Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

NOTICE: THIS IS A LONG POST FILLED WITH OPINIONS AND FACTS. FEEL FREE TO EXPRESS YOUR OPINIONS AND THOUGHTS.

I've heard alot of people sitting around saying how much Windows Phone 7 will suck, and how complete of a failure it will be etc.. etc...

Now, I want to get it clear that in no way am I defending Microsoft in their decisions, as that is their part to do, all I am doing is taking the concepts provided to us and offering a developer and users view.

So everyone here knows, I am a certified .NET developer for a subsidiary of Microsoft (I am not affiliated with the Windows Phone Series, I am learning all this the same time you guys are). I have been using Windows Mobile since 2004 (iPaq) and had my first experience with a smartphone was the PPC6600 (had every keyboard phone in that series upto the TP2).

My goal here is to just provide a little insight to what everyone is complaining about and look at the positives. Since the negatives are easy to find (all you have to say is it doesn't have, obviously something that has it is better right?). The reason I really want to do this is because we are going to be the ones starting the hype, and it seems Microsoft doesn't want to explain where they are going with this quite yet.

To begin, Microsoft has always been a developer focused company. Their products always come with some sort of exposure to an API set or developer tools. This has proved to be a valuable asset to their products as it offers expandability to their products that other products usually don't offer or provide. By doing this, they draw more attention to people who can assist in support, expanding and selling their products. Now, it seems right now that Microsoft leaned away from this model, but I will try my best to inform you with a little more knowledge so you can better understand your opinion. And I am leaving it at that, you have your opinions and I have mine. I am not going to try to take your opinions away from you.

With that being said, I'll get started with a list of stuff we all are "disappointed with".

1) No Multi-tasking.
2) No Side-Loading Applications.
3) No Backward Compatibility.
4) No Copy and Paste.
5) No file system.
6) No removable storage.
7) No USB Drive Mode.
8) No 3rd Party UI Replacements/Customization.
9) No Native Code Execution.

If you think of more, feel free to PM me or reply and I'll do my research and add to this. But I think these are the major ones. So lets get into this.

1) I'll start with the hardest one, No Multi-Tasking.

First, what is Multi-Tasking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_multitasking). In short, Multi-Tasking is the ability to share CPU cycles with other processes (or applications). In current windows mobile fashion, this would allow you to say run a task manager while surfing the internet. This concept isn't new, it's been around for quite a while, and the concept of it has led to great things such as Multi-Core/Threaded CPUs.

Now, the down side of multi-tasking other processes aren't being used are eating CPU cycles, which can only occur 1 at a time, away from processes that are currently being used. In most cases, this will severely cause performance decreases to a user (ever encode a video and try to do something on a P3/nonHT P4 CPU?). The concept that Windows Phone 7 took is to *Limit* the phones ability to multi-task. By doing this, they are allowing third party applications to get the most CPU Cycles it can to provide a faster, more user friendly and most important unlocking the ability to create more advanced and intensive experiences with your phone (things such as Video Streaming, Rich 3D Gaming, Speedy Button Presses, Faster browsing of emails, etc...)

Simply put, multi-tasking comes at an expense. For example, you goto ppcgeeks.com it takes 15 seconds to load so you do a quick dip and check your emails. The reason it is taking 15 seconds to load is because there are other processes eating away at the CPU Cycles. If you take that away, the page will load significantly faster, say 3 seconds, in which you wouldn't even have time to load your emails, thus negating the need of multi-tasking. Now it does and will have it's uses, but I hope one can understand the benefits gained and understand if you truly do need multitasking.

2) No Side-Loading Application.

The cons of this are pretty simple, you'll lose the ability to load apps just downloaded from our favorite sites. I don't see this as a big deal from a User standpoint, as you can easily flip over to the market place and install from there, no real biggy. It also gives you a place to store all your applications wherever you go, no need to waste storage on CAB files sitting around. Moreover, it will give you access to a central location to obtain these applications. Instead of having to dig around and googling, looking for working links, having 10 sites you have to register for, give credit card info to etc...

Where I see this as an issue is from a Developer Perspective. In order to post apps on the Marketplace, it will cost developers upwards of $99 per year. This will deter a lot of freeware developers, as they now are faced with a cost associated with the development of the application.

However, in return, Microsoft is giving a much larger audience to the developers to sell their applications. Something I am defiantly willing to drop $99 bucks on.

