How I Know that Windows Phone is Perfect for Me
What’s that old cliché? You never truly appreciate something until it’s gone? Something like that? Well, as some of you now know, I royally screwed up my beloved Venue Pro the other day. Since my Windows Phone has been out of commission, I’ve been forced to rely on my other indestructible device, the iPhone 2G.
Now, switching from the iPhone to Windows Phone was quite nice, I enjoyed the faster navigation through the phone(minus a few hiccups like searching for contacts to make a phone call) and the general look/feel of the OS. However, I didn’t think of it as a momentous evolution or a huge change by any means. Did I prefer it? Yes. But it was a slight victory in my eyes in terms of usability. Since I’ve had my gripes about Windows Phone and I don’t think it’s perfect by any means, even though I generally enjoyed my time with the OS, and haven’t regretted making the move yet.
Now that I’ve gone back to the iPhone, I can safely say that I’ve never missed not having an electronic device as much as I miss my Venue Pro. The iPhone just feels like a fossil in comparison. The iPhone is just as I remember it, but ever since I’ve gotten used to the ease and seamlessness of using Windows Phone, the iPhone doesn’t seem nearly as elegant as it did before.
The email client for the iPhone is complete garbage when compared to the Windows Phone client. I get a ton of emails everyday and being able to see just the unread ones makes my life much easier when it comes triage time. Since the iPhone cant show me just the unread emails, I have to scroll and scroll until I get to where I left off and then stop. With Windows Phone I would just swipe to the unread column and then scroll to the very bottom and boom, I’m in. When I’m done looking at the ones I want, I can quickly mark the remaining messages as read and await the next barrage of emails.
Oh, and did I mention Office? Holy crap, is opening/editing an Excel spreadsheet a luxury, but it’s now become a luxury I can’t live without. Yea, I can open spreadsheet on the iPhone but it’s not perfect. For instance, I have huge problems switching between tabs on my iPhone. It gets confused a lot and doesn’t open the right tab, if it can figure out there are tabs to begin with. Microsoft being the author of Excel, doesn’t’ have any problems transporting the Excel experience to the mobile interface and man…it’s unparalleled.
Facebook integration is great on Windows Phone and I sorely miss it. I confess I don’t use twitter much so I don’t care the it’s not natively supported. But it’s so easy to update my status on Facebook and see what my friends are up too. I rarely even use the Facebook app except when I want to see photo albums of my friends or check messages. But now I have to keep checking the stupid Facebook App. And whenever I check it, everyone around me knows I’m a Facebook whore. On the Windows Phone, if I’m in a public area, it looks like I’m just working away since Facebook’s blue/white color scheme is nowhere to be found in the People’s Hub. But with the stupid app, I cannot it.
Zune anyone? Interface stomps all over iTunes(both on the desktop and mobile device). Not even going to go into ZunePass, I love how Zune downloads artist bios for me as well as nice backgrounds for the music I have. It fills the screen in a pleasant yet unobtrusive way. iTunes just displays a bland background with a album cover…big whoop. Awesomeness beats boring any day of the week!
I even miss the Netflix app , something available on both the iPhone and Windows Phone is better on the latter. Maybe it’s because I have a bigger screen to work with on the Venue Pro(4.1” vs 3.5”) but swiping around to get to other sections of the app is so much nicer than looking at a row of ugly icons at the bottom.
Bottom line, without Windows Phone, my life is not the same. Microsoft, you made a great product and I hope you keep working to make it even better! With all the potential Windows Phone has, I don’t see myself jumping ship unless someone drops the ball in Redmond.
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here as well as you, I no longer could live without my surround not by htc but if for wp7 is almost perfect
*kisses his DVP*
I just got it on Thursday and the phone is just so damn functional is a crime. I feel like I should be doing something else on it. I don’t know how to explain it. It feels like it’s missing something, maybe it’s because I have the capacity to do more. I actually read books for leisure on this thing. I had no interest in the Kindle or Kindle apps all of a week ago. I saw someone on the LIRR with the Focus trying it so I did too and I can’t put it down now (‘I hope they serve beer in hell’ and ‘A**holes finish first’ are 2 books that are utterly hilarious books to read on a crowded train where people will inevitably look over your shoulder). Maybe it would be easier for you if you had a 3G(s) or a 4 but the iOS UI does feel a bit dated after using WP7 or Sense on Android (or Mobile Shell, RIP Touch Pro).
-Fight
Oh and Danny I think the link you mean to jump to in the first paragraph is:
http://mobilitydigest.com/do-not-remove-the-sd-card-from-the-venue-pro/
not the
http://mobilitydigest.com/7-simple-things-i-want-added-to-windows-phone/
Keep swimming, Champ.
-Fight
you are not allowed to communicate with me while using that iphone thing. FYI!
Great article.
I’ve had the Samsung Omnia 7 since October 2010 and I’m still in LOVE with it, the phone and the OS are just a thing of beauty My girlfriend has the iPhone 4 and she is consistently begging me to swap phones. Like this morning, she went to work before I did, and guess what, she took my Omnia 7 and left me the damn iPhone.
I hope the people in the know at redmond read this article because they have trully given us a compelling mobile OS, possibly a tablet OS as well that is 100 times better than anything out there at he moment and the updates needs to start shipping ASAP.
@The Fight: Thanks for the heads up with the link, i wrote this late last night…Hope your DVP doest have any issues like mine. It is one awesome device. I know a 3GS or iPhone 4 wouldn’t be as bad as my ancient 2G but that’s why I didn’t mention the sluggishness of the 2G, it just wouldn’t be fair. The general layout and experience(minus speed issues and a few minor tweaks) would be the same across all iPhone models
@ramon trotman: who wants to talk to you anyway? hahaha
So young grasshopper, have you learned anything from this experience. Be good to your WP7 and she will bring you much happiness. No more tinkering, please.
dammit! this makes me so nostalgic because I don’t have one yet. Sprint, cm’on, bring it home quick!!! I knew me and my epic weren’t meant to be together ever since we started… I bought it.
@Danny (RE: your comment above) Comparing an original iPhone to a ‘bleeding edge’ device isn’t fair in many ways. What matters most is the version of iOS you have on the iPhone. Anything pre iOS 4 has many more faults that can’t even begin to compare to modern mobile OS’s
I do wish that the inbox on the iPhone had an unread only option, and a mobile version of Office for iPhone would be killer since Apple’s own mobile productivity suite sucks majorly.
And I agree, who would want to talk to Ramon?
@Chris Leiter: Yea everything pre iOS 4 sucks, I agree, but that’s in regards to mostly behind the scene tweaks. I’m not saying iOS isn’t usable or good, it is. I’m just saying Windows Phone is just cleaner, prettier, and more efficient than iOS.
If you noticed in my post, I never compared hardware in any way, shape, or form. There was no mention of how hardware keyboards are king, or 5MP AF w/ LED beats 2MP fixed focus with no flash. I was looking strictly from an OS vs OS standpoint. I also forgot to mention a key feature of Windows Phone that I miss more than anything I put in the article. The back button! I find myself trying to hit the back button all the time yet it’s nowhere to be found on the iPhone. I thought it was silly at first, but now that I’m accustomed to it, I want it back!!!