WP7 potentially the fastest/smoothest OS?

[MrX8503]

After reading up quite a bit on WP7 and watching all the videos, overall, I'm impressed with what I see so far. Minus the homescreen, I still think its hideous.

I think what is interesting to note is that WP7 is not only fast, but its very smooth. Here's an example video of what I'm talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI0KNrXwBVA

Even a Froyo powered Android device isn't capable of that. I'm a huge advocate of fast/smooth UIs with finesse, which is one of the big reasons why I chose an iPhone4. From what I've seen so far, WP7 has been the only OS to be as fast/smooth as the iPhone4 or even better.

If MS can keep their UI speedy while incorporating many quality apps that look good, I think they'll have a winner on their hands.

 

[Strk]

It does help that MS has set hardware requirements and limited customization. I hope it makes it so we don't have to deal with the crap updates we get from Android (the wait for 2.2 is ridiculous).

I wonder if Samsung using the Snapdragon will mean their GPS will actually work? Speaking of GPS though, does WP7 have some free app like Android to use it?

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Check these out. Very impressive.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/IMDB-on-Windows-Phone-7-Hands-on-Demo
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Fandango-on-Windows-Phone-7

 

[Cuda1447]

I dunno, the UI is just disgusting. The UI is very important for me. Perhaps the WP7 will grow on me. I should be getting one in about a month to month and a half, so I'm excited to try it out. But overall, I'm not expecting it to replace Android for me.

In terms of scrolling speed/smoothness. I agree its important, but at the same time, a solid Android phone doesn't show any noticeable lag. WP7 or Iphone may be 'faster' technically, but its kind of like having an FPS that is faster than the eye can see. Sure, its a higher FPS but it doesn't make a functional difference.

 

[Demo24]

I suspect one reason is that there is no background running tasks so the cpu can focus on those pretty, and quick animations. Looks quite nice I will admit. It will be more impressive if they can keep that up and have mulitasking.

 

[zerocool84]

I suspect one reason is that there is no background running tasks so the cpu can focus on those pretty, and quick animations. Looks quite nice I will admit. It will be more impressive if they can keep that up and have mulitasking.

That's one of the biggest reasons why it's smooth. Look at iPhone and how they've been able to have a smooth OS for years it because you had nothing else going on the background. Even iOS 4 still limits a lot of it's multitasking. Android OS as we all know is a blessing and a curse at the same time. It sucks that if you get a WP7 you can't have Pandora in the background at all. They didn't even mention it at all in any of the stuff today it seems unless I missed it.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

I think one of the reasons that iOS is really smooth is because of hardware GPU acceleration of the animations. Something that if I recall correctly Android does not have.

 

[zerocool84]

I think one of the reasons that iOS is really smooth is because of hardware GPU acceleration of the animations. Something that if I recall correctly Android does not have.

There's many reasons to it. The main reason is that Apple controls every aspect of the OS/Hardware and can optimize it and lock it down more to keep control of things happening which as we know relates to a smoother experience but allows the user less control which is good or bad however you look at it.

 

[Tequila]

*yawn*

I wouldn't trade my Evo for a windows phone at all. I'm sure wp7 will do well unlike the kin but Android is still better and wp7 has nothing that I need. And yea that home tile screen is butt fricken ugly.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

ms is going to be a major player, if for no other reason than that they have the time, money and the ability to copy and implement the important features other companies introduce. even if wp7 turns out to be horrible, which it wont, at some point in the near future they will catch up to and surpass android and ios

 

[jpeyton]

Closed systems are easier to optimize. WP7 and iOS are closed. Android is not.

That said, at some point, processing power and optimizations will eventually make Android smooth. From a functionality standpoint, Android still has its advantages. From a "prettiness" standpoint, iOS and WP7 are noticeably better.

 

[zerocool84]

Closed systems are easier to optimize. WP7 and iOS are closed. Android is not.

That said, at some point, processing power and optimizations will eventually make Android smooth. From a functionality standpoint, Android still has its advantages. From a "prettiness" standpoint, iOS and WP7 are noticeably better.

The apps they've shown look incredible but the homescreen is damn ugly and no multi-tasking and no word on when it'll come in this day-and age is unacceptable.

 

[MrX8503]

I think one of the reasons that iOS is really smooth is because of hardware GPU acceleration of the animations. Something that if I recall correctly Android does not have.

That's one of the big reasons why iOS is smooth. Like others have said I think with a certain amount of control, developers can better optimize their OS to run the best that it possibly can.

Unfortunately WP7 is lacking a few things, namely multitasking. Who knows if the OS will take a big performance hit when MS decides to incorporate multitasking. Something tells me though is that MS is working hard to get multitasking to WP7 without slowing it down. Maybe this is why we aren't seeing these features yet at launch.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Well they did note that launching the hardware intensive apps (games) took a considerable amount of time.

 

[zerocool84]

That's one of the big reasons why iOS is smooth. Like others have said I think with a certain amount of control, developers can better optimize their OS to run the best that it possibly can.

Unfortunately WP7 is lacking a few things, namely multitasking. Who knows if the OS will take a big performance hit when MS decides to incorporate multitasking. Something tells me though is that MS is working hard to get multitasking to WP7 without slowing it down. Maybe this is why we aren't seeing these features yet at launch.

I think they should have held off on it until they got it right but they're a multi-billion dollar company so what do I know.

 

[gorcorps]

It's definitely slicker than I expected from a windows mobile OS. As far as speed and responsiveness is concerned it looks to be on par with Apple, which is huge. UI is definitely goofy looking though which hurts.

