What are your thoughts on WM 6.5 titanium?

[fuzzybabybunny]

I've been using the new titanium interface in WM 6.5 and I have to say that it sucks so much.

1. You scroll through a vertical list with categories for email, voicemail, photos, etc. Except unlike the iPhone which always has your text message, voicemail, and email icons visible no matter where on the start screen you are, with WM 6.5 if you're at the top of the list or the bottom your text/voice/email categories are no longer visible.

2. On the vertical list you have to scroll horizontally in each category to go through the objects one by one. So if you have 3 email accounts, you scroll vertically down to the email category and then scroll horizontally one by one through the email accounts. Getting to your third email account is a bitch. And the default email account that shows first is the un-deletable "Outlook Email" which I don't use and will never have any email in, ever. But I can't delete it so it'll always take up that first horizontal slot no matter what.

3. The horizontal scrolling is so pointless for things like the music and pictures categories, because you're scrolling horizontally one by one. Through hundreds of pictures or emails.

4. That stupid honeycomb screen for your icons. Apple uses a straight grid and different pane views, resulting in groups of icons that look neat and tidy and which can be organized into groups by the panes. WM 6.5?

http://ai.rs/wp-content/uploads//2009/02/wm65.jpg

Icons are not aligned to a straight grid and each column is offset from its neighbor. So if you have a high resolution screen with about 20 icons on one screen, it looks like someone barfed the icons on there. Plus there are no discrete panes so all your icons are jumbled into one big long list that you have to scroll through.

Want to move an icon? Simply tap and hold and you can move it anywhere you like as long as it's "to the top." That is correct! A menu pops up with only one choice - move to top. That is the only way as of now to arrange your icons.

Really, I just don't get MS. How is it possible to fail so bad from a user interface perspective? Sure, it's better than the shit pile that is WM6.1, but it's still shit. Gah!!!

 

[shortylickens]

Palms Pre, Googles Android, Blackberry OS, iPhone OS are all much more capable (depending on exactly what you wanna do). I see no reason for sticking with Windows Mobile unless you are really used to it and already have a buttload of apps that you cant live without. Personally, I never wanna be so hooked into my phone that I cant live without it, especially if its a particular platform. ESPECIALLY, if that platform hasnt seen much innovation lately and is losing ground to newer ideas.
Microsoft should take a hint from Palm and completely redesign things from the ground up. The first generation wont be perfect, but at least it will get the ball rolling again.
Since I dont need a full-featured smartphone, I will probably get a Nokia E-series next. S60 isnt the best thing around, but it works, and right now its more than I need.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
Palms Pre, Googles Android, Blackberry OS, iPhone OS are all much more capable (depending on exactly what you wanna do). I see no reason for sticking with Windows Mobile unless you are really used to it and already have a buttload of apps that you cant live without. Personally, I never wanna be so hooked into my phone that I cant live without it, especially if its a particular platform. ESPECIALLY, if that platform hasnt seen much innovation lately and is losing ground to newer ideas.
Microsoft should take a hint from Palm and completely redesign things from the ground up. The first generation wont be perfect, but at least it will get the ball rolling again.
Since I dont need a full-featured smartphone, I will probably get a Nokia E-series next. S60 isnt the best thing around, but it works, and right now its more than I need.

Believe me, the only reason for sticking with my WM phone is that I need to wait 1.5 years before I qualify for a new phone at subsidized prices.

WM 6.5 is MS's attempt at radically redesigning its UI. Too bad it still sucks so much. This is what I don't get. The engineers were cleared to radically change up the UI - and they continue to botch it up. Is UI design really that hard? It seems like anyone with even a bit of common sense can design a system that's easy to use. I mean, damn, 100% of my rant has to deal with, when boiled down, how to arrange and categorize icons. It's not highly technical stuff like how the resistive touch motion still feels kind of notchy compared to the smoothness of iPhone's touch motion.