3) No Backward Compatibility.

There's a lot of useful stuff out there, but the main reason this was done is to get a fresh start on whats out there and have developers rethink their applications and how they are presented, coded and designed to provide a better experience. Moreover, after playing around with the development tools, it became rather apparent that Microsoft really wants a user experience that is common through out the phone. This will give people the ability to load an app and immediately understand how it works. This also provides a framework where Windows Phone can better manage and clean up resource which weren't properly cleaned up in the third party code (No more need for MemMaid type apps as memory will be released and cleaned up by the Garbage Collector).

4) No Copy and Paste.

This was disappointing news to me, and I am still having troubles understanding why it wasn't implemented. But, what came out of it, I don't have experience with, I can only imagine. So we're told that Microsoft has implemented this new "Smart Text" feature. Which makes URL's actual links, Phone numbers are shortcut to a contact, Addresses will open in Bing or something.

In the end, the only thing I can think of missing by this is tossing an address in an email to send to someone. Still, being at that, there are a lot of uses and there are some neat concepts of implementation that I believe this will be a feature added with due time.

5) No File System.

This isn't really true, there is a file system, it's just blocked off from third party applications. This isn't anything new, infact the Zune does it, XBox does it and several other pieces of hardware do it. What is offered is something called Isolated Storage (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...sy(VS.80).aspx) . What Isolated Storage provides is file security. This prevents corrupted files, virus's, data/file security and more. This can promise developers that their code won't be stolen, decompiled and hacked up (unless the Isolated Storage is compromised). In the end, I am impartial to this, this doesn't effect 95% of the users out there. The only people it truly effects are people who don't want to pay or are looking to steal code and other intellectual property from their owners.

6) No removable storage.

UPDATE: WP7 DOES have removable storage. What it does is combines the storage card with the internal memory and treats it as a single disk. Removing the memory card will essentially cause a "Hard Reset" to the phone.

I am not sure how I can provide positive to this, as more is better as far as storage goes. I don't see why Microsoft can't allow removable storage for media aspects. Songs and movies get big and it is a lot easier to manage on a removable median. Again, I am only going to say this might be something that is allowed in the future. Sell your SanDisk stocks, because with iPhone and now Windows mobile taking this approach, we're looking at millions upon millions of units that won't be sold from these companies. Moreover, I really would like to hear how Microsoft plans to be able to allow us to use Office Mobile when we can't easily transfer files from the PC to the Phone, and lets hope they don't say cloud syncing. I'm sure this will be done via the Sync Software.

7) No USB Drive Mode.

This is understandable with the concept of Isolated Storage. Thus, the ability to protect users assets comes at a cost, and this is one of them.

8) No 3rd Party UI Replacements/Customization.

This is interesting, but understandable. The customization efforts comes within the Hubs concept. This will keep the experience of the phone the same not only across the applications, but across the different handsets. It also guarantees that code written for an HTC device will work on a Samsung device. This is HUGE from a developers standpoint as testing on 100 different devices isn't really a feasable option. Prime example would be SPB Mobile Shell, who had a lot of difficulties getting the product to work correct on the different devices. This is resolved, and it will provide a way, not only to OEMs but other thid parties to develop better applications that work across all devices. Moreover, the UI Replacements out there require a significant amount of resources. Spawning hundreds of threads to do various stuff that just isn't needed since the user isn't even looking at the presented data. While some customization is nice, completely redoing the concept of the phone comes at cost and that cost is performance on the device. How many of you bitched that your phone is slow a lot of the times? That Sense UI is a resource hog, that Windows Mobile is crap because your phone is slow? Well a lot of that comes from this alone.

9) No Native Code Execution.

I don't see why this is even an issue to anyone, including developers next to developer who don't know .NET will have to learn. .NET has proven itself over and over, native code isn't needed anymore. The addition of Silverlight and XNA and the potential that it will bring to the table is well above anything that native code execution would bring. Granted, you won't be able to hook and consume processes that don't belong to the application, but the need for that is rare.

So I went over a lot of things that are being talked about on the forums. And no one is talking about the good things that this brings so I will touch on those.

