Windows Phone splash screen
One of the top Australian new site ran a Mobile article today ” Mobile movers take to the enterprise “. They compared the 5 leading mobile OS in the market.
Here is what they had to say about Windows Mobile
Microsoft says one of the best things about Windows Mobile is that it will be familiar to users of the Windows desktop operating system. However, this hasn’t stopped handset makers such as HTC from completely redesigning the user interface to something that looks slicker. The latest HTC HD2 is the first Windows-based device that uses a capacitive touchscreen. This allows you to use gestures such as zooming into websites, documents and pictures in a similar manner to the iPhone.
The most useful feature in Windows Mobile is arguably its backup feature. Microsoft My Phone allows users to back up all their data including contacts, calendar, photos and more, to a password-protected website.
The most useful feature in Windows Mobile is arguably its backup feature Seriously ?? Even if they did try Windows Mobile they wouldn’t have learned how to use it. I dont know if this ” Microsoft says one of the best things about Windows Mobile is that it will be familiar to users of the Windows desktop operating system. ” holds any truth. I don’t want my mobile screen to be like my desktop that is one of the worst thing you could probably do.
According to me most useful feature on Windows Mobile :
- The level of customization ( I don’t mean themes and skins )
- Multitasking
- The great community at xda-develoeprs ( if it weren’t for them I might have ditched the Platform ages ago )
- and with WM7 I hope I can add XBox Live Games to the list ( plz don’t disappoint me )
So what are your reason for sticking with WM ? ( I am sense HD2 in many of the comments )
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
The only (the only) thing that stitches me to WM is the customizabily. If iPhone wasn't a so closed system, i would have already bought it throwing my HD away.
Backup is a very important feature for me, if I lost my contacts / info I would be screwed. My reason for sticking with WM IMHO is that there isn't anything else suitable. I am a heavy user of WM in a business environment and require Office mobile and decent exchange functionality.
Backup feature is crucial for many users, if we lost our contacts we would be screwed. Office and Exchange connectivity, customisation and a general freedom is my reason for staying with WM.
dont get me wrong backup is a very important feature but it is something that you expect to work ( either to a cloud service of late or at least to your PC ) and at least according to me is not ” The most useful feature in Windows Mobile ” …
@ bbonzz, core_sa : glad to know you guys think customization is quite important. How WM7 will impact this is yet to be seen.
If your business data (contacts, appointments etc) is the most important item(s) on your phone, I would then argue the backup service is The most important feature on that particular users phone. If you use your phone for multimedia or only for texting / making phone calls then maybe not.
In terms of expecting it to work, The Microsoft Myphone service has not always been around, backing up your phone has never been easier
I cannot fully agree. Pim IS one of the most important things on my phone. But:
a) i want my backup to be on my hands (I.E.: on SD), not remotely. MS is full of security bugs, so do you trust your data kept online are secure? Really?
b) I sync with Outlook, so i already have the “remote” backup
c) if MS wants to offer a backup service, is has to be a backup service. I.E.: if i have to hard reset, i want to restore EVERYTHING on my phone, not just pim, pics and music. And to do so, you have anyway to use a backup software to SD. So i don't see the use of backupping also online
1) And here lay another problem. Having no backward compatibility is the same error that put Palm outside market. If i have to throw away all of my apps to change phone, i'll buy an iPhone, that has a solid OS and (as far as i know) none of the memory leaks WinMo has.
2) WM6 had the 32mb process limit. They have launched WM6.5 that has the 32mb process limit. And i bet WM7 will have the 32mb process limit. A shame: nowadays all apps are highly graphical, GWES “breaks” continuously because of high graphical charge and cannot be flushed.
3) multitasking is good, but WinMo keeps trying to prevent you multitasking. Even if autokill is disabled, the OS kills apps as soon as it can as you reach 70% used resources. And this means that, if you have Manila 2.5, (65% at startup), you reach immediately the kill limit.
4) WM6.5.3 is out and still there's no a real, working and global cut/copy/paste function
5) The ActiveSync infernal thing keeps running and running and running, either the phone is or not connected to a pc. And when it's connected, the infernal thing keeps syncing continuously. Why the hell it must keep syncing (and slowing down the phone AND the pc)? 10 yeras ago Palm already had a sync button, to let you decide if and when start sync process.
And the list might go on
This to say that there are thing a bit more important than an online backup
well for business users it might be true..
Yes Data on the cloud can be a cause for concern ..remember the data loss on the sidekicks a while back ? I think they were able to recover most of the data later but.. it makes you a bit uneasy …
That said I love the option to sync it to the cloud.. its always online and available from anywhere in the world.
