Steve Jobs ones said that iPhone, iPod and almost any other Apple product is software wrapped up in an accordingly capable hardware. This statement is very legit but nowadays has to do more with smartphones than it has to do with desktops or notebooks. PCs benefit from wide range of hardware components each having its impact on user experience and in majority all they run is one of two or three operating systems. Smartphones also run one of two or three operating systems,
but smartphone engineers on the other hand are short on choice of mobile hardware platforms so they will also be choosing wisely which mobile operating system to install on their device. So, let’s put Windows Phone 7 being a very promising platform but that still has to prove everything to everyone next to iOS and Android. If software really overshadows hardware for you then you will easily end up with a phone that’s running one of these two. The purpose of this review then is to outline Windows Phone 7 advantages and disadvantages compared to iOS and Android. Note also that no iOS or Android version is indicated. There are three very good reasons for that. First - these two have already earned themselves brand loyalty. Second – there are some updates coming for both of them by the time when WP7 comes out. Third – Windows Phone 7 will have to compete with others though many evolutionary and revolutionary new versions, feature injections, etc.Applications
From the very dawn Android had native appication multitasking and that was great, especially if you consider that iPhone OS of that period didn’t. Apple, I think, got used to have everything their own way, so they took their time thinking over multitasking implementation and came up with services running in the background. This does mean that there are limitations to what processor can do with them and that developers need to make some adjustments to their apps in order to make best out of it, but then iOS has multitasking and if you are not acquainted with how it is organized chances are you will never face any trouble. Windows Phone 7, so far at least, falls somewhere between both, but in the way neither us nor you would want it to. I mean it can multitask: play music while browsing or browse while editing an Office document, but it shows its strangely split personality when you give it a third-party app. WP7 doesn’t multitask between third-party applications. Needless to say that this needs an explanation from platform engineers why they have this functionality up and running but effectively banned for developers (developers, developers). If I had a guess I’d say it is only until Windows Phone 7 devices are on shelves so that OS beta builds don’t get ported to other devices. There is no way for Microsoft to get away with no honest multitasking.
Right, from using apps to buying them. Happily, Windows Phone 7 has done alright here. Like with iOS and Android you have an app store called Marketplace. Or you will have it when it hopefully fills up to adequate number of available apps. Everyone agrees that like with iOS and Android applications will attract customers. There are a couple of differences though. WP7 stands out with redirections to Zune or Xbox catalogues when you are in for music or games respectively.
Office documents editing is one hell of a noteworthy feature. It was obvious that Windows Phone 7 will have it and I always though Microsoft should make a powerful marketing tool out of it and advertise WP7 devices to businessmen. Long story short Windows Phone 7 has the most powerful smartphone Office tools at the moment and will keep getting better at it. WP7 is also familiar with cloud computing but its browser still needs to support Flash and Silverlight to make it to a complete business-orientated platform.
Everything else application-wise so far is basic. Apart only from contacts and email management maybe. Your contacts list, or I shall say People app gets synced with all your social networking accounts and all the info is presented as a one constant live-stream. If you have many social network-active friends, People’s homepage overloads immediately, looking at it becomes annoying and using it becomes too complicated. To solve this you can turn synchronization off all together but I am not a fan of this binary choice as whether to have too much or nothing. Email app on the other hand is somewhat cleaner and more organized than iOS’ or Android’s but then it was always expected to be fine-adjusted for intense use. Business orientation call for it.
Devices
At this point I am not sure if Microsoft wants Windows Phone 7 to run on gadgets other than smartphones. I mean iPhone OS has been shortened to iOS because it runs on iPad and iPod as well – devices that are not smartphones. Android too benefits from tablets and even smartbooks. This, I think, is what Microsoft should also think carefully about and, of course, they are thinking about it. But what they think I’m guessing is that Windows 7 is what they want to see on tablets. Otherwise they whouldn’t have used the word “Phone” in the name of their mobile software platform.
Conclusion
Do you remember the three reasons why I didn’t indicate OS’ version numbers in this comparison? Getting back to them I want to say that there are no serious reasons why Windows Phone 7 won’t be able to get into a fair feature competition with iOS and Android. Fixing multitasking, attracting third-party developers and filling Marketplace with essential apps as soon as possible is in Microsoft’s power. The first thing they should do with WP7 version 1.0 is to gain some brand loyalty WinMo lost. Another quick glance in the future, if you allow me, readers: I recon Windows Phone 7 is going to be somewhat better than Blackberry 6 and webOS 2.
Source: (wateen.net)