me and engage in conversation, and I do likewise.
I must be too old fashioned...wait, I'm 23....sign me up to the care home!
Reason why i didnt think it was a business capable device was because it seemed to be so slim on features...and hell we cannot even see the settings screens, or have a way to set someone's callerID picture????
I did notice a mention of 'policies' so perhaps that is the way for XDA to get around WMP7 and its protections.
But yes, most people have depressingly low levels of intelligence and cannot be bothered to find anything like XDA or tract technical waters. Hence iphone, and WMP7 and every other dumbass idea will get market traction.
And it gets traction because it LOOKS finished. WM6.5 never looked finished because even if you made it look perfect you would still know of something else to tweak.
With iphone and WMP7 the philsophy to get market acceptance is simply to lock it down so that people learn to accept what they have whatever it is, to look at the visuals, give up wanting to tweak/personalise/fix, and use the phone....
oh wait...that's almost commendable
Basically - give someone something unfixable and in time they will learn to love it
Ouch. Frankly... that hurts.
I'm not at all a fan of that kind of mashup UI. It looks just like a big non-appealing mess to me. I love Sense, and to me that's what it should have been. W7P seems to be all about a very limited set of tasks aggregated around social networking and stuff that I don't give a damn about.
And to add to it,
http://www.osnews.com/story/22877/Microsoft_Unveils_Windows_Phone_7_Series said:
Screen resolution, aspect ratio, CPU speed, memory, you name it; it's all mandated by Microsoft. Even the button configuration: Start, back, search. That's it. No deviations. Speaking of deviations - no more custom UIs, Microsoft doesn't allow them.
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So we have no hope of actually getting something different. Sigh...
They didn't even talk or show about the app concept, only core functionality, so it's hard to see what we can expect. So far, it seems that it won't be soon that I'll move away from WM6.5, except that...
http://www.osnews.com/story/22877/Microsoft_Unveils_Windows_Phone_7_Series said:
Windows Phone 7 Series is a clean break. There is no backwards compatibility at all.
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That sucks VERY VERY badly. Firstly, the ~8 years of WM development and the great apps it has led to are LOST. Start from scratch again. We're again in the situation with a "dead" platform stuck with limited core funtionality for 2 years until developers start putting out interesting stuff for it.
But where it sucks even more, is that from today on WM6.5 is pretty much dead. Who's going to continue developing apps for something that will disappear in 6 months? So those who will decide to stay with WM6.5 will have to do with what they have now...
I also can't help but feel sorry for some at this point, like Schaps who's about to release something great after years of development... 3 months before the whole platform is wiped.
W7P sucks.
Hopefully by the time I need a new phone android will be mature enough, seeing as after 2 years it only just begins getting decent apps...
this winmo 7 is a s**t!!
As a user of a ZuneHD I am extremely excited about WMP7. The UI on the ZuneHD seems a little strange at first, but once you use it you'll be amazed at how efficient it really is. I think this also bodes well for App development for the ZuneHD.
As far as business use, apparently many of you did not watch the entire keynote this morning. They demonstrated how WMP7 can integrate both your business and personal data while still providing indication of which area the data belongs to. There is also an entire "hub" dedicated to business apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
For me, this is much much better than anything I expected.
People kept complaining about how little Windows Mobile has changed over the years. I'm glad the new OS turned out like this. Great change compared to the drab legacy that has been dragging on. Also I'm a huge fan of the lack of gloss in the UI and heavy text stylization. Love the Zune HD inspired design and I'm glad I didn't get a Zune HD, so that now I can get a WP7S phone next year.
Also to those worried about settings, page, give the guys a break. They announced the freaking thing TODAY. Over time, we'll see more of WP7.
WoW...everyone is quick to judge !????
I'm a PC..haha...no seriously. Looking at what has come into light in the pulic domain is a fantastic idea / product / OS (yes okay its a zune with phone features).
Everyone who likes windows mobile will have to change thier ways....just like they did with the OS platform like windows 95 / 98 / 2000 / XP / Vista and now Windows 7 and now its the mobile sides turn.
Out with the old 5.0, 6.0, 6.1, 6.5 etc, in with the new....and its a good thing its totally different.
people here may complain that "OH NO...no more TouchFLO".....so WHAT ! my fav company is HTC, and yes there will be an interface which HTC will develop (well they already have...hehe)....just hold on to your pants people....its going to be SUPER ....we just saw the OS and thats it.....MIX10 show will provide you all the details and whats to offer...hello Killer Apps!
What you see in all the videos is an unfinished OS product...there is a reason for this; Samsung, LG, ACER, HTC etc will all have thier input and style, however the base functions stay the same...(Zune, Pictures, XboX,
I can tell you the Phone Dialer (man its ugly) , that WILL change. TXT messages, that will change and some other things....which everyone will see very soon
in the words of a wise guy: http://www.moviesoundclips.net/movies1/transformers/shallow.wav
+ Que PPC said:
Time to start saving funds... to buy a new baby capable for WP7S
Hey flar!!! make this **** A News on the XDA portal!!!!
new era for XDA developers! hope all the big masters are now thinking DAMN! this is freaking cool!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdDAeyy1H0A
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Click to collapse
If you read some of the other WM7 threads, well.... not so much "cool", but rather there is a big feeling of disappointment. As I said in a different post, it looks as if a Zune and an Ipod gave birth to.... this thing. If you have the urgent need to let the world know that you are in the middle of taking a big dump, then this is the phone for you
face it, low level apis and languages are for hobbyists now adays. programming languages like C# are huge. .Net makes it so easy and quick to write applications. that's what professionals use. the amount of applications released will be explosive. go ahead, go to android, it's crappy java, and if you use the native development kit,it compiles against the old instruction set. android has hardly even made a dent in the market. it will never be mainstream,just like linux. whine all you want, but microsoft got a bad rap because of crappy coders who crashed the os all the time. it is no longer a hobbyist OS but a consumer OS.
no matter how easy C# is and everything but sometimes you still need access to low level functionality. I agree it's a good idea to recommend modern languages for development on WP7 or any future OS but I don't think it's alright to completely deny the privileged mode APIs, like they were previously called on WM. It's alright if you need to get special certificates if you want to do such risky things (you need that already on WM6) but it still should be possible after all.
I agree about the Android part of your post. On this board it seems to get hyped quited a lot but in real life sales are not really that groundbreaking like everyone thinks. WM is still a lot stronger. Still, I don't even see any advantages you'd get with a switch to Android!
I'm a .net dev but there's instances where you need the unmanaged APIs to do things. There's lots of gaps in the .net compact framework.