 

[Nebor]

I have it on my Sony Ericsson X1a. It's ok. I actually prefer the Sony Ericsson "dumb phone" interface a lot better. I plan on ditching this for the idou or Rachel when it comes out.

WM 6.5 is a HUGE improvement over 6.1 in interface though. Either way, pretty dissappointing for an $800 phone.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Sadly, yeah, 6.5 is a huge improvement over 6.1, primarily because it introduces smooth physics based finger scrolling in all windows. Of course, iPhone's had this for years. And 6.5's interface arrangement still sucks regardless of the finger scrolling.

 

[boomhower]

I hate it. I tried to like but finally gave up and went back to 6.1. I have completely given up on WM(currently using a Sprint HTC Diamond) at this point and am moving to a BB. I'll be ordering my Tour tomorrow and by Wed will hopefully have everything migrated over.

 

[RandomFool]

I have used 6.5 yet but from what I gather WinMo isn't going go be really competitive until 7 comes out next year. 6.5 seems like more of a stop gap to keep them somewhat competitive until then. MS can build a good interface, The Zune and Win 7 are proof of that. I'm actually very interested ito see what they come up with.

 

[uli2000]

You have to take into account that all the WM 6.5 builds out there are based on betas of the OS. No phones have been released with 6.5 as of yet. Im currently running a 6.5 rom and though it looks pretty and is slightly more usable, its just a bandaid. Will WM7 impress? I guess we'll find out soon. They say the Zune HD will be running a modified light version of WM7.

 

[zerocool84]

WM does suck. I don't like it and there are companies that have their own "skin" to run on top of Windows Mobile like HTC but honestly though even when they do stuff to it like TouchFlo, you can still tell WM is there. The reason why it never runs perfect because it's an OS built to run on many different types of phones just like Windows desktop OS is so it's bound to run into problems. The TouchFlo does help out so much though.

 

[Chapbass]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
I've been using the new titanium interface in WM 6.5 and I have to say that it sucks so much.

1. You scroll through a vertical list with categories for email, voicemail, photos, etc. Except unlike the iPhone which always has your text message, voicemail, and email icons visible no matter where on the start screen you are, with WM 6.5 if you're at the top of the list or the bottom your text/voice/email categories are no longer visible.

2. On the vertical list you have to scroll horizontally in each category to go through the objects one by one. So if you have 3 email accounts, you scroll vertically down to the email category and then scroll horizontally one by one through the email accounts. Getting to your third email account is a bitch. And the default email account that shows first is the un-deletable "Outlook Email" which I don't use and will never have any email in, ever. But I can't delete it so it'll always take up that first horizontal slot no matter what.

3. The horizontal scrolling is so pointless for things like the music and pictures categories, because you're scrolling horizontally one by one. Through hundreds of pictures or emails.

4. That stupid honeycomb screen for your icons. Apple uses a straight grid and different pane views, resulting in groups of icons that look neat and tidy and which can be organized into groups by the panes. WM 6.5?

http://ai.rs/wp-content/uploads//2009/02/wm65.jpg

Icons are not aligned to a straight grid and each column is offset from its neighbor. So if you have a high resolution screen with about 20 icons on one screen, it looks like someone barfed the icons on there. Plus there are no discrete panes so all your icons are jumbled into one big long list that you have to scroll through.

Want to move an icon? Simply tap and hold and you can move it anywhere you like as long as it's "to the top." That is correct! A menu pops up with only one choice - move to top. That is the only way as of now to arrange your icons.

Really, I just don't get MS. How is it possible to fail so bad from a user interface perspective? Sure, it's better than the shit pile that is WM6.1, but it's still shit. Gah!!!

You're doing something wrong then, IMO. I have a 6.5 modded phone and the first email account is my gmail account. And before that it simply said "tap to set up your email". Never seen a dedicated "outlook email", at least on the today screen.

Also, your #1 complaint, about the vertical scrolling. maybe its because I rarely use the top two (pictures and music), but making that a big complaint just seems silly. Sure, I suppose it could be better, but like others have said, as a stopgap it is definitely an improvement over 6.1.