1) XNA and Silverlight. Both of these technologies have been amazing at the very least. XNA has brought a robust and portable development to games. The ability to develop a game for Windows/Xbox/Zune and Windows phone, while maintaining 90% of the code base is amazing. This will allow us to see a lot of neat stuff on this phone. Silverlight has been only going up. This technology is one of the best products that have come out of Microsofts campus. Silverlight allows developers to create applications that function like windows applications but have the sleek looking design and looks of high end websites. It brings the best of both worlds into one place. Not to mention, we've already seen the Netflix app, which I personally have been waiting to see forever, and now that Silverlight is available, we have it.

2) All your life in one place. Yes I said it, this phone is really pulling all your interests, friends, family, work, business and entertainment into one spot. Something that has only been done by installing a ton of applications and flipping between them. With the implementation Windows Phone 7 has brought, we are now able to do what we all enjoy a lot faster. As presented, we will have access to a giant amount of data presented to us in an organized and easy to use fashion. I am truely excited about this.

3) Notifications. This was a cool concept that was previously used in desktop windows to inform us that our anti-virus is out of date or something is wrong with our system. The windows phone implementation is taking that to a new level, offering developers to consume and create notifications.

4) Zune. Zune. Zune. As I am a Zune HD owner, I am excited about this. I listen to FM Radio every morning and now I can do it wherever I am with my Windows Phone. Moveover, we will have access to the Zune Marketplace, which is by far the best Music market place out there. This functionality alone, puts the Windows Phone device into the category of top end/high notch PMP's.

5) All the other cool iPhone stuff. Yes I said it, iPhone stuff. Now, lets think about this. I hear everyone say if they wanted an iPhone they would have bought an iPhone. Now why is iPhone so popular? I'll tell you. 1) The iPhone is speedy, it loads apps fast and it functions great as a phone. You don't want this? 2) The amount of apps and quality of apps is up there. This is because the SDK for iPhone is intuitive and focused towards developers wanting to create applications. With the XNA and Silverlight SDKs, Windows Phone falls in this category, how can you not want this? 3) Sleek, Stylish and Universal design. This allows us to understand how to use an application, makes it feel like second nature to use any and all applications. This sounds pretty good no?

Now, I hope you can better understand what you like and dislike about Windows Phone 7. And I really hope I better equipped all of you in deciding which route to go. If this is a negative post to you, and you can't see the benefits of the decisions Microsoft made, then I will tell you WM6.5 or Android is probably best for you. However, if you are one to think through why you are upset over a feature and give it a second thought, maybe it's not that big of a deal?

Anyways, sorry for the huge post and thanks for reading. I just wanted to express my thoughts and give you guys (or people who don't know) and understanding of what is happening. Also keep in mind that it takes time for perfection, and I'm sure we'll see alot more with future releases.

Feel free to ask questions and I'll see if I can dig up answers and thanks for reading.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

some things u said were a little difficult to understand but for the most part very informative...i have only basic knowledge about this os and am curious to learn more. thanks for the detailed info.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

Been waiting for someone to write a post like this....thanks for doing it!

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

I don't think Windows Phone 7 is going to the epic failure some people make it out to be. Are they making mistakes? Yes. There are some things on here I don't think are good ideas at all, but at the same time, there are some excitign new features.

I think Microsoft is trying to tighten the standards around the phone which is good in a way. A lot of developers don't work on Windows Mobile because there are so many different models and screen sizes. Having a standard set of phones is great. I think we will start to see a lot more official applications from companies.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

Thanks for taking the time to write this up. I haven't decided what I'm going to do about my next device, my contract ends Jan 01 every year and since I'm alone, that is always my gift to myself, a new phone.

I've used WinMo, BB, Android, and WebOS. My favorite so far is WinMo 6.5.5 with Android being a close second. And with the UI not customizable, does that mean I can't get xBox and the social media stuff off of the home screen. I really have little use for them and it would be a waste of screen real estate for me. But, also, I do see a lot of neat stuff coming to light on this, and the OP stated some of them (including Silverlight)

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

Engadget has put together a complete guide as what to look forward to with WP7s, and these guys have gone hands on, they got there facts right

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/18/w...omplete-guide/

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

VERY good read, i'm interested in developing programs for windows 7 series and it was nice to read a former developers opinions of the new operating system. cohowap you should send me a message i would love to talk to you about developing for windows phone 7

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

Yeah, I've read all that and I get the idea that all you can do is change the highlight color of the tabs. Oh well, my loss. Thanks for responding, though.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

You should be able to unpin stuff on the homescreen. I personally havn't played with an actual device, but I can't imagine that you won't be able to. There might be some restrictions at the system level hubs (like Phone, can't unpin that one I'm sure).