I got a nexus one for me and my wife. I was a WM fanboy but I have to say I will never use a WM device again. I have a zune hd and it sucks at everything. The new browser is worse then WM 6.5. I think WM7 is gonna fail big time. What are you talking about that android is not getting market share? Android will gain 20% more market share in two years.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100209-717900.html
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/android_market_share_doubles_will_overtake_palm_soon.php
http://phandroid.com/2009/11/15/android-stealing-symbian-winmo-market-share/
shep211 said:
I got a nexus one for me and my wife. I was a WM fanboy but I have to say I will never use a WM device again. I have a zune hd and it sucks at everything. The new browser is worse then WM 6.5. I think WM7 is gonna fail big time. What are you talking about that android is not getting market share? Android will gain 20% more market share in two years.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100209-717900.html
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/android_market_share_doubles_will_overtake_palm_soon.php
http://phandroid.com/2009/11/15/android-stealing-symbian-winmo-market-share/
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Click to collapse
Noone knows what's going to happen in two years. That prediction was also made before WP7 was announced so it's somewhat meaningless now. Who said the browser is the same one that's in the ZuneHD? The web browser was an afterthought for the ZuneHD and it's a prime feature of WP7. I expect it to be much improved.
RustyGrom said:
Noone knows what's going to happen in two years. That prediction was also made before WP7 was announced so it's somewhat meaningless now. Who said the browser is the same one that's in the ZuneHD? The web browser was an afterthought for the ZuneHD and it's a prime feature of WP7. I expect it to be much improved.
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I have seen all the wm7 videos and its the same os. They said WM7 would not be based off of the zune hd os but it is. Watch the zune hd videos then WM7 videos. Same os and same browser. They are just adding phone support. I preordered my zune hd and was every unhappy with it. Nothing new or better then ipod. The browser has to be the worst browsing experience ever. Cant download podcast from the phone. You have to dock it and load the podcast on the phone. Cant listen to music without headphones. Tons and tons of stuff that makes you think WTF.
Interesting considering the browser IS different, and you other complaints wont be there on a phone.
Its not the same OS, its just they standardizing there UIs.
RAMMANN said:
no matter how easy C# is and everything but sometimes you still need access to low level functionality. I agree it's a good idea to recommend modern languages for development on WP7 or any future OS but I don't think it's alright to completely deny the privileged mode APIs, like they were previously called on WM. It's alright if you need to get special certificates if you want to do such risky things (you need that already on WM6) but it still should be possible after all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RustyGrom said:
I'm a .net dev but there's instances where you need the unmanaged APIs to do things. There's lots of gaps in the .net compact framework.
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Click to collapse
yes i know we need certain APIs to do certain things,but nobody knows yet what the new framework will be like. who's to say what is limited and what isn't when we don't have any of this info yet.
I completely agree with o2neouzr. Whay are people whining about it when they have no idea what will and won't be included in .NET CF 4?
I've only done a small amount of phone development on WM6 and C# has been fine. My app responds to missed calls and texts when I'm on the motorbike. I recently discussed porting it to the iPhone with a friend. It turns out even really basic stuff like sending a text, knowing if you've missed a call, running with the screen off are all impossible on the iPhone - even with approval from Apple. I reckon we'll be allowed to do a reasonable amount. It'll still be better than the crappy iPhone.
Think of an Operating System like the rule of law in a country; now there is a rumor that the supreme leaders decide to enforce that the only dress code allowed is T-Shirt, of course, the rationals in breadth and depth as in any totalitarian country is only known to the supreme leaders.
"Death to fashion designers!" yelled the fanatics.
"They can't see the simplicity of T-Shirt!" chimed the supporters.
" It is easy to make!!" cried the guards.
" It takes only a minute to paint!!!" said the propagandist.
" It is ready for mass market!!!!" snapped the enforcers to anyone who dare to challenge the new establishment.
"Burn in hell for daring to wear any other dress! T-Shirt is the future! Any one wearing dress is living in the stone age !"
Of course it is hard for concern citizens like we, fashion designers - native developers, to have a decent conversation with this group of people. How can words explain the beauty of our love ones (customers), walking through the crowds of T-Shirts --- in designers' dress. How can we explain the search of excellence, as the way of life, to so many of us, perfecting the art, year after year, to bring out the best of us for the world to see the beauty of free expression.
It is not like that we can't make T-Shirt, it is no-brainer for most of us. The beauty of simplicity is simple but not simpler. A native developers try to achieve simplicity without making things simpler.
Fred23 said:
I completely agree with o2neouzr. Whay are people whining about it when they have no idea what will and won't be included in .NET CF 4?
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It's not really about having the limited stuff of .NET CF in mind and doing PInvoke for really standard issues. It's about the whole architecture of the runtime. can you do DLL injection or hook into another process with .NET? Not at all. DLLs don't even exist there. You understand... we need the native API if we want to do all the funny things. Recent example: On the Omnia2 there's the taskmon service running which is closing applications if you open more than 3 or 4 (!!!!). chainfire guy wrote a tool that injects into the service to stop this nonsense. More examples are the File explorer extensions, Quick menu, XTask etc. You don't need this stuff? Fine! Go get an iphone!
RAMMANN said:
It's not really about having the limited stuff of .NET CF in mind and doing PInvoke for really standard issues. It's about the whole architecture of the runtime. can you do DLL injection or hook into another process with .NET? Not at all. DLLs don't even exist there. You understand... we need the native API if we want to do all the funny things. Recent example: On the Omnia2 there's the taskmon service running which is closing applications if you open more than 3 or 4 (!!!!). chainfire guy wrote a tool that injects into the service to stop this nonsense. More examples are the File explorer extensions, Quick menu, XTask etc. You don't need this stuff? Fine! Go get an iphone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ummmmmmmmmm DLLs do exist in .net. In fact, pretty much the entire .net framework is just a collection of DLLs. Have you ever even written a .net app or any software at all for that matter? It seems your hatred is extremely unfounded.
There likely won't be a file explorer to extend and all of the other things you list get into modifying the UI so those won't be allowed either. They're ugly hacks that shouldn't be needed on any platform. Yea, WinMo needed them to cover up it's many flaws.
You don't need native APIs to do those things necessarily. There just needs to be managed APIs to do them. They won't be allowing it though so it's a moot point.
If you want to completely replace the UI, go get an Anroid phone!
There's a middle ground that they need to find. I feel that's what they're shooting for but it doesn't sound like they're gonna hit it. I'm expecting only a subset of .net CF as even that would allow you to do 'too much' in their mind.
alright I admit I have written bull****. of course there are DLLs in .NET but I rather mean they are handled little different than usual DLLs. So I thought common sense is you call them assemblies instead of DLLs. oh! And yes I have written Windows applications in .NET but always refrained from using it on WM due to performance issues and because it's so incomplete and for all the interesting stuff you have to use PInvoke anyway. Also if you at least had checked the link in my signature before judging then you would have seen that I'm actually writing software for WM. besides that, it's even my daily job to write software for Windows/WM for like... ahm... 12 years now.