Either way, your post sounds like a little kid who didn't get his way. just my 0.02. Wait for WinMo7, or get yourself an iPhone, since thats what you seem to be orgasming over.

 

[randomlinh]

WM6.5 is not an attempt really at competing. it's merely an attempt to band aid the situation. wm7 is the real competition.

and if it bothers you that much, eat the costs. I did. i'll recoup it actually over the next two years... assuming I don't ditch sprint, heh.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: Chapbass

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
I've been using the new titanium interface in WM 6.5 and I have to say that it sucks so much.

1. You scroll through a vertical list with categories for email, voicemail, photos, etc. Except unlike the iPhone which always has your text message, voicemail, and email icons visible no matter where on the start screen you are, with WM 6.5 if you're at the top of the list or the bottom your text/voice/email categories are no longer visible.

2. On the vertical list you have to scroll horizontally in each category to go through the objects one by one. So if you have 3 email accounts, you scroll vertically down to the email category and then scroll horizontally one by one through the email accounts. Getting to your third email account is a bitch. And the default email account that shows first is the un-deletable "Outlook Email" which I don't use and will never have any email in, ever. But I can't delete it so it'll always take up that first horizontal slot no matter what.

3. The horizontal scrolling is so pointless for things like the music and pictures categories, because you're scrolling horizontally one by one. Through hundreds of pictures or emails.

4. That stupid honeycomb screen for your icons. Apple uses a straight grid and different pane views, resulting in groups of icons that look neat and tidy and which can be organized into groups by the panes. WM 6.5?

http://ai.rs/wp-content/uploads//2009/02/wm65.jpg

Icons are not aligned to a straight grid and each column is offset from its neighbor. So if you have a high resolution screen with about 20 icons on one screen, it looks like someone barfed the icons on there. Plus there are no discrete panes so all your icons are jumbled into one big long list that you have to scroll through.

Want to move an icon? Simply tap and hold and you can move it anywhere you like as long as it's "to the top." That is correct! A menu pops up with only one choice - move to top. That is the only way as of now to arrange your icons.

Really, I just don't get MS. How is it possible to fail so bad from a user interface perspective? Sure, it's better than the shit pile that is WM6.1, but it's still shit. Gah!!!

You're doing something wrong then, IMO. I have a 6.5 modded phone and the first email account is my gmail account. And before that it simply said "tap to set up your email". Never seen a dedicated "outlook email", at least on the today screen.

Also, your #1 complaint, about the vertical scrolling. maybe its because I rarely use the top two (pictures and music), but making that a big complaint just seems silly. Sure, I suppose it could be better, but like others have said, as a stopgap it is definitely an improvement over 6.1.

Either way, your post sounds like a little kid who didn't get his way. just my 0.02. Wait for WinMo7, or get yourself an iPhone, since thats what you seem to be orgasming over.

And your post sounds like someone who's happy with mediocrity. Keep on using WM 6.5 and hoping that WM 7 will fix everything and when it doesn't just suck it up and continue to live silently with mediocrity. Seeing WM's UI fail year after year and you're saying I don't have a reason to be frustrated? How many years has WM been in the market? Why does the UI still suck so bad compared to every other competitor on the market? Like I said before, it really is just the simple arrangement of icons. It's not hard to design an interface that just keeps things simple - Apple does it with a grid where one tap can take you to any program on the screen, but they also keep it smart by making sure the phone, email, and text icons are always visible since those are the core of a phone.

I'm not making the pictures and music a big complaint. I'm just showing how badly the WM UI fails in this regard. I don't use the pictures and music often, but with the current UI, I would NEVER use it because it is IMPOSSIBLE to do so even with a modest amount of image or music files.

 

[Chapbass]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: Chapbass

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
I've been using the new titanium interface in WM 6.5 and I have to say that it sucks so much.

