Re: Anyone happy with wm7 reviews?
 

Last I heard, that there will be a flash card in the system(and possable user replaceable) but, it will be setup like a raid harddrive config. Once you replace the card, the raid will be broken and it will bring a phone back to the factory settings (you will lose everything). As Microsoft is trying to provent pirated software, this will keep it a little more secure.

Besides this (another downfall) the reviews are very postitive and I am holding tight till they are released to get a new phone.

Who knows they might screw it up from now to release. Time will tell, it will need a lot to be a Android/iPhone killer as some of the reviewers are claiming it might be.

Re: Anyone happy with wm7 reviews?
 

Here's my beef with WP7, it's brand new, plain and simple. Every other phone OS has been around for a few years now, none of them perfect on the first try. Why should I give my hard earned dollars to Microsoft for being a ALPHA tester for their new OS? Shouldn't we buy a phone that is CURRENTLY proven and not needs to be proved? Even Microsoft's own employees know that their product line is lacking, don't most of them own iPhones anyway? It seems that Microsoft has to give away the phone to employees because they know they don't want them or at least have to pay for them...

I'm not saying I won't go to the store and check out this phone at release, I like cool gadgets as much as the next guy. I'll get my Android phone this year and see how many problems, issues or even SUPPORT in the community this new phone will have in the years to come. I have no desire to be trapped in a 1 or 2 year plan with Microsoft and not even know what the modders can do with this OS. Then you got activations, Vista, Win7, Office 2010 everything Microsoft makes anymore requires regular online check-ins with their products. How long before their WP7 devices say that this product isn't Genuine because of mods and disables itself to some point? That seems like a probably future for all Microsoft software and devices.

Then when it's time for my contract to renew, IF Microsoft has the best proven, customizable phone on the block, THEN I'll consider it, not now. Microsoft said themselves that it's going to take awhile before the phone resembles their vision. They lost any loyalty I had with them when then completely changed what WM was.

I'm just baffled why more of you don't see it that way. I'm a technology fanboy, with no loyalty to Microsoft, Apple or Android I just want what works properly, not which vendor makes it.

Re: Anyone happy with wm7 reviews?
 

Well said, I agree. Never thought of it that way. I remember reading that it was take 5 years or so to reach a point were they were "happy" with WM7. And it does seem to be more like an Alpha release. The way microsoft does it's customers I think is wrong. They just stop supporting a product, the Zune, the Kin, Plays4Sure or whatever that was. I don't think they will do that with WM7, they need this.... badly. But yea, I might wait at least till my next upgrade to get one, unless they can get something REALLY good out by this holiday.

Compare that wm7 after some time to the not yet released gingerbread. Judging from the progress of wm5 to 6.5.5, it will really be up to our developers for innovation, not ms. I believe the fact that Android is more open source than windows, the upper hand will be with Android.

My innovation scale also coincides with being open source (os wise not apps) android, winmo then osx

Evo 2.2

Re: Anyone happy with wm7 reviews?
 

I by no means have ANY programming abilities so the following might not be completely accurate but:

Aren't the developers crippled by the new approval process? Microsoft is only giving programmers access to certain parts of the phones OS and not native mode. This "frontend" is what you must program in, say, Silverlight for example, if the APIs you need aren't available for you to use then your program is going to have limitations or not work correctly. I have no idea what you have access to or not but I seriously doubt that Microsoft is going to allow anymore core level apps then Apple does. I'm not holding my breath for wifofum, tethering (wireless or wired) and so on. Microsoft might not require women clothed in burqas (like Apple does) before an app is approved, but will still restrict all that you see in the Cydia store, and forget emulators altogether unless officially licensed which alone is a deal breaker for me...

Re: Anyone happy with wm7 reviews?
 

Eh, some of these posts are disturbing, atleast to me. Why should we "waste" our hard earned dollars on a new unproven OS, sounds like a true tech fanboi... Don't see how someone on a forum like this could utter those words. If anyone truly ran like that Android and iOS would never have made it.

And saying that MS is giving phones away to employee's is because its a crap product, then explain Google giving its phones away to employee's when it did.