RustyGrom said:
There likely won't be a file explorer to extend and all of the other things you list get into modifying the UI so those won't be allowed either. They're ugly hacks that shouldn't be needed on any platform. Yea, WinMo needed them to cover up it's many flaws.
You don't need native APIs to do those things necessarily. There just needs to be managed APIs to do them. They won't be allowing it though so it's a moot point.
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That's the point actually. What I love about WM is that you can easily (or not so easy) hack your way through it and if that's not allowed anymore in a new revision then a lot of fun is taken for me and I guess for "a few more folks" here on XDA. WM like it is with 6.5.x is REALLY comfortable with me and that's no joke! I'm trying to customize and modify it because it's a lot of fun to do so, not because the OS is so bad. Currently I'm running 6.5.x with Sense 2.5 on my Topaz and everything is running really smooth and responsive and I can't complain at all!!
RustyGrom said:
If you want to completely replace the UI, go get an Anroid phone!
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I hate Android! I don't really want to code in Java. And their native API is a joke isn't it? If WP7 isn't suitable anymore (and right now we don't really know for sure) then I have to keep going with the old **** aka WM 6.5.x until I'm old and grey. why should I change OS if there's nothing that matches the customization possibilites of our present OS?
I could understand the frustration for not having full access to native API, full multitasking, etc.
It will be no joy ... no fun ... especially when you simply cannot customize the UI "the way you want" (You can still customize the WP7 start screen).
You cannot express your full creativity.
That is really valid concern.
But ....................................
Could this "new situation of WP7" trigger another kind of creativity?
To the extreme, who would think creating fart application? I know, probably this is a bad example of creativity, but still ... it is kind of creativity.
My point, in whatever situation, people will simply adapt and certain people will excel with their creativity!
Could that be YOU?
RAMMANN said:
I hate Android! I don't really want to code in Java. And their native API is a joke isn't it? If WP7 isn't suitable anymore (and right now we don't really know for sure) then I have to keep going with the old **** aka WM 6.5.x until I'm old and grey. why should I change OS if there's nothing that matches the customization possibilites of our present OS?
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RAMMANN said:
If WP7 isn't suitable anymore (and right now we don't really know for sure) then I have to keep going with the old **** aka WM 6.5.x until I'm old and grey. why should I change OS if there's nothing that matches the customization possibilites of our present OS?
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If I understand this Charlie Kindel (who supposedly is the guy in charge of all this API/SDK stuff), it's not their intention to lock the "fun stuff" out indefinitely. What he's saying is more in the lines of "we want a consistent and logical environment/ecosystem for developers and users, and in order to achieve that, we need to change from the "let's push everything we have out the door" mentality towards "let's make it really good", and this requires serious focused step-by-step approach". They want to start with "consumer application" and hobbyist developers (the latter probably means fart app makers and such), which is understandable because they want to build consumer appeal first. Other categories of developers will be addressed after that.
So, while I don't expect much "fun" you're talking about in WP7, I think this will evolve over time. It's unfortunate that we're not getting things to play with right now, but maybe you won't need to wait until you are old and grey haired. And also maybe we'll really get great APIs/SDK, which will be more useful, consistent and complete than the current incompletely and sometimes incredibly poorly documented mess. Just trying to be positive here.
RAMMANN said:
That's the point actually. What I love about WM is that you can easily (or not so easy) hack your way through it and if that's not allowed anymore in a new revision then a lot of fun is taken for me and I guess for "a few more folks" here on XDA. WM like it is with 6.5.x is REALLY comfortable with me and that's no joke! I'm trying to customize and modify it because it's a lot of fun to do so, not because the OS is so bad. Currently I'm running 6.5.x with Sense 2.5 on my Topaz and everything is running really smooth and responsive and I can't complain at all!!
I hate Android! I don't really want to code in Java. And their native API is a joke isn't it? If WP7 isn't suitable anymore (and right now we don't really know for sure) then I have to keep going with the old **** aka WM 6.5.x until I'm old and grey. why should I change OS if there's nothing that matches the customization possibilites of our present OS?
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I agree with you. Many people hate WM6.5, I like it. I enjoy the customizability as many others on here do. However, I would also enjoy 'retiring' from the need to do that. It's kind of annoying knowing that the first thing I have to do when I get a new phone is go home and HardSPL it and flash a new ROM. I've heard some of the newer devices are much better out the door (HD2 for example) but haven't seen this for myself.
I don't think the members of this forum are part of Microsoft's target audience for end users. Devs, yea, but not end users. They are shooting for people disenchanted with their iPhone, Android, and more importantly the other 75% of the cell phone market that's still using "feature phones" (aka dumb phones).
It definitely looks like MS is going to lock down much more than WM6.5. Will we still be cooking custom roms? My guess is yes. But your common user will have more restrictions on what apps can and can't do.
I look at this as a new challenge more than anything else.
vangrieg said:
If I understand this Charlie Kindel (who supposedly is the guy in charge of all this API/SDK stuff), it's not their intention to lock the "fun stuff" out indefinitely. What he's saying is more in the lines of "we want a consistent and logical environment/ecosystem for developers and users, and in order to achieve that, we need to change from the "let's push everything we have out the door" mentality towards "let's make it really good", and this requires serious focused step-by-step approach". They want to start with "consumer application" and hobbyist developers (the latter probably means fart app makers and such), which is understandable because they want to build consumer appeal first. Other categories of developers will be addressed after that.
So, while I don't expect much "fun" you're talking about in WP7, I think this will evolve over time. It's unfortunate that we're not getting things to play with right now, but maybe you won't need to wait until you are old and grey haired. And also maybe we'll really get great APIs/SDK, which will be more useful, consistent and complete than the current incompletely and sometimes incredibly poorly documented mess. Just trying to be positive here.
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Click to collapse
That's a good way to look at it. I just hope that they don't get too restrictive from the start. I think the .net CF would be a good starting point that they should add onto but it almost sounds like they're only picking and choosing pieces from it. If we've got the whole .net CF (maybe minus a few things they don't want us doing) I would be fine with that.
RustyGrom said:
I agree with you. Many people hate WM6.5, I like it. I enjoy the customizability as many others on here do. However, I would also enjoy 'retiring' from the need to do that. It's kind of annoying knowing that the first thing I have to do when I get a new phone is go home and HardSPL it and flash a new ROM. I've heard some of the newer devices are much better out the door (HD2 for example) but haven't seen this for myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have used my Topaz with the 6.1 factory ROM for at least 2-3 months. At this time I couldn't complain. I didn't face any issues. I only started to flash new ROMs when 6.5 and later issues were available...
About retiring... I don't think you will. The need to immediately flash a new WP7 device is always given. Just imagine you got a new phone from a Telecom contract and you got all your hubs in pink...