1. You scroll through a vertical list with categories for email, voicemail, photos, etc. Except unlike the iPhone which always has your text message, voicemail, and email icons visible no matter where on the start screen you are, with WM 6.5 if you're at the top of the list or the bottom your text/voice/email categories are no longer visible.

2. On the vertical list you have to scroll horizontally in each category to go through the objects one by one. So if you have 3 email accounts, you scroll vertically down to the email category and then scroll horizontally one by one through the email accounts. Getting to your third email account is a bitch. And the default email account that shows first is the un-deletable "Outlook Email" which I don't use and will never have any email in, ever. But I can't delete it so it'll always take up that first horizontal slot no matter what.

3. The horizontal scrolling is so pointless for things like the music and pictures categories, because you're scrolling horizontally one by one. Through hundreds of pictures or emails.

4. That stupid honeycomb screen for your icons. Apple uses a straight grid and different pane views, resulting in groups of icons that look neat and tidy and which can be organized into groups by the panes. WM 6.5?

http://ai.rs/wp-content/uploads//2009/02/wm65.jpg

Icons are not aligned to a straight grid and each column is offset from its neighbor. So if you have a high resolution screen with about 20 icons on one screen, it looks like someone barfed the icons on there. Plus there are no discrete panes so all your icons are jumbled into one big long list that you have to scroll through.

Want to move an icon? Simply tap and hold and you can move it anywhere you like as long as it's "to the top." That is correct! A menu pops up with only one choice - move to top. That is the only way as of now to arrange your icons.

Really, I just don't get MS. How is it possible to fail so bad from a user interface perspective? Sure, it's better than the shit pile that is WM6.1, but it's still shit. Gah!!!

You're doing something wrong then, IMO. I have a 6.5 modded phone and the first email account is my gmail account. And before that it simply said "tap to set up your email". Never seen a dedicated "outlook email", at least on the today screen.

Also, your #1 complaint, about the vertical scrolling. maybe its because I rarely use the top two (pictures and music), but making that a big complaint just seems silly. Sure, I suppose it could be better, but like others have said, as a stopgap it is definitely an improvement over 6.1.

Either way, your post sounds like a little kid who didn't get his way. just my 0.02. Wait for WinMo7, or get yourself an iPhone, since thats what you seem to be orgasming over.

And your post sounds like someone who's happy with mediocrity. Keep on using WM 6.5 and hoping that WM 7 will fix everything and when it doesn't just suck it up and continue to live silently with mediocrity. Seeing WM's UI fail year after year and you're saying I don't have a reason to be frustrated? How many years has WM been in the market? Why does the UI still suck so bad compared to every other competitor on the market? Like I said before, it really is just the simple arrangement of icons. It's not hard to design an interface that just keeps things simple - Apple does it with a grid where one tap can take you to any program on the screen, but they also keep it smart by making sure the phone, email, and text icons are always visible since those are the core of a phone.

I'm not making the pictures and music a big complaint. I'm just showing how badly the WM UI fails in this regard. I don't use the pictures and music often, but with the current UI, I would NEVER use it because it is IMPOSSIBLE to do so even with a modest amount of image or music files.

WM has been this way because until recently with the iphone and the pre (and i suppose android), there hasn't really been a huge need to upgrade much, from their standpoint that is (yes, I left BB off the list because imo their layout is the worst by far, unless things have changed with the tour, havent seen that device yet).

Its not that im happy with mediocrity, its that i dont let miniscule things get my panties in a bunch.

Like i said, wm6.5 is a stopgap, even AT did an article on it I believe. besides, its cooked software that isn't an official release.

And as far as the music and pictures go, I didn't even mention that in my first post, besides saying i rarely use it. I DO agree with you regarding the horizontal thing, at least when those two are concerned. Kinda nice for email and such, IMO.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Sadly, yeah, 6.5 is a huge improvement over 6.1, primarily because it introduces smooth physics based finger scrolling in all windows. Of course, iPhone's had this for years. And 6.5's interface arrangement still sucks regardless of the finger scrolling.