Worse case, we've already seen you can move them around. Just toss the stuff you don't want at the bottom and you'll be all set.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

Hey, if nothing else, there is always the incredible work that the people here at PPCGeeks and over at XDA do. Right? :-)

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

i bet money windows mobile 7 wont even be out of beta yet and it be hacked diced and choped before it even ships out the door the app intergration will be striped and 3rd party apps will run (PSP any one?) I bet most of the stuff we gripe abougth is still thre just disabled (multiasking ) makes more sence to build it in and disable it incase they need to turn it on same goes for the rest of the features that people gripe abought of if its not native ummm lol some one will get around it. the only constant thing is nuthing is 100% secure

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

also one thing you got to relise is the windows phoen 7 were seing atm is not targeted at bizness id expect a lot more of the stuff we use now ina serious phone no xbox bla bla whta corporation gives a rats ass abougth zune or xbox there will be a bizness branch that is geared for bizness that will probaly have a lot of the stuff were used to. just the standard consumer os is what were seing atm is my best guss. one question you got to ask is what bizness sence is there in alianating there core bizness. theres not so well see a biznes windows phone 7 at soem point ... bet money copy and past will be there 3rd party apps will be there ... multitasking probaly as some company's use legacy apps that are propratary. if not 6.5 is not dead far from it ... microsoft still is going to devolp the code branch for a while longer.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/sho...spx?i=3774&p=2


multitasking is in the os its just user locked out

Wirelessly posted (HTC Diamond: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11) Sprint MP6950SP)

Sure is ugly! :angry7:

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

Not sure why people are thinking like this. This is one of Microsoft's childs right now, they really want to see this become big and I can see why.

Hacking or anything on Windows Phone 7 would be shut down so fast it's not even funny. They seem to let us play with 6.5 but, I am sure 7.0 will be a different story.

If you have been here for a long time, you'll know the letters that MS sends when they don't like something and that means stop talking about it ASAP. Trust me when they say it...you stop talking about it (or end up in a big legal battle that would shut most sites down)

I'd bet any "true" hacking will be done underground, and most people would not even know where to look.

With this being said, I see the good and bad with WP7....still at a love/hate thing with it, I guess time will tell.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

It is not illegal to modify software as long as you don't plan to resell it and those that use it are licensed to use it. It is beyond M$ control....The reason why M$ is locking down the platform is because winmo was unusable unless hacked and many did not know about these things so they avoid M$ devices as being faulty...

Their attempt to lock down the platform is to prevent that negative publicity from happening...if a person knows how to unlock, they are more experienced then an average user because they actually seek information rather then rage quit on the phone.

I am not saying I agree with what M$ is doing and I think it will end up in shutdown of their mobile department but they are doing it to try to uphold an image and brand. They won't even have time to worry about people modifying their platform.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

OP, your post is made of pure gold! I love it. I didn't even really hate Windows Phone 7, but after reading this post, I'm almost ready to guarantee that I'll buy it when it comes out.

And to add to all of your great points, I really believe XDA Developers and PPCGeeks will still be around after WP7S releases. That means we'll see TONS of upgrades with WP7S, regardless of whether the OS is open-source or not.

If Apple, as tyrannical as they are, can't lock down the iPhone, then Microsoft can't lock down WP7S. =)

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

Personally, I don't think WP7S will be an epic failure like a lot of folks here seem to think it will be. I personally am in the process of moving to Android (have my wife on a Hero now and I will be on the Sprint EVO 4G when it comes out) so I don't have any particular interest in it myself...

However, if MS and the hardware developers can position these phones at a price point that is competitive with the iPhone and really push it's ability to integrate with your life (Win7 PCs, XBox 360s, etc), it could prove to be a HUGE bolster for Windows Phones. As it is right now, WinMo only enjoys a small market share and that's mostly in the business community from what I understand. If MS can increase that market share with a more consumer focused OS (just look at the success Win7 has enjoyed) then I say more power to 'em...

For those that want to hack and slash or still need a business focused OS on their smartphone, I've read in a few places that MS still intends to support WinMo 6.5 for some time even after the release of WP7s (can't provide links to back it up, but I'm pretty sure I remember reading that somewhere) so those that need to will still be able to stick with that.