RustyGrom said:
I think the .net CF would be a good starting point that they should add onto but it almost sounds like they're only picking and choosing pieces from it. If we've got the whole .net CF (maybe minus a few things they don't want us doing) I would be fine with that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not much a developer (it's not my profession, I just did a couple of things for fun), but, apart from performance issues which can more or less be improved in the new OS, I've seen two types of limitations with .Net CF on WM 6.x: it's been nearly impossible to make nice UI without awful performance, and there are big gaps in terms of accessing "low-level" and sometimes not so low-level stuff and hence need for PInvoke.
The first issue will probably be addressed by Silverlight and, possibly, better built-in UI controls and such. The second will probably be partly addressed by OS-level push, "live feed" APIs, which sometimes might help overcome the limitations of SNAPI. The obvious question marks are things like non-SNAPI event handling such as hardware key processing, power management, device IO etc. Theoretically, this could be done in an environment such as .Net, why not, but not in its current incarnation of CF 3.5. If they added functionality to .Net, it could make life easier for devs.
Obviously though, some things just aren't realistic in managed code, so no alternative browsers/video players for us apart from shells over MS engines (which means no .mkv support if it's not built into the OS already). It could be possible, though, if they're serious in trying to do things right this time, that they want to create those APIs/SDK together with devs. Say, it would be an awesome, albeit slow, path to sit down with CoreCodec and build a piece of the SDK on a specific case, understanding and overcoming the challenges step by step. Don't know if we can hope to get that kind of attitude though...
It's good to use .NET languages, but it is limited, at least on CompactFramework, so it's impossible to use ONLY .NET: you have to use unmanaged code for creating some things that .NET doesn't allow to.
vangrieg said:
I'm not much a developer (it's not my profession, I just did a couple of things for fun), but, apart from performance issues which can more or less be improved in the new OS, I've seen two types of limitations with .Net CF on WM 6.x: it's been nearly impossible to make nice UI without awful performance, and there are big gaps in terms of accessing "low-level" and sometimes not so low-level stuff and hence need for PInvoke.
The first issue will probably be addressed by Silverlight and, possibly, better built-in UI controls and such. The second will probably be partly addressed by OS-level push, "live feed" APIs, which sometimes might help overcome the limitations of SNAPI. The obvious question marks are things like non-SNAPI event handling such as hardware key processing, power management, device IO etc. Theoretically, this could be done in an environment such as .Net, why not, but not in its current incarnation of CF 3.5. If they added functionality to .Net, it could make life easier for devs.
Obviously though, some things just aren't realistic in managed code, so no alternative browsers/video players for us apart from shells over MS engines (which means no .mkv support if it's not built into the OS already). It could be possible, though, if they're serious in trying to do things right this time, that they want to create those APIs/SDK together with devs. Say, it would be an awesome, albeit slow, path to sit down with CoreCodec and build a piece of the SDK on a specific case, understanding and overcoming the challenges step by step. Don't know if we can hope to get that kind of attitude though...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. I'm expecting a 'revolution' of sorts in the UI standpoint. Like I've stated previously, it sucks trying to make a good, finger-friendly UI. XNA will make game/3d creation a breeze. Silverlight will be awesome for more traditional style UIs. I'm just wondering how high level and low level they'll get. For example, if I wanted to make an app that looked exactly like the main UI of the phone would I be able to just create a panel object, give it the text for the title, text and controls on that panel, and it will take care of the placement, input control, etc? Or what if I want to go the opposite route and create a UI of my own, will I be able to do that? I'm expecting things like button inputs to be provided. It would be crazy for them not to. That's part of the benefit of standardizing the buttons, they can easily bubble those up to devs.
The leaked docs show that native APIs and unmanaged code will be available to an extent but only to OEMs and carriers. I'm sure if people make enough noise they'll back down and approve apps that make use of that for others as well if they show the need. Microsoft's corporate culture traditionally hasn't been as 'religious' as Apple's and is more willing to back down on things if pushed.
Below is just my opinion, and take it as such.
Windows 7 dissapoints me beyond belief. In fact, teverything about it is the "worst case scenario".
<rant>
1. Home page.. I can sum it up in "WTF". The home page that takes up about 80% of the screen (so even big screens look gimped, small and shifted to the side), with a huge area on right and up completely wasted for nothing. Ugly plain-colored squares, with no design consistency (big, small, long, tall) with pieces of information that make no sense.
2. Social networking - as for me, I really don't give a flying turd about my neighbor's ugly kid drawing an image of a bird on the wall with his drool. Nor do I care that much about viewing hundreds of pictures of my friend visiting his grandma. Thanks for covering my home screen with that.
3. Xbox - I don't even have an xbox, nor do I plan to buy one. Neither do most of the business-oriented people who buy a PDA. And even if I did, would I really be so obsessed about my "avatar" or "points" or whatever they use, that I need it on my home page?
4. Emailing - the heart of a PDA. For some people, even more important than the calling itself. By looking at the presentation videos 7's email system is complete trash. It gives you no real "sense" for the inbox, there is no good view to browse your emails properly. Swiping through pages to see "flagged" "unread" on different screens creates a feeling that you're not getting the whole picture, and you're missing stuff. Besides, it has no good integration with contacts that HTC's Sense provides pretty darn well.
5. Interface in general - animation effects blow. They are kind-of OK for today's standards, but when 7 is released, they will already be boring and plain. They are not looking forward, the "flow" of it is already outdated and will be completely destroyed by any new interface that Android or especially Apple will no-doubt deliver in near future. Besides, how awesome it is to see parts of words all the time? "Peop" turns into "ople", so if you slide left-and-right real fast, you can actually see a whole word..... freaking idiotic.
6. Customization... I'm just speechless. This is the only thing that I could raise as WM's, perhaps, only advantage over Android and iPhone. Now they are officially going over to the Apple's way of treating customers like money-packed down-syndrome drooling kids that fall into a seizure when they hear words "cab" or "tweak". After hanging in xda-developers for so long, and writing my own stuff for the PDA, this alone is way more than enough to make me never even look at WM devices again.
7. "Copy and paste" and "multitasking".... I cannot believe that there is even a controversy over WM device having those 2 features... I don't even know what else to say about this. Insane.
Microsoft is obviously a huge Apple fanboy now. They are accepting their market strategies and their development practices and are scared ****less to look ahead and develop something brilliant.
At this point, with current info, WM7 is nothing more than a bad, extremely poorly designed iPhone interface mod. It's already outdated, already looks inefficient, boring and just waiting to be forgotten. Heck, age-old HTC Home plugin looks way better than WM7, and is actually more useful for everyday tasks.
</rant>
Flame away.