You mean kinetic scrolling? Everyone's trying to integrate kinetic scrolling.... Give it time.

BTW what phone do you have?

 

[WelshBloke]

If your getting a WinMo phone get an HTC one.

The HTC UI's (manila 2D/3D) is sooo much better than the standard WinMO 6.1/6.5.

You also get the support of HTCdevelopers forums which are invaluable.

 

[swbsam]

Oye, just got an omnia today and I really do miss my iPhone... Sluggish OS, annoyingly unresponsive virtual keyboard, but great network. I don't regret it because I'm buying into the network more than anything, but windows mobile does suck! I'm also finding that there's too many work around required - I wanted pandora and that required googling, not just downloading an app

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Originally posted by: WelshBloke
If your getting a WinMo phone get an HTC one.

The HTC UI's (manila 2D/3D) is sooo much better than the standard WinMO 6.1/6.5.

You also get the support of HTCdevelopers forums which are invaluable.

Don't get a Touch Pro. Damn things break just by looking at them. Just wait and pray that the TP2 is a better phone then this thing.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Sadly, yeah, 6.5 is a huge improvement over 6.1, primarily because it introduces smooth physics based finger scrolling in all windows. Of course, iPhone's had this for years. And 6.5's interface arrangement still sucks regardless of the finger scrolling.

You mean kinetic scrolling? Everyone's trying to integrate kinetic scrolling.... Give it time.

BTW what phone do you have?

I heard that the scrolling requires a physics engine to calculate things like how far the menu should keep on sliding after you flick and release, so i called it physics based scrolling.

I have the htc touch pro. not a good phone.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune

Originally posted by: WelshBloke
If your getting a WinMo phone get an HTC one.

The HTC UI's (manila 2D/3D) is sooo much better than the standard WinMO 6.1/6.5.

You also get the support of HTCdevelopers forums which are invaluable.

Don't get a Touch Pro. Damn things break just by looking at them. Just wait and pray that the TP2 is a better phone then this thing.

Yeah, it's sad that you've gotta use all this third party stuff to cover up or replace the default windows ui or programs because that's how much they suck.

I'm actually HAPPY now with my phone and 6.5 because i got SPB 3 and downloaded a great iPhone skin for it. makes getting to everything so much easier now.

and yeah, the touch pros break their keyboards. a lot. i just got my phone replaced after a drop and the replacement had a nonfunctional keyboard, so i had to go in a second time. the guys at the sprint store said the keyboard thing was very common.

not to mention the tp pro's screen is just small. and kind of finger typing just sucks to do on it. watching movies blows as well.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Sadly, yeah, 6.5 is a huge improvement over 6.1, primarily because it introduces smooth physics based finger scrolling in all windows. Of course, iPhone's had this for years. And 6.5's interface arrangement still sucks regardless of the finger scrolling.

You mean kinetic scrolling? Everyone's trying to integrate kinetic scrolling.... Give it time.

BTW what phone do you have?

I heard that the scrolling requires a physics engine to calculate things like how far the menu should keep on sliding after you flick and release, so i called it physics based scrolling.

I have the htc touch pro. not a good phone.

Well in terms of the engine you're just saying it's a software based thing yes? Kinetic scrolling wasn't a big deal in WinMo because it was a stylus based OS and still is. The iPhone showed us how cool it is and virtually all OSes have it now. Symbian and WinMo have halfassed implementations but I can bet you more and more programs will have it.

It can be done as a software thing because I KNOW S60 does not have it natively and that certain apps like Gravity do have it.

Touch Pro... you mean the Fuze or do you have the unlocked Touch Pro? Because it's still a decent phone IMO unless you have the AT&T Bloatware.

NM So you got the sprint one... does that have bloatware too? Because most people who used the cooked roms and stuff say they have pretty decent speeds.

