Microsoft's an interesting beast. Things that "should" matter to them, like Windows, somehow reach the point of almost falling apart (see Windows Me or Vista). Then, groups that are practically losing money build great things like the Xbox 360 and Kinect. Some products that stumble end up dead, like the Zune, while others are dragged back up to par (see IE9 and Windows 7). This current mess could mean anything from "WP7 is doomed, sell your stock" to "the Eye of Sauron just hasn't shone on that product group yet". We'll see. Personally, I'm thinking WP7 will pull a Vista or two and then become a cool phone OS, but the competition isn't standing still either.<p>When Apple was launching the iPhone, they pulled engineers from their flagship Mac OS X to work on new phone software. They seemed to think it was pretty important to launch with a strong product and have all the details right; to them, even delaying a product from another part of their business was an acceptable risk. When was the last time Microsoft did anything like that? Instead of slapping together product groups to shove their way into every has-been market, they could stand to divert some developers, developers, developers to products that need a polished launch, such as WP7.
I think this attitude has been the downfall of a lot of developers over the years. You fall in love with the development environment and then you transfer that love to the platform itself. The problem is sometimes great platforms aren't paired with great products.<p>Microsoft is at least two generations behind Google and Apple at this point. Some would argue three generations. I'm a .net developer who loves C# too so I'm sympathetic. But putting a lot of resources into Windows phone 7 at this point is just folly
Is it any better with Android? Here's a list of issues:<p>-- Android resets your phone to factory settings without asking you or even giving a warning if you port a number to it. This deserves a class-action lawsuit. See here: <a href="http://androidforums.com/droid-x-support-troubleshooting/131476-hard-reset-when-porting-new-number-x.html" rel="nofollow">http://androidforums.com/droid-x-support-troubleshooting/131...</a><p>-- Using the built in email application, sent emails often stuck in the outbox. See here:
<a href="http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=6d4b97299085cebe&hl=en" rel="nofollow">http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=6d4...</a><p>-- Wifi on the phone does not work if SSID is hidden. See here:
<a href="http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=1041" rel="nofollow">http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=1041</a><p>-- Bluetooth on the device is unable to connect to a desktop to transfer files or sync. See here:
<a href="http://www.bing.com/search?q=android+bluetooth+paired+but+not+connected" rel="nofollow">http://www.bing.com/search?q=android+bluetooth+paired+but+no...</a><p>-- Once you sign in into Google Account using any Google app (like Gmail), you cannot sign out, ever! Only way to "sign out" is to reset the phone to factory defaults, which means loosing all your data and needing phone activation again. See here:
<a href="http://www.sizzledcore.com/2009/12/27/how-to-remove-change-google-account-from-android/" rel="nofollow">http://www.sizzledcore.com/2009/12/27/how-to-remove-change-g...</a><p>-- They have artificially blocked use of Google Calendar app on the phone from functioning unless using a Google Account. Of course Google isn't interested in Outlook Sync, but even third-party developers suffer. Many have started providing their own calendar apps. See here: <a href="http://www.syncdroid.net/" rel="nofollow">http://www.syncdroid.net/</a><p>If you follow the links, you may notice that many of the issues have been open for a few years, some since Android version 1.6, etc. Google just does not care.<p>To fix the issue with sent emails stuck in the outbox, people have started from the source code of the built-in email app and created K-9 mail, which is 10X more powerful, and works.
I am not in any position to give advice to Microsoft, but it seems to me that they are trying to apply the winning strategies they used in one game to all the others.<p>Example: WP7.<p>What is expected: They ship fast and they update fast and agile, they don't have giant compatibility legacy to maintain.<p>What actually happens: WP7 took forever to ship and never got updated.<p>My speculation why it happened: they've got some lengthy and fairly bureaucratic process of approving new features, new versions, etc. They apply the same methodic they used with windows to their WP7, like, always maintain backward compatibility, be very reliable (well, you all know what happened) and predictable. They're, like, four years late and they keep wasting time.<p>Not to mention that WinMo wasn't too great either. I had an iPaq, which was sort of okay, but it didn't rock. It wasn't "cool" in any sense. And they probably vastly underestimate the coolness factor.<p>My $0.02.
This is just another example of Microsoft not having their act together. I mean, forget Windows Phone 7, but Vista was just a disaster. The company nearly sacrificed it's main revenue source. Apple isn't exactly known for being transparent on matters either, but you can imagine if something goes wrong there what the internal pressure must be to get it fixed ASAP. Because soon enough they do fix it. As Steve Jobs himself said, "great artists ship"<p>I still really feel Microsoft can get back on track if they had new executive level management. Someone younger, bolder, a little audacious but with the ability to execute - like for example bringing back Gundotra at the CEO level. It's just that they need to do it sooner rather than later.
The marketing for Windows Phone 7 was pretty extensive in the US. I don't watch much TV, but I definitely saw plenty of the "We need a phone to save us from our phones" ads. Was it really that much smaller in the UK?<p>And have there really been NO bugfixes or patches (other than the notorious one he mentioned)? That's insane. Microsoft has got to know how far behind the ball they are... why aren't they pulling out all the stops on this?<p>For Microsoft: This isn't Windows. You can't wait 3 years (or more) for every release.
tl;dr: Guy keeps buying shitty MS mobile products, MS dutifully keeps making shitty mobile products.<p>Very reminiscent of Apple fans in the '90s, buying crap products because they've defined themselves to be on Team Apple.
The worst thing about Microsoft is that they launch technologies / platforms without much success and then just close them up. I read that "Windows Live Spaces" is closing down, now Zune is closing shop... Imagine you invest time and energy in the Spaces network or a Zune setup, you're out of luck.<p>Worse, there is no upgrade path.
I'm always under the impression Microsoft is counting on luck when it comes to bringing out software. The kinect (or what's the name) is a big success, but is this because of the hardware or the software? I'm wondering too if Microsoft takes itself serious at times.
Why are you only close to giving up? Is this windows phone thing a significant platform?<p><a href="http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/12/07/microsoft-doesnt-expect-windows-phone-7-sales-to-catch-up-to-ios-or-android-any-time-soon/" rel="nofollow">http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/12/07/microsoft-doesnt-expe...</a><p>Mossberg asked: “So.. how long before you’re back into the market… back up to a good marketshare, up there with Android and Apple?”<p>“I don’t know..”<p>“Couple months?”<p>“Longer than that.”<p>“Couple years?”<p>“Maybe.”<p>Isn't it time to stop developing for OS/2?
Hasn't this been the same story for every windows mobile OS though? I gotta say I would be in the "gotta see it to believe it" phase if I were a mobile developer.