Sadly I couldn't agree more... I had been waiting for the mytical complete revamping of the Windows Mobile OS, and when the first real info came out in Spain, I was stoked by what they were presenting (although I couldn't understand the oddly offset homescreen squares)... This week has been nothing but disappointment after disappointment It seems they took all the bad plays out of the iphone playbook (which apple has mostly since corrected) and decided to repeat them. I was hoping for an windows 'iphone' that righted all the wrongs of Apple:
-Controlled Interfaces (both in Syncronizing information with PC and in application installs)
-Real Copy and Paste
-File System
-Use as a USB flash Drive when connected to computer
-Removeable media
Windows Mobile, was ugly and slow, but useful once you knew it. I just feel now that this will be pretty, but no better than a 1G iphone
i dont disagree with any of your points
Yes, I also agree. Microsoft has just threw out everything, that was keeping Windows Mobile different, usable and customizable. I use copy&paste, multitasking and today plugins every day and I can't live without it. I won't use Windows Phone 7, I'd better wait if somebody makes a mobile phone running full desktop Windows (I think it will be someday, now we have HD2 with 1GHz CPU and we are also able to boot Ubuntu on HTC devices).
Microsoft is mitigating all of the flaws of Windows Mobile. You anti-WP7 guys seem to be forgeting that the WM platform was quickly becoming a marketplace failure. Whether you like iPhone or not, there are plenty of things Apple did right (which is why they're kicking a** right now). If you want to call modern smartphone users dumb, then you have to realize that the entire general public is "dumb" and "dumb" people is where the money is. Tech geeks are just not a large enough market to build a platform around. I bet in a few years, Android will become the NEW Windows Mobile (and I mean that in a bad way )
I for one, love the way MS is now focused on user-experience and integration (hubs) as opposed to a bunch of unrelated apps. I was wishing for that long before I knew what a iPhone or WP7 was.
Apple's idea of tying together all of it's products is a winning strategy. MS is the only company that can top Apple at this particular strategy: Zune, XBox, Office, Exchange, FaceBook (MS owns a huge share) and etc.. They have already opened up the platform for development even though the phone isn't even released yet.
MS seems to be really focused on people that actually use their phones to enhance their lives, as opposed to people using their lives to enhance their phones. Good job MS!
WhyBe said:
Microsoft is mitigating all of the flaws of Windows Mobile. You anti-WP7 guys seem to be forgeting that the WM platform was quickly becoming a marketplace failure. Whether you like iPhone or not, there are plenty of things Apple did right (which is why they're kicking a** right now). If you want to call modern smartphone users dumb, then you have to realize that the entire general public is "dumb" and "dumb" people is where the money is. Tech geeks are just not a large enough market to build a platform around.
I for one, love the way MS is now focused on user-experience and integration (hubs) as opposed to a bunch of unrelated apps. I was wishing for that long before I knew what a iPhone or WP7 was.
Apple's idea of tying together all of it's products is a winning strategy. MS is the only company that can top Apple at this particular strategy: Zune, XBox, Office, Exchange, FaceBook (MS owns a huge share) and etc.. They have already opened up the platform for development even though the phone isn't even released yet.
MS seems to be really focused on people that actually use their phones to enhance their lives, as opposed to people using their lives to enhance their phones. Good job MS!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whether MS is taking the most profitable approach or not, is a different topic. I do agree that majority of users are "dumb" and freak out at anything that takes more than 5 clicks to do. However, I HIGHLY doubt they can catch on to Apple and give simple users a better experience than iPhone already gives. If we consider the release timeframe, and high possibility of iPhone 2, MS has picked a wrong battle and will fail miserably while we all laugh our asses off at the fugly interface that WM7 has.
However, I'm speaking from my own perspective, and what *I* want and need in a phone. Fortunately for me, WM, even having worst interface ever (thankfully fixed by HTC), still catered to all my tweaking/developing needs. I'd even say to the needs of the majority of people at xda - this is a developer forum after all, not an Apple fan-club.
And from that I can assume that the approach that MS is taking will make "advanced" users like me and people here at xda to feel like MS has failed them and abandoned them, turning to "dumb users". And that never feels good.
DarkDvr said:
Whether MS is taking the most profitable approach or not, is a different topic. I do agree that majority of users are "dumb" and freak out at anything that takes more than 5 clicks to do. However, I HIGHLY doubt they can catch on to Apple and give simple users a better experience than iPhone already gives. If we consider the release timeframe, and high possibility of iPhone 2, MS has picked a wrong battle and will fail miserably while we all laugh our asses off at the fugly interface that WM7 has.
However, I'm speaking from my own perspective, and what *I* want and need in a phone. Fortunately for me, WM, even having worst interface ever (thankfully fixed by HTC), still catered to all my tweaking/developing needs. I'd even say to the needs of the majority of people at xda - this is a developer forum after all, not an Apple fan-club.
And from that I can assume that the approach that MS is taking will make "advanced" users like me and people here at xda to feel like MS has failed them and abandoned them, turning to "dumb users". And that never feels good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually love the new WP7 interface...giant words, big active tiles and all. I had Sense in my TP2 for about a month and finally decided that while it was pretty looking, it was not efficient at all. To much pressing and swiping to get to where I needed to go. Back to Titanium for me.
I think in due time, there will be a hacking community around WP7 just like this one...maybe even THIS one
Advanced users can fend for themselves. Isn't this how XDA grew? I'm sure it'll happen again with WP7.
iPhone 2 ? Naw, I think Apple has shot it's load and is just going to work on building and maintaining the market it has. I don't expect anything revolutionary out of Apple for a while (at least as far as smartphones go). I don't think they'll do what MS did and ditch the old iPhone for a new iPhone platform. MS was sort of forced to ditch WM if they wanted to compete.
WhyBe said:
I actually love the new WP7 interface...giant words, big active tiles and all. I had Sense in my TP2 for about a month and finally decided that while it was pretty looking, it was not efficient at all. To much pressing and swiping to get to where I needed to go. Back to Titanium for me.
I think in due time, there will be a hacking community around WP7 just like this one...maybe even THIS one
Advanced users can fend for themselves. Isn't this how XDA grew? I'm sure it'll happen again with WP7.
iPhone 2 ? Naw, I think Apple has shot it's load and is just going to work on building and maintaining the market it has. I don't expect anything revolutionary out of Apple for a while (at least as far as smartphones go). I don't think they'll do what MS did and ditch the old iPhone for a new iPhone platform. MS was sort of forced to ditch WM if they wanted to compete.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, in BEST case scenario (for MS), that's what will happen. However, for me, that's wishful thinking.
Will there be WM7 hacks? Yeah, of course. Question is, how easy/available/useful they will be. WM6 platform, even with all its deficiencies, is a nice and easy platform to tweak/expand. So far, WM7 looks to be complete opposite of that (just look at their idea of branding and marketplace), and few hacks that will be released won't make up for anything. Especially when 90% of all developers will switch to a more friendly platform (perhaps even Android).
DarkDvr said:
Especially when 90% of all developers will switch to a more friendly platform (perhaps even Android).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I, personally would want to develop for a platform where I can turn a profit. Is Android at that stage yet (I'm asking, I don't know). If Android is so open and customizable the way WM was/is, then inevitably it's going to suffer the same fate as WM.