Quote”So i don't see the use of backupping also online”
I respect your views bbonzz but can see you have never been involved in planning / managing backup policies
I must stress that any backup procedure must have both onsite and offsite ability. Storing your data only on SD or disk is dangerous for obvious reasons (one fire and your phone and pc is dead). I have had data stored both online and offline for 10+ years and the two compliment each other well.
Not to go off topic but the data stored locally is no more “secure” than the data stored offsite. At least with professional data centres your data is reasonably shielded against fire, theft etc.(physical I mean).
Outlook sync does not backup photos or files does it?
I personally feel that the Microsoft backup service was designed to perform quick automated backups of user data which it does. There are other tools available if you would like to do a full image backup.
Data anywhere will always be a concern. I think the general rule is to backup to as many different locations both onsite and offsite as is required.
I also love the cloud, in fact the future of computing altogether is heading towards Cloud Based Computing (google it if anyone is interested). Our systems will be dumb terminals with an Internet connection which gets us online and nothing more.
All Operating Systems and software will be accessed, monitored and policed remotely by a third party. If you have a problem with Cloud Computing now you're gonna hate whats coming
Backing up your phone is very important, especially after ActiveSync arbitrarily removes all of your contacts sometimes. =P This has caused me grief a couple of times in the office.
What weird WM phone are you using? Multitasking and cut/paste work great on every WM device I've had. ActiveSync can be disabled as there are a plethora of posts on how to prevent it from waking your device. Do a google search =P
really? try to copy text from an sms. if you can, please tell me how.
Try to run activesync only once and no more than once when you're connected via usb to a pc. And when the once is must be decided by you, not by Activesync itself. If you can, please tell me how.
Oh, and since we're talking about tryouts, try to forward a mail trough a different account. Everything, of course, WHITHOUT a 3rd party software, so there's no need to google anything. I'm talking about native WinMo OS, not sw that can be found around.
1) Copy text in SMS: In 6.5, from the txt screen hit 'Menu' then select 'Select Text'. Then select the text you want to select, hold down the stylus and select copy. In 6.1 I just selected the text and hit copy. Easy.
2) ActiveSync: You need to either do some registry editing, or download one of the many apps that do it for you. On Google, this was the first post that popped up when searching for 'disable activesync'.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?...
3) Forwarding emails from a different account. Not sure why you would want to do that, but you are right, it won't let you. You could always just copy and paste.
I know it can be annoying having to download software to add functionality, but think of it this way; it's better to be able to fix issues yourself FOR FREE rather then be forced to wait for an official update that may never happen (ie Apple).
Agree with everything you have just said Ravicai
I think Microsoft released WM6.5 just to keep us “plodding along” so they can concentrate on getting WM7 finished and working properly.
Please Microsoft dont let us down with WM7! We all have HUGE expectation, take the time you need, just get it right and bursting with high tech features…
1) probably on Ms, not on Manila. That's what i mean when i say “WORKING GLOBALLY”. You say: is HTC the culprit. I answer: on Windows PC the OS functions work globally, no matter what app is running.
2) 3rd party. i said NATIVE (and anyway the most of these solutions don't work so well)
3) because i don't have an online exchance server so my outlook mails are synced through Activesync. So, if i receive a mail @ work, sync it, then @ home need to forward it, i cannot. yes, i can copy & paste, and save the attachments and then reattach. But that's not what i expect from a good OS.
About the last sentence, i cannot do anything than agree: i never said i'm an Apple fan; vice-versa i said i prefer WM because of its customizabiulity
. See: i'm not dissatisfied with my HD. I was only pointing out what i think are (some of) WM problems, and i think any of them is more important than a remote backup.
btw, i'm a (hobbyist) developer, so in some way i'm glad MS has problems that can be fixed through small devs apps
But that's not the point
No worries. WM is far from perfect, but it does what I need it to do the best out of the options available. I wish we could somehow combine the good aspects of all mobile operating systems. Apple for it's fluid GUI and WM for it's customizations and multitasking. For hardware we need a Nokia camera, stylish HTC design, a Motorola D-Pad, and either a Tegra or snapdragon dual core cpu
I can dream, right?
Google Chrome OS is a step in that direction. I hate that idea.. just a personal choice ^_^
I am quite interested to see how Samsung Bada turns out. They have got some major developers under their belt and the app store looks quite promising . The Microsoft camp is yet to get that going for them.
We all know how Apple got to where they are. The apps and games from the appstore was their main reason for their success as a mobile OS. I still dont understand why MS does not doing everything possible to get developers to develop for WM.
Had a look at your website earlier, some interesting application you have there
I keep wondering if they have something up their sleeve. Surely they police the mobile world daily (like we do) and are fully aware of who is offering what? I think they are holding off until the release of WM7.
It could make or break Windows Mobile, kind of makes me nervous
but I am confident they know what they are doing and that they'll get it right.
thanks
haha… sorry to be rude…Amateur