Windows Phone 7 might not be pretty, but its no joke

[kdarling]

The following supposed leak of HTC Sense additions to WP7 looks interesting:

Video leak of Sense on Windows Phone 7

If you're into fun little animations, WP7 and HTC look like a dream combination. Makes some other UIs look stodgy and static in comparison.

 

[SL4VE]

things like Lockinfo should be made standard on iOS.... not using the iOS to its potential is frustrating imo of course

 

[LoganT]

I think Windows Phone 7 is far more interesting than anything Android has done.

 

[Alaerian]

imo of course

Exactly. Not everyone needs or requires LockInfo. Some of us prefer that information to be private and not easily available to anyone who picks up our devices.

 

[Vegastouch]

I don't know. The UI seems more app like and less like an actual OS. While I do like how Microsoft is pushing the phone to integrate with other products, this not a "new" feature. Its been done.
Xbox live? Neat, for my son.
But everything else that I saw wasn't so overly impressive to me. Just another phone amongst the hundred out there. A few neat things, but you can do a lot of that on a jailbroken phone. Again, its been done.

And while I hope this will push newer innovation, I still only see it as another fish in the pond.
Again, its just my opinion.

Like anything else tho, you have to play with it for some time to see what it can do. You already know what your iPhone can do.

Some posters in here say they went to a store and played with a Captivate or Vibrant for 10-15 minutes when they came out and didnt like it. Seriously? 10 - 15 minutes? I played with mine a week til i really started to know what it can do and i really started to like it. Now i love it. Much more customizable than iPhone and it multitasks. Notifications are way better too and it isnt tied to doing everything with iTunes.

There seems to be a lot more to the eye on that Windows 7 than what we saw on a 9 minute video giving a quick rundown.

 

[Savor]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A293 Safari/6531.22.7)

Has alot of influence from the Zune HD. I wouldn't mind getting it if I didn't hate Microsoft so much. I still don't mind the clean and simple iOS. Apple just needs to give us an option for Lockscreen info and better notification system that is less obtrusive. The luster of those animated transitions which give an illusion of it being a slick and smooth UI wears off eventually. Not practical. Just eye candy. My money is still on Android still getting better next year. Give time for WinMo 7 and Meego to grow.

 

[Alaerian]

Apple just needs to give us an option for Lockscreen info and better notification system that is less obtrusive. The luster of those animated transitions which give an illusion of it being a slick and smooth UI wears off eventually. Not practical. Just eye candy.

Well said. I would be completely okay with the option for info on the lock screen, as long as it's able to be toggled off.

Perfect observation of the animations and transitions. I'm in complete agreement. It seems to focus way too much on trying to be hip and pretty, rather than being functional.

 

[jcole31]

It seems to focus way too much on trying to be hip and pretty, rather than being functional.

Why can't it be both? Very few people have a hands on with it and those that do tend to just fly around the menus. Very few people have any idea what it is like to actually use windows phone 7 on a day to day basis. To surmise that it seems to favor style over function after only seeing tidbits of the OS seems extremely premature.

I like what I see. I'm not going to buy it, but hopefully it pushes the other OS makers to pick up their game.

 

[walangij]

I'm excited about WP7. One thing that will be interesting is whether it will be portable to other higher end android phones using similar hardware. Buying 1 phone, being able to switch between android or WP7 would be interesting.

 

[Mike225]

I'm excited about WP7. One thing that will be interesting is whether it will be portable to other higher end android phones using similar hardware. Buying 1 phone, being able to switch between android or WP7 would be interesting.

I would love to try it on my Droid X. Im not sure my screen resolution is supported though. I know they have a few standard screen resolutions. I just downloaded the Zune music software for my computer and I really like it.

 

[Menzo]

I feel no need to change something that essentially works perfectly, no matter how "boring" it is.

By that logic you'll be driving the same ancient car made decades ago because it 'simply works'. Or your Mac would be running one of the older OSes, or you'll be using Windows 95. Or you would use one of those retro boob tube monochrome TVs rather than a nice modern LCD. Wouldn't use mp3s but rather cassette tapes.

See my drift? Change is good. Everything should go through it or they will get outclassed by something new.