It seems that MS is making WP7 very developer friendly. What's wrong with developing for WP7 ?
WhyBe said:
I, personally would want to develop for a platform where I can turn a profit. Is Android at that stage yet (I'm asking, I don't know). If Android is so open and customizable the way WM was/is, then inevitably it's going to suffer the same fate as WM.
It seems that MS is making WP7 very developer friendly. What's wrong with developing for WP7 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android isn't going anywhere. It may not be as explosive as iPhone, but it's here to stay, if google does it right. And google pretty much always does everything right.
Problem with programming for WM7, and I'm going on a limited info that's curretly available, is that MS is putting down a "draconic" ((c) engadget) restrictions on anything that comes onto WM7 devices. Everything has to be within standards and everything has to go through the marketplace. In fact, reviewers are saying that methods that MS is implementing on WM7 infrastructure are much more strict that even Apple's. That spells "BAD NEWS" for me in big, bold letters.
DarkDvr said:
Android isn't going anywhere. It may not be as explosive as iPhone, but it's here to stay, if google does it right. And google pretty much always does everything right.
Problem with programming for WM7, and I'm going on a limited info that's curretly available, is that MS is putting down a "draconic" ((c) engadget) restrictions on anything that comes onto WM7 devices. Everything has to be within standards and everything has to go through the marketplace. In fact, reviewers are saying that methods that MS is implementing on WM7 infrastructure are much more strict that even Apple's. That spells "BAD NEWS" for me in big, bold letters.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the only way to ensure that the "dumb" consumers get a great experience. The average consumer doesn't want to tweak and figure out things. They want to quickly download intuitive apps that just work. Perhaps MS will be able to minimize "garbage apps" (though there are bound to be some). Look at the success of the App store. I think part of it's success is that their app store wasn't so fragmented like the WM market is. One place to download and purchase all apps for the platform (straight to the phone at that!) is a lot easier than endlessly Googling to find what you need on some random site. Again, this is catering to the "dumb" people and not the geeks.
WhyBe said:
This is the only way to ensure that the "dumb" consumers get a great experience. The average consumer doesn't want to tweak and figure out things. They want to quickly download intuitive apps that just work. Perhaps MS will be able to minimize "garbage apps" (though there are bound to be some). Look at the success of the App store. I think part of it's success is that their app store wasn't so fragmented like the WM market is. One place to download and purchase all apps for the platform (straight to the phone at that!) is a lot easier than Googling for an hour to find what you need on some random site. Again, this is catering to the "dumb" people and not the geeks.
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Click to collapse
Yep, I won't argue that simplicity of use is paramount. However, I do see a trend of separation between regular users and developers.
And, although I do agree that developers seeking profit will develop on the most used platform, there is a also a huge factor of developers not wanting to use a device that limits their desire for customization.
I guess the question is which of those factors will overpower another. And will we have to buy 2 devices - one for "work", one for the "soul"
DarkDvr said:
Yep, I won't argue that simplicity of use is paramount. However, I do see a trend of separation between regular users and developers.
And, although I do agree that developers seeking profit will develop on the most used platform, there is a also a huge factor of developers not wanting to use a device that limits their desire for customization.
I guess the question is which of those factors will overpower another. And will we have to buy 2 devices - one for "work", one for the "soul"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the industry is headed towards the user-friendly way of doing things. Hackers will fend for themselves (as always). Smartphones are only going to get more popular to the point where they are as common as the regular cell phone. A typical WM device could never support that kind of market. Only devices like WP7, iPhone, Pre and etc. will be appealing to this huge market of non-geeks.
WhyBe said:
I think the industry is headed towards the user-friendly way of doing things. Hackers will fend for themselves (as always). Smartphones are only going to get more popular to the point where they are as common as the regular cell phone. A typical WM device could never support that kind of market. Only devices like WP7, iPhone, Pre and etc. will be appealing to this huge market of non-geeks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And that's excellent. However, that doesn't mean that the device should be "locked" and limited to modification. The idea behind the android is probably the most appealing to me - it's a very user-friendly interface that is completely open to any modification, including the end-user modification like moving stuff around, throwing widgets on the screen, etc.
In my mind, my perfect WM7 would be:
1. Build on a new platform, now the WinCE crap that gave us WM6.
2. Be very open to modification and adjustment, hopefully even moreso than WM6.
3. Not be locked in any way, allowing advanced users to tinker with devices.
4. For end users, come with an excellent user interface straight from the box. Openness to tinkering and ease of use are NOT mutually exclusive, they go hand-in-hand very well.
5. Platform absolutely must support all options available - meaning things like SDcard support, copy/paste, DEFINITELY multitasking (WTF, back to stone ages??), etc. Even though first phones might not have it all, there should be an existing support for it, so that companies/developers can take advantage of them.
I guess my ranting is due to the fact that Microsoft saw "gold" in Apple's ideas and went overboard with that. Along the way they completely ignored to include the potential into the device. Think of the military - you create, say, a tank - even if it's super-awesome today, if there is no room for potential improvements - it's a pile of useless metal in several years.
DarkDvr said:
And that's excellent. However, that doesn't mean that the device should be "locked" and limited to modification. The idea behind the android is probably the most appealing to me - it's a very user-friendly interface that is completely open to any modification, including the end-user modification like moving stuff around, throwing widgets on the screen, etc.
In my mind, my perfect WM7 would be:
1. Build on a new platform, now the WinCE crap that gave us WM6.
2. Be very open to modification and adjustment, hopefully even moreso than WM6.
3. Not be locked in any way, allowing advanced users to tinker with devices.
4. For end users, come with an excellent user interface straight from the box. Openness to tinkering and ease of use are NOT mutually exclusive, they go hand-in-hand very well.
5. Platform absolutely must support all options available - meaning things like SDcard support, copy/paste, DEFINITELY multitasking (WTF, back to stone ages??), etc. Even though first phones might not have it all, there should be an existing support for it, so that companies/developers can take advantage of them.
I guess my ranting is due to the fact that Microsoft saw "gold" in Apple's ideas and went overboard with that. Along the way they completely ignored to include the potential into the device. Think of the military - you create, say, a tank - even if it's super-awesome today, if there is no room for potential improvements - it's a pile of useless metal in several years.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, we don't know what's truly under the hood of WP7 yet. We know it has multitasking, it is just highly restricted. Copy and paste can be implemented within the app (MS'es alternative to C&P seem pretty slick though). I don't see WP7 as a blatant copy of Apple, MS just acknowledged some winning points of the iPhone platform and followed suit and improved upon it (that's smart business actually). I think MS concept of the OS is far more advanced than what iPhone delivers. I think the Pre and WP7 are the first of the "new style" of OS'es. Android sort of reminds me of WM.