So, again, even though I have no personal interest in it, and I can understand the complaints of many here with regards to many of the changes, I actually think MS is on to something good here and could potentially take away market share from the iPhone.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

The problem is M$ put 6.5 in a position where developers see the platform as dieing like adobe and mozilla and others who stopped development half way. This pretty much means its dieing. I don't see what genius in their marketing made the decision to tell everyone its not backwards compatible..

Also for M$ its harder to get market share because they charge for the OS so no matter how much iphone costs wp7 will always be 25$ more..also M$ does not set selling cost, the manufacturers and carriers do.

iPhone also has the advantage because they earn a piece commission of your carrier plan..so they can give iphones out for free if they wanted to.

Also there is android who is paying manufacturers and carriers % of profit to use their phones.

So M$ has its work cut out for them

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

I'll bet you 12 fish tacos all 9 of those things are unlocked within 6 months of WM7 being released. :headbang:

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

Just a question....Don't take offence to it..

Have you ever actually read a ULA when installing Windows or read one for Windows Mobile ? By hacking WM, your breaking/disasembling Microsoft owned code.

No not illegal but, against the licence agreement, and if they wanted to, they could cause a big nightmare for some people.

Hacking open WP7 will be a big deal for them....Don't be shocked when you see the "letter" posted in the annoucement area, and all talk about it has to stop ASAP.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

That makes me wonder actually..where is the Windows mobile EULA? when buying a pc it is always included...but I have never seen one for a Windows Mobile phone or device...

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

So not be able to listen to music while say reading an email is acceptable after having this ability for quite some time--real innovation talking here...
I guess censorship in the marketplace shouldn't bother anyone, frankly I'm getting ready to go to a book burning right now as I type. Having the ability to delete apps from your phone without user permission is all good especially when the carriers go crying to Microsoft about bandwidth or other concerns--hey where did that netflix app go?

I can live with this one, no harm no foul...

I guess businesses should just avoid this phone altogether then, I copy and paste contacts, emails, and links daily on my phone. Considering I run an IT department for a college, I probably don't know what my students/faculty/administration wants. Plus it's not like other phones have this ability.

I hope they pay Apple some serious money for stealing ALL of their ideas.

If the built in memory is someone between 32G and 64G, I can live with it...

Even though it has a file system, I can't even use it as a basic thumbdrive? How stupid is that? So much for one device in my pocket that can be used for everything. This will most likely be broken soon after release, so why waste our time with implementing it to begin with.

If it makes the phone more stable, I can live with it.

I could have lived with it provided that Microsoft had little to say about whether or not an App is approved. But this just smells more like Apple type censorship. I can't wait for all you developers wasting months and resources creating apps only to have Microsoft deny them for no reason like Apple does, just please don't complain to us later on about it.


Post rant:
For all the new great things this phone does, it breaks what made it Windows. There is NOTHING Windows-ish about this phone. They should have just called it AppleMobile7, or ZunePhone and killed the product line called Windows Mobile.

Time will only tell who is right and who is wrong.

All I know is this, sitting back and waiting to see what Microsoft dictates to us isn't going to accomplish anything. The only way to make change is to complain about it and hope that mainstream media outlets pick up the story and bash Microsoft article after article and then maybe they'll come to their senses. Every day the Android EVO is looking better and better.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

Actually..M$ said that their programs will run in background so you can play music and read an email..for everything else there is android (pun of the mastercard commercial >.>)...

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

But you get the general concern, you get an email with a pdf or word attachment, you open up the attachment while listening to music probably will end something else that's running concurrently. Even placing the cap at two or three processes concurrently is much better then just one. This is a optimized 1Ghz CPU and currently we are able to do this now, with a significantly slower CPU and less ram. This is the best they can come up with in the 4 years of development since the release of the iPhone? For the amount of slamming I do with Apple, they got copy and paste, they are rumored to be getting multitasking in the new release and Microsoft is bringing even less features to the table then that which they are trying to clone. Yet for some reason, everyone is excited and pleased by this. Why?

I truly don't understand why more of you don't get this. What makes your phone different then a PC? Would any of you complain if suddenly Microsoft XP/VISTA/7 turned off the DVD/CD player on your computer. What about not be able to install programs that aren't signed by M$? Prevented you from building OEM equipment like Apple does? Made you activate Windows every time you installed it, even know it's their crappy programing issues that causes the exploits that viruses use and then punished because of a re-install--whoops they do that now, don't they? Would any of you care then, why is the phone any different?