And MS stating that the OS wont be to where it wants it until 5 years down the road is simply a phrasing error by the person who said it. Apple and Google know better to say that because people would say the same thing about them that people are now using against MS. No one releases anything perfectly how they want it at release, No one. Thousands of MS employee's wont find every hole or bug, it takes hundreds of thousands of people and years to do that, works for anything man made. Android has had how many updates? iOS has had its fair share of updates too, not to mention the fail of the most current one that hardly works on older models.

If anything, MS locking down the software and making it harder for anyone to modify core features will only make it easier for them to push out updates and fix things that need to be fixed, instead of only really releasing updates for newer phones.

But, I as well am not biased, I will use whatever product is working the best for the time. But I also think its funny to watch people be completely hypocritical toward one product because its the current dog.

Re: Anyone happy with wm7 reviews?
 

Yea but, I think what the problem was is with Windows Mobile in the first place. Over the years, programmers were able to do what they wanted and Windows Mobile still crashes and suffers from perfomance issues depending on the application. New or lazy programmers would create cool apps but, they were so poorly written that it would bring a phone/pda down a lot.

Microsoft wants more control of the OS and after the years of just OK performace and daily reboots, I think it is a good idea as long as it's done right. Maybe this time we will get a FAST powerfull OS that always runs great with awsome performance.

testacon, You made some good points and I see the reasoning behind it. I am on the fence myself, Droid looks cool but, I'm really impressed with where MS is going with WP7, time will tell but, I think I will make a jump for a 1 year contract. If it is bad, I am sure I could sell it to get a good Droid/WM 6.5 phone till my contract is up.

Interesting discussion here....

Re: Anyone happy with wm7 reviews?
 

All I want is for my phone to behave as closely to a desktop as I can possibly get. When the WM line was out anything was possible. Now that Microsoft redesigned the phone OS from the ground up and crippled it, forgive me if I chose another OS that isn't crippled and/or censored by both Microsoft or Apple. I am willing to test drive it though once someone else Alpha tests it for me, this is ppcgeeks not xda-developers.

How many employees were sporting iPhones in Googleville? Microsoft got ripped in the press because they implemented a soft ban on iPhones, or to say at least workers had to hide them from management for fear of repercussions.

Agreed no phone is perfect in it's first release, that's why I'm saying we should skip the first round of WP7 and support Android or Apple. When I bought my current phone WM6.x was the top dog, now it's the runt of the litter.

At the expense of having the flexibility that made WM the best phone OS at there. If you want a stable phone with no options when not just use a dumb phone? Smartphones should be customizable and not micro managed by the manufacture.

I'm not bias either, as I said I like to buy the best phone that money can buy that is open. The last time I did it, it was WM6.x, now it's Android because that's the closest thing to the old WM line. After time passes and we see how XDA can reverse engineer WP7 and break the constraints that Microsoft has placed on the OS then in it's second year or later it might be worth revisiting. I just don't want to reward Microsoft right now for taking away CHOICE.

Re: Anyone happy with wm7 reviews?
 

I hear your argument Dave about locking down the OS for stability and such but that sounds like Microsoft copping out to me and being lazy. Windows ME was Microsoft worst OS, did Microsoft close the OS with Windows 2000 or XP? No, they fixed the operating system and made it more stable, with all the great minds within Microsoft the same could have happened with Windows Mobile had they truly tried, they didn't have to close the OS, they could have fixed what was broken but still provided choice. I see a phone as being no different then a regular computer as far as open/closed is concerned, if Microsoft said that it was closing Windows 7 to only approved apps people everywhere would freak out. What's the limitation in our phones that makes it impossible to fix the flaws that cause it to become that unstable? Android is a ported Linux OS and iOS is a ported Unix OS, but leave it to Microsoft to have to create something entirely new because they lack the innovations the other two companies have.

Re: Anyone happy with wm7 reviews?
 

I'm happy with it! Bring on Live Support!

I think MS should keep a closer lock on WP7. I don't mean blocking Mature stuff. I mean keeping any eye on Apps and they way the OS is changed by Hardware makers. I think it's in Microsofts best interest to do so so we don't get a glitchy OS.