Again, I think all of the customization and openness hinders the platform because you end up with so many incompatibilities and inconsistencies in the user experience. Even HTC Sense "broke" alot of the things I was used to in the standard WM interface (MS Voice Command and PhonEx just didn't work properly or consistently, for example). God only knows what would "break" if I installed some other WM shell.
I love the premise in WP7 that apps are supposed to work together. I don't know how this is going to play out in the real world, but if this is facilitated at the OS level, I don't see why it shouldn't be a great feature.
Some of the so-called Apple limitations are actually advantages for them (single form factor, only one App store highly regulated, lo-res graphics for speed, locked-in iPod/iTunes audience, no multitasking to possibly damage the user-experience).
If an experience on a platform is going to be consistent and pleasurable, it has to be highly controlled. You can't have a free-for-all and expect everything to just work together nicely. WM and Android are perfect examples of free-for-all, let's see how they do in the current market.
Locked down OS?
Time for the next generation of hackers.
Get out the sharpening stone and hone your edge.
A system is meant to be broken, not remain intact.
Go XDA
Well, everyone is entitled to an opinion. I don't share yours though:
WhyBe said:
I think the Pre and WP7 are the first of the "new style" of OS'es.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see anything that's "new style" about it. Cut words, ugly squares, "pushable" buttons look identical to the labels, which creates confusion.. etc etc.
WhyBe said:
Again, I think all of the customization and openness hinders the platform because you end up with so many incompatibilities and inconsistencies in the user experience. ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it's better not to have any at all? It's like saying "oh, we should have just 3 models of cars on the market, so that everything's consistent and buyers won't be confused". Openness and customization only help any platform greatly, it doesn't create incompatibilities and inconsistencies. Bad programmers do.
WhyBe said:
I love the premise in WP7 that apps are supposed to work together. I don't know how this is going to play out in the real world, but if this is facilitated at the OS level, I don't see why it shouldn't be a great feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're missing a word.. "I love the premise in WP7, that MICROSOFT'S apps are supposed to work together." We all know how bad their software can be, and now u won't even have a chance to fix it. Sit around for years, hoping that new version will fix the bugs and not introduce a mirriad of others.
WhyBe said:
Some of the so-called Apple limitations are actually advantages for them (single form factor, only one App store highly regulated, lo-res graphics for speed, locked-in iPod/iTunes audience, no multitasking to possibly damage the user-experience).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude you're so anti-choice. I have a very different view. Choice is what creates competition and improvement. It's what drives the progress. Single form-factors, locked software, penalties for tinkering (jailbreak) - it all hinders the progress, it cannot possibly be better.
WhyBe said:
If an experience on a platform is going to be consistent and pleasurable, it has to be highly controlled. You can't have a free-for-all and expect everything to just work together nicely. WM and Android are perfect examples of free-for-all, let's see how they do in the current market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Openness of current WM platform is about the only plus it has, not its drawback. I think that's pretty much established.
Besides, as I've said before, you don't have to pick between a smooth experience and openness for customization. WM7 could have an excellent setup right from the box, if you like what they've made, even maybe the one they have now. Nobody says that at the same time it cannot have support for developer's imagination. Nobody besides MS's analytics who decided that copying Apple will bring them a big buck. Honestly, no, it won't.
chiks19018 said:
Locked down OS?
Time for the next generation of hackers.
Get out the sharpening stone and hone your edge.
A system is meant to be broken, not remain intact.
Go XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
>.< That's not the point.
DarkDvr said:
So it's better not to have any at all? It's like saying "oh, we should have just 3 models of cars on the market, so that everything's consistent and buyers won't be confused". Openness and customization only help any platform greatly, it doesn't create incompatibilities and inconsistencies. Bad programmers do.
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All consumer cars have the exact same interface. Steering, acceleration and brakes...
You're missing a word.. "I love the premise in WP7, that MICROSOFT'S apps are supposed to work together." We all know how bad their software can be, and now u won't even have a chance to fix it. Sit around for years, hoping that new version will fix the bugs and not introduce a mirriad of others.
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I haven't had experience with BAD MS software. It's always worked for me. Now the third-party stuff...that's a different story. If things like social networking and cloud computing are implemented on the OS level (instead in the app), it will be easier for third party apps to work in conjunction. Bing on the OS level will be a lot better than a Bing app. Same for Voice Command (if MS uses it).
Dude you're so anti-choice. I have a very different view. Choice is what creates competition and improvement. It's what drives the progress. Single form-factors, locked software, penalties for tinkering (jailbreak) - it all hinders the progress, it cannot possibly be better.
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This philosophy is failing WM and Android.
WhyBe said:
I haven't had experience with BAD MS software.
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Then you've never used Windows ME or anything before Windows 98.
Let's just agree to disagree =)
I'm not gonna lie, I disliked many things that MS did to their mobile platform at first, but I can't deny the things I love about it.
The 'Core' of the OS looks better
Gone are the days of ugly, clunky, and cumbersome menus. I hated how the menus looked in Windows Mobile, they were dreadful. And the Panoramic interface bring something new to the table.
Updates For Everyone
MS is now making the Update system unified and easy. No more waiting for your carrier to make an update or quick fix, and that's if they even have the interest in doing so. Being a Treo Pro and BlackJack II/i617 owner, I've been left in the dust twice by my carriers and vendors.
No More Low-End Common Denominators
There are some very powerful devices that have released with Windows Mobile like the TG01 and the HD2. But that power isn't going to any use because apps haven't been optimized for the hardware. Dev's haven't and have no reason to strive to bring vibrant application UI to the platform, this is why most apps look dated. Other OSs gave the Dev's motivation strive for something nicer.
Strict Hardware Requirements
Another thing I love about WP7. The minimal specs are high-end. The problem with WinMo and Android is that there wasn't many regulations. The OEM buys the license and then they were allowed to bring their crappy hardware to the market. This also created way to many problems they may seem like flexibility and choice but are ultimately weighing the platform down.
Integrations With MS Services and Social Networking
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm own or am signed up for every proprietary service MS has in plan for WP7. I've been a Zune user since the beginning, and I'm loving the unlimited music downloads and streaming. I'm also an avid Achievement hunter and XBL for mobile is perfect for me. But the social networking is what really has me smiling. Instead of having to open a app to check updates and post to my different services I can just go to pics hub or my contacts.
Finally Dev Attention and Vibrant UI for APPS
This is one of the main things I love about this revision. I was sick of how apps looked. They had no visual substance whatsoever! You know what I'm talking about. And a LOT of dev's don't show WinMo any love. MS has brought this to the attention, because this is a buying point for many people. Finally apps that look decent like the few I've collected below:
The integration of everything needed for communication into the OS itself. I hated the iPhone because of the fact that you had to launch an app every time you wanted to do something.
I also like the strict hardware requirements because that means we no longer have to rely on HTC to make proper drivers for our devices. Wish they had opted for a larger resolution than 800x480 as their max.