 

[sinsin07]

I disagree. iOS just "works." It's simple in design, uncomplicated, and easy. I feel no need to change something that essentially works perfectly, no matter how "boring" it is.

To each his own, but I'll gladly stick with iOS. It just works for me.

It would be nice for a change to see posters who don't just chant the Apple mantra, "It Just Works". Allot of things just work, and the don't all come from Apple.

Exactly. Not everyone needs or requires LockInfo. Some of us prefer that information to be private and not easily available to anyone who picks up our devices.

Not everyone needs Push. There's a setting, you turn it off. Get the drift?

 

[Alaerian]

Not everyone needs Push. There's a setting, you turn it off. Get the drift?

Well said. I would be completely okay with the option for info on the lock screen, as long as it's able to be toggled off.

Try reading the whole thread next time, m'kay?

And just because I can nitpick, you seemed to take "To each his own, but I'll gladly stick with iOS. It just works for me" out of context. I was referring to the fact that it works for me, meaning it does what I need it to.

 

[BigQid]

Windows Phone 7 has the nicest UI out there as far as I'm concerned. I will not be buying a windows phone because the mac support will be nonexistent, but iOS needs a visual overhaul and stock android is ugly. Hopefully Apple wakes up and takes iOS to the next level in its next incarnation.

I second that.

 

[nfl46]

WOW, I love it! I think Apple will definitely update iOS to look modern next year. If it didn't run smoothly, then I would hate iOS. Thank God for jailbraking.

 

[wirelessmacuser]

Windows Phone 7 will be interesting. Hard to say how it will do, as they are late getting into the game very late.

 

[pdqgp]

Meh....some cool integration points and I think with all platforms, we'll continue to see that.

However, from UI level, it looks cool, but not simple. Too PC interface like. What makes Apple so successful is it's simple.

“Something is elegant if it is two things at once: unusually simple and surprisingly powerful.” – Matthew E. May

 

[lucifiel]

By that logic you'll be driving the same ancient car made decades ago because it 'simply works'. Or your Mac would be running one of the older OSes, or you'll be using Windows 95. Or you would use one of those retro boob tube monochrome TVs rather than a nice modern LCD. Wouldn't use mp3s but rather cassette tapes.

See my drift? Change is good. Everything should go through it or they will get outclassed by something new.

That's a flawed argument. Each one of the examples you provided did represent an improvement, i.e. it can hardly be said that the 'decade old car' is running perfectly if it doesn't do what the owner wants.

Alearian was saying that as iOS is currently, he/she is happy with it and sees no need to update the look of it. Change is only good if change better facilitates what we need to do with any given product (that is being changed).

Vista and XP is probably a good tech example of this.

 

[lsvtecjohn3]

If the W7 phones are "Wi-Fi Hotspot" enabled, I'll definitely be buying one.

Would be nice not having to pay AT&T an extra 25 bucks a month for iPad data.

Jailbreak your iPhone install MyWi

 

[MasterTick]

Paul Thurrott confirmed that there will be some Mac support for transferring music, videos, etc.

 

[jcole31]

Paul Thurrott confirmed that there will be some Mac support for transferring music, videos, etc.

Well thats good to hear. I'm a bit surprised since they never had any mac support for the zune, but I'm glad they changed their ways.

It's a shame microsoft botched the zune marketing so badly along with having it a windows only platform. The zune HD and the zune software are pretty damn solid.

 

[Pink∆Floyd]

WOW
the phone looks HORRIBLE,
the UI looks plain and boring
overall, this will be a big fail, a BIG hard fail

 

[Mike225]

WOW
the phone looks HORRIBLE,
the UI looks plain and boring
overall, this will be a big fail, a BIG hard fail

Your name is iPhone... What part of iOS is less boring? I won't comment on the phone part because... it's not a phone. It's a platform.

 

[Liam8]

Looks alright. But everything they showed is on iPhone too, there are xbox live apps

 

[Pink∆Floyd]

Your name is iPhone... What part of iOS is less boring? I won't comment on the phone part because... it's not a phone. It's a platform.

Your name is Mike...
iOS>WP7 UI