Then again WinMo is slow compared to iPhone or S60. You need a 800mhz snapdragon or better to be iPhone competitive.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Sadly, yeah, 6.5 is a huge improvement over 6.1, primarily because it introduces smooth physics based finger scrolling in all windows. Of course, iPhone's had this for years. And 6.5's interface arrangement still sucks regardless of the finger scrolling.

You mean kinetic scrolling? Everyone's trying to integrate kinetic scrolling.... Give it time.

BTW what phone do you have?

I heard that the scrolling requires a physics engine to calculate things like how far the menu should keep on sliding after you flick and release, so i called it physics based scrolling.

I have the htc touch pro. not a good phone.

Well in terms of the engine you're just saying it's a software based thing yes? Kinetic scrolling wasn't a big deal in WinMo because it was a stylus based OS and still is. The iPhone showed us how cool it is and virtually all OSes have it now. Symbian and WinMo have halfassed implementations but I can bet you more and more programs will have it.

It can be done as a software thing because I KNOW S60 does not have it natively and that certain apps like Gravity do have it.

Touch Pro... you mean the Fuze or do you have the unlocked Touch Pro? Because it's still a decent phone IMO unless you have the AT&T Bloatware.

NM So you got the sprint one... does that have bloatware too? Because most people who used the cooked roms and stuff say they have pretty decent speeds.

Then again WinMo is slow compared to iPhone or S60. You need a 800mhz snapdragon or better to be iPhone competitive.

Yeah, I use the cooked and 3rd party roms. I mean, it sucks otherwise. And even with cooked roms it still kinda sucks, the main reason being the tiny screen for me. The iPhone's screen is about the ENTIRE surface area of the Touch's, which makes lots of things difficult. Add to that an OS that sucks unless it's heavily modified and sub-par build construction, and you've got a sorely mediocre phone that you might have shelled out $400 for...

 

[erwos]

No offense, but why not judge WM 6.5 when it comes out, versus on what some ROM hacker cooked up? I use cooked ROMs, too, and they don't always work all that well.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Sadly, yeah, 6.5 is a huge improvement over 6.1, primarily because it introduces smooth physics based finger scrolling in all windows. Of course, iPhone's had this for years. And 6.5's interface arrangement still sucks regardless of the finger scrolling.

You mean kinetic scrolling? Everyone's trying to integrate kinetic scrolling.... Give it time.

BTW what phone do you have?

I heard that the scrolling requires a physics engine to calculate things like how far the menu should keep on sliding after you flick and release, so i called it physics based scrolling.

I have the htc touch pro. not a good phone.

Well in terms of the engine you're just saying it's a software based thing yes? Kinetic scrolling wasn't a big deal in WinMo because it was a stylus based OS and still is. The iPhone showed us how cool it is and virtually all OSes have it now. Symbian and WinMo have halfassed implementations but I can bet you more and more programs will have it.

It can be done as a software thing because I KNOW S60 does not have it natively and that certain apps like Gravity do have it.

Touch Pro... you mean the Fuze or do you have the unlocked Touch Pro? Because it's still a decent phone IMO unless you have the AT&T Bloatware.

NM So you got the sprint one... does that have bloatware too? Because most people who used the cooked roms and stuff say they have pretty decent speeds.

Then again WinMo is slow compared to iPhone or S60. You need a 800mhz snapdragon or better to be iPhone competitive.

Yeah, I use the cooked and 3rd party roms. I mean, it sucks otherwise. And even with cooked roms it still kinda sucks, the main reason being the tiny screen for me. The iPhone's screen is about the ENTIRE surface area of the Touch's, which makes lots of things difficult. Add to that an OS that sucks unless it's heavily modified and sub-par build construction, and you've got a sorely mediocre phone that you might have shelled out $400 for...

Well yeah, you're taking HTC's like 2nd gen touch devices which were jimmyrigged to compete with the iPhone. The new Touch Diamond 3.2" and Touch Pro 3.6" will ahve screen sizes much better.

I know M$ has a long way to go with Windows Mobile, but as it stands, they're in better shape than Symbian Foundation (LOL).