This blind loyalty to M$ just kills me!

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

who is blindly loyal to M$? Most people on this forum are unsatisfied with what they are doing...we already accepted the fact that M$ has abandoned us in favor of the "general consumer"..in my opinion the way they did it will most likely drive their mobile division bankrupt..but thats just me...

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

I didn't mean to make you the recipient of this post, I was commenting about how the email multitasking was still going to have issues, and then went off tangent--apologies...

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

Actually, I think people are getting more bent out on the multi-tasking than they should.

The reality is, you will still be able to do any of the phone native features (zune, web downloads, phone calls, etc...) without being interupted. There is essentially 2 layers of code execution.

Layer 1) System Level - These are apps designed to run in the background, most likely writting with the NDK that MS isn't releasing publically but can be requested by OEMs and larger development companies, such as pandora and other main stream companies.

Layer 2) The everyday Joe. This is code that you and I write. These apps run on the Silverlight or XNA runtime and are essentially ran in "Protected" mode, where the OS will execute them outside the realm of the OS. This will keep resources secured and functionality of the native phone features to a maximum performance level. Moreover, it will allow the third part application your running to get more resources to power it.

Now, while this model doesn't sound ideal, the fact is, to a user you will only have 1 of these apps open at a time anyways. Thus, it doesn't really matter if the OS makes it pause or kills the resource. If the third party app is coded correctly, it will be transparent to the user anyways. You will go back to the application in the same state it was left. The only problem here is if the app was downloading data or set to update some data on a schedule, the app would have to be opened instead of running in the background running essentially as a polling service which would be killing your battery life and slowing the phone down overall.

Moreover, you'll notice in multi-tasking environments that applications take a little bit to launch. While this doesn't really matter much on a laptop, it can mean alot on the phone. Do you want to wait a minute for an app to load? It's not an ideal scenario, but if they can suspend a few processes and make the phone run alot faster, apps load alot quicker, web sites load in half the time, it's probably worth it. You aren't really loosing much if you just step back and look at it.

You WILL be able to listen to music, including a few streaming sites while using the phone. This is the primary concern many have, and in reality it is of zero concern because it will be allowed.

What won't be allowed is for you to run (as an example) MyNiftyFartingApp and MyNiftyBeerDrinkingApp at the same time. But really, who the hell would do that or even care?

I promise in the end, once the platform develops, we'll all be happy. This is a first release of a product that was designed and developed in 18 months. There is already plans to expand the development, and we will be seeing updates quite often. Hopefully Microsoft controls the update and not carriers or OEMS.

There's an arguement for both sides, but sit a WP7 phone and a WM6.5 phone side by side, I promise 9 out of 10 will pickup the WP7 phone. If anything, you guys should be bitching about how the SDK will prevent people from creating apps like WiFi Router, which isn't a limitation of the phone more than it is a limitation of the SDK/SL/XNA.

But like I said, 6 months after release, it will be a totally different story.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

So why not just get an iPhone and have all that now and more?

The point of windows mobile was for it to be like a pc..if they take that away might it is no different then an iPhone thats years behind...

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

true. If winmo7 ships out like it looks, I'll just get an iphone 4G. But if they actually change some of this garbage and/or we can "play" with it like 6.1/6.5 then I'm game. This won't be RTM for a while, they still might be changing some things. Remember they had a whole different WM7 and just basically changed the whole thing and came up with this garbage. But all in all android and iphone OS look better and better compared to this iphone Jr crap they're trying to pull.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

After dinking around with WM6.5, I have to say that I am actually looking forward to WP7. I'm not a "power user", using my phone as a wifi hot spot is the most technical thing that I use my phone for. The ability to have Zune integration, plus the awesome Zune Marketplace, plus Netflix streaming are what are calling me.

But I still am worried, much like the rest of you, about how locked down it is. But to be honest, if it gives me a solid experience, and not that of WM6, then I will be happy with that. WM6, for me atleast, required too much homework and tweaking to get it right. I've owned my phone for well over a year now, and am still not happy with how it's set up, and its not like I haven't tried a lot of different themes/settings or ROMs, I think it's just how WM6 is.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

Wake Up Windows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The NEW iPhone 4G - Coming 2010

December 12, 2009 - Are you ready? Release likely around June or July of 2010.
Lots of speculation is going around on the new iPhone 4g... in HD!!