That's really the only two things I like about it. So until someone jailbreaks it I won't be going with a WP 7 device.
Toss3 said:
The integration of everything needed for communication into the OS itself. I hated the iPhone because of the fact that you had to launch an app every time you wanted to do something.
I also like the strict hardware requirements because that means we no longer have to rely on HTC to make proper drivers for our devices. Wish they had opted for a larger resolution than 800x480 as their max.
That's really the only two things I like about it. So until someone jailbreaks it I won't be going with a WP 7 device.
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800x400 is wayy better than anything out there.....u know what I mean...giggle.
We are excited about Silverlight and graphics.
Finally .NET is a native platform for mobile devices.
UI development is fun now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5kATjU9Voo
Zune access on my mobile. Finally down to one device in my pocket.
I like that its Microsoft, so I won't have to play with Linux partitions that Windows won't even acknowledge.
the beautiful integration of the zune software. i love my zune hd and i'd love to see my htc hd2 with the zune player, it's awsome. =D
While I'm not sure if I'll end up using wp7, one of the things that I like about it is that it seems like it appeals to the general consumer. It looks like they're focusing on it being easy to use and easy to maintain, so it looks like will really catch the eye of some people not really happy with their iphone but intimated or turned off by android.
so to put more simply, I like that it's in direct competition with the iphone for the general consumer. I also like that MS has entered the advanced feature phone market with the kins for the same reason. People disenchanted with the iphone or having tougher financial times, can fallback on the kin but still have some social features.
If you couldn't tell, I'm not really an apple fan, so any fair competition that can chip into their profits is good to me .
Uhm....it's different?
I really don't know....it seems for people like me who never use Facebook, Twitter or any other of the so-called social networking sites, WP7 offers very little.
All I see is an application launcher which uses colored rectangles instead of icons, and a general interface design using large, ugly (sans-serif) fonts atop seemingly random background images....
I just don't get it, kids these days... *waves cane angrily*
I have an HD2 and before Android was fully ported over there were tons of Windows Mobile 6.5 ROMS to choose from. I am planning on selling my HD2 and possibly getting a HD7 but first wanted to get some input from you all. Right now I am running WP7 on my HD2 but really want to get an actual phone that runs WP7. So before I jump in to the WP7 scene I was wondering where do you all see the WP7 development in the short future? Mainly with custom ROMS and apps. Would you say it will probably follow the same path as 6.5 because as of now it looks pretty bad? Thanks guys!
When they make it possible to do real development/testing without shelling out $99/yr, I'll look into it.
Microsoft's development tools are second to none, but the API situation is just unacceptable right now. Marketplace is full of redundant crap, and that largely because the base platform is not done yet.
It really depends on what you want to develop, though...
N8ter said:
When they make it possible to do real development/testing without shelling out $99/yr, I'll look into it.
Microsoft's development tools are second to none, but the API situation is just unacceptable right now. Marketplace is full of redundant crap, and that largely because the base platform is not done yet.
It really depends on what you want to develop, though...
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Mango development kits are going out to developers next month. You do know that, right?
Jim Coleman said:
Mango development kits are going out to developers next month. You do know that, right?
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I'm fully aware, and while that helps develop some apps, it won't help users get them on their phones because they won't have Mango for another ~month.
Nor will it help me use my device for development without paying a $99 premium (the walled garden model is a bit disingenuous to developers, IMO).
Also, next month != now Especially for a bunch of APIs that shouldn't have been missing to begin with, Lol.
The OP asked about the future, so clearly, next month is part of the near future, right? You just need to bring your pessimistic venom in here too, huh.
To the OP, as far as ROMs go, WP7 wasn't designed with that in mind, and to be honest, you really don't need custom ROMs, as they really wouldn't add anything. The UI, as I'm sure even people like N8ter would agree, is second to none in terms of efficiency, and with time, the features will greatly increase (like the Mango live tiles, the concept of Nokia 3D tiles). Where in WM6.5 we NEEDED to flash to make the phone usable, we don't need that with WP7.
As for apps, as of now, the apps are pushing the allowed apis to their limits for the most part. Microsoft was pretty shelled with their apis on the initial release, and that was due to missing functionality. With the Mango api, you'll see a slew of apps hit the marketplace, big named apps such as Skype to be more specific as the platform will flash much more impressive features. In the next month and a half to two months we'll get an idea as to what ideas will start forming with these new apis, but look for the releases to be huge.
Games are about to take off in an even bigger way too, with big names like Hydro Thunder and Angry Birds starting to come out, and I see more coming with time, and available features.
With that being said, I suggest you try the phone out for yourself, as it isn't for everybody. If you're somebody who insists on having a registry editor just *because* you feel the need to look at one, then this isn't for you. Or if you feel you need full device control for absolutely no reason, this isn't for you. But if you enjoy a phone that just works, and does what it's currently capable of extremely well, then you've got a winner.
N8ter said:
I'm fully aware, and while that helps develop some apps, it won't help users get them on their phones because they won't have Mango for another ~month.
Nor will it help me use my device for development without paying a $99 premium (the walled garden model is a bit disingenuous to developers, IMO).
Also, next month != now Especially for a bunch of APIs that shouldn't have been missing to begin with, Lol.
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dreamspark...
Thanks guys for the info! Like I said, I am running WP7 on my HD2 right now because the whole Android hype wore out on me. I am loving it right now but as updates are getting harder and taking longer to port over I just see it easier to get an actual WP7 phone. This is exactly what I wanted to hear since I was traumatized with the lack WM 6.5 apps, especially good ones.
So from what I read it looks like in the next couple of weeks and months WP7 is definitely going to take off. So long Android!!
Wp7 is pretty stable for everyday use. Its just missing some features, but to a normal everyday usage you won't miss them. Even with the nodo update I still don't use copy and paste. But if you're into total control and customization you should stick with an Android phone.
Sent from my HD7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
I don't think we need custom roms.
All they did was speed up the system etc. They were needed on WM because it sucked and on Android to remove bloatware, custom firmwares, speed it up etc.
WP7 doesn't need Speeding Up and there's no Bloatware or anything like that to remove. I don't see what a custom rom would achieve.
i think there is no realy need for curstom roms, too. There is a need for some missing features which will come and i dont think they can be done on homebrew way.
App situation at the moment is a bit limited and with mango this will get much better (for example -> photosynth), so i think, the real app "explosion" at wp7 market comes with mango (and nokia market start)
My opinion
domineus said:
dreamspark...
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I'm not a college student. Dreamspark doesn't exist to me.
N8ter said:
Nor will it help me use my device for development without paying a $99 premium (the walled garden model is a bit disingenuous to developers, IMO).
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Better get used to it because this won't change. Apple has been doing this with great success so I don't see this going away.
DaFlake said:
Better get used to it because this won't change. Apple has been doing this with great success so I don't see this going away.
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I don't expect it to go away. I just code for Android instead.