Verizon Wireless is currently testing a CDMA version of the iPhone 4G and Verizon confirms they are making network changes to bring the iphone to their network. The new iPhone 4g is going to be loaded with awesome new features like video chat, multi-tasking and extreme downloading. (List of possible features below). Just when you think there is nothing else to come up with, more and more and more technology comes out. And it is on the rise, and not just at Apple, Inc!
Woo hoo! This iPhone 4g could also have dual core processors and higher and powerful graphic chips that can deliver higher video resolutions and better "still" images when taking pictures.

There are a few networks working on building a 4G network. T-mobile would be a likely carrier since they are GSM already. Sprint has a 4G network already... AT&T and Verizon Wireless are in the beginning stages. There are talks of Verizon Wireless getting iPhone sometime in 2010 since the exclusive contract with AT&T expires, but it could be renewed until 2012.

Whether or not it will be 4G will be up to them!... can they build in time? Regardless, there is much anticipation on how many people will leave AT&T for Verizon Wireless because of AT&T's lagging on app restrictions like Slingplayer and Google Voice and Skype (on #g network, not Wi-Fi).

AT&T's restrictions have caused the percentage of people that are JailBreaking their iPhones to rise since Jail Breaking usually comes with Cydia which is the app store for jail broken phones. Most of the applications, ringtones, and even iphone themes!...are free with Cydia. Winterboard is part of the download, and it very easily add's the changes to your phone so you dont have to figure how to do it on your own...it is VERY automated.

The Palm Pre on Sprint (Sprint now offering a 4G network) has made an attempt at being competitive with iPhone and Blackberry...but it's not looking good. Maybe their recent Android phone will help.

iPhone 4G looks promising in terms of being sleek, packed with new hardware and multi-tasking software. Very exciting.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

I wouldn't count on dual core chips in an iphone 4G... just a 1ghz would be a huge upgrade over what they have out now (600mhz).

Also why did you bring up the Pre (small screen, dying company, NOTHING like the iphone) to try to compare it with. I know you're looking forward to the Iphone4G, but It's not going to be the best thing since corn tortillas.

Let's see, Android 2.1 can already do most of the things 4.0 will be able to, and on phones that already have wayy better specs than any iphone currently out. Winmo 7 will have HD support and some other cool things (but honestly the OS sounds like it's going to suck with all the restrictions).

If you want to pimp a sick new OS, then android 2.1 and up are going to be what you want. Iphone may migrate to other networks, but the restrictions will always be there, if you want a feature it will be an arm and a leg, and some features will never be there.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

Funny story really but even the Mogul is dual-core lol

400mhz for PDA functions and 133mhz for the mobile phone functions

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

that's my point. The mogul came out 3 years ago with a dual core 400mhz + 133mh., the 3GS, out only a year (or less?), sports a 600mhz (not dual core) processor. Apple does try to maximize the OS over the hardware. Just putting a 1ghz tegra or apple chip or whatever they use should be enough for whatever they want to do. Windows is a little more taxing to run and requires more processing power.

But a dual-core was rumored for the 4G on some sites so maybe.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

Btw...... most of my iphone friends are bored of the straight forward iphone while my wm friends are always talking about hacks and tweaks and cool app the found and how they are going to revant the UI for a better feel phone. hehehhe

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

I have been out the ppc tech loop for the past 4 months and last time I hear anything about wm7 was good and positive and how its going to be very revolutionary and possible be so much ahead of the iphone. Meaning iphone quality experience plus thye freedom of customazability like we have now. But now I bhave read all this hupla of it being restricted as much as the iphone. dammmmmm! What a bummer.

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

must kill ipad!

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

You sound like a VB "programmer". You do realize how much of the WIN32 API is not available from .NET CF, and how much of .NET CF is just pInvokes into native code, right? WP7 is CE6 under the covers, just like WM is CE5 under the covers. Native code will always be there whether you think you need it or not. Do you think the drivers in WP7 are written in .NET? :angry7:

Re: Understanding what WP7 is and the true pros/cons.
 

My guess the iphone 4 will use the Samsung Hummingbird >.>..it kinda makes sense considering it was a Samsung and Intrinsity collaboration.

and Intrinsity is owned now by Apple I think..