It looks like they're focusing on the "casual smartphone" market that Apple and Android already dominate, which will probably hurt windows from doing anything. Most companies still use Outlook on PCs and Exchange sync with blackberries for work, and THAT'S where I think windows could do well. IMO it wouldn't be too hard for MS to get messaging working just as well if not better than BB given that they're the ones that make Outlook and Exchange. Solid work messaging paired with the slick usability they're currently showing off could pretty quickly dethrone BB and their clunky OS.

 

[QueBert]

ms is going to be a major player, if for no other reason than that they have the time, money and the ability to copy and implement the important features other companies introduce. even if wp7 turns out to be horrible, which it wont, at some point in the near future they will catch up to and surpass android and ios

Money + time doesn't always equal success. Look at the Zune, while I wouldn't call it a huge failure it's #3 in the PMP market by a very large margin. W7 could flop, even with MS and all their bucks behind it. It doesn't matter how much they spend on it, if people don't want to use it, it will fail. With your money + time logic the Kin should still be alive and kicking. MS obviously won't abandon W7 like they did the Kin, but that doesn't mean automatic success, or even success way down the road. But there's no way in hell it will surpass iOS or Android, not a chance in hell.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

But there's no way in hell it will surpass iOS or Android, not a chance in hell.

No chance? Quoted for posterity. I'm not saying it will happen, but I certainly think there's a non-zero chance. You Applefags spent over a year saying Android would never catch up to iPhone, and look at that now.

Cut the foul and inflammatory language. This is not OT.
This is however, your last warning
Moderator TheStu

 

[akugami]

ms is going to be a major player, if for no other reason than that they have the time, money and the ability to copy and implement the important features other companies introduce. even if wp7 turns out to be horrible, which it wont, at some point in the near future they will catch up to and surpass android and ios

I wouldn't count on that for the long haul. Let's be honest here, MS hasn't had a home run in years. What was the last time MS has had real success? Most would say the Xbox but considering it has lost billions of dollars over the years, with no sign of long term profitability in sight, that's questionable.

MS had decent market share in the early days of smart phones but was destroyed by Apple's first real efforts. For all intents and purposes, MS is a new player in the smart phone market. It has to battle not one but three juggernauts. RIM in the corporate front and Android and iOS on the consumer front.


Not a huge fan of the home screen as others have noted but the OS looks really smooth.

 

[zerocool84]

I wouldn't count on that for the long haul. Let's be honest here, MS hasn't had a home run in years. What was the last time MS has had real success? Most would say the Xbox but considering it has lost billions of dollars over the years, with no sign of long term profitability in sight, that's questionable.

Video game systems take years and years to pull a profit. They make almost no money off the system and all of it off licensing.

 

[akugami]

Video game systems take years and years to pull a profit. They make almost no money off the system and all of it off licensing.

Ask Nintendo how much they have lost on video game hardware. Seriously, the only hardware they've never made a profit (not counting research and development) was probably the Virtual Boy. Every piece of hardware has made money from practically day one.

*EDIT*

And the knock on MS is how many years since the Xbox project started? They've lost billions on the first Xbox as well as the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 does not look like they can recoup their cost, much less make a real profit, before it has to be replaced in two years tops. They'll spend another boatload of cash on that and the cycle continues. Their other major project has been the Zune and that has had mediocre success at best. Kin? Major flop.

I do like Win7 and Office 2007 but those are mostly built off the success of the Windows OS and Office.

I would never count Microsoft out simply because of the resources they have and the money they can burn to experiment and refine their product but I would also have to say that their money has not really helped them in recent years.

 

[zerocool84]

Ask Nintendo how much they have lost on video game hardware. Seriously, the only hardware they've never made a profit (not counting research and development) was probably the Virtual Boy. Every piece of hardware has made money from practically day one.

The Wii made money cus it didn't cost them much to make it since it's just a sooped up Gamecube. Almost every company has lost money on the actual console.

 

[akugami]

The Wii made money cus it didn't cost them much to make it since it's just a sooped up Gamecube. Almost every company has lost money on the actual console.

Well. This still doesn't account for the NES which many thought Nintendo was stupid to release after the early video game crash that sent Atari spiraling. Then came the GameBoy which started the whole portable gaming market. Nintendo actively chose to release a system that didn't cost an arm and a leg to produce and it has paid off. Even with the Gamecube it was a system that on par with the PS2 and Xbox from a system horsepower standpoint, and yet still more affordable as well as profitable. MS and Sony made some bad business decisions when making the Xbox 360 and PS3. Nintendo made smart ones. All of the money in the world won't help you if your execs make bad decisions.

The point is that MS's money has not saved it from boneheaded decisions and that the money has not helped it dominate new markets. Their vast resources and monies has not really helped them capture new markets. MS to a large degree still depends on the Windows and Office monopolies.

Again, I would never count MS out simply because they have access to so much money and resources. But I disagree with anyone who automatically believes that MS will dominate eventually due to said money and resources.

The smart phone market is clearly one that MS had an early hand in and should have been paying more attention to and it has cost them dearly as Apple and Google has snuck in and taken over.

*EDIT*

I just checked the division under which the Xbox falls and it seems they made about $680 million in the fiscal year ending June 30. Most of it was due to a decrease in Xbox 360 costs which saved them about $530 million. I still am not sure they can recoup their costs for the Xbox 360 before they need to release a new console but they'll come close with another two years before they really need to release a new games console. We then get a lot of uncertainty as it is no guarantee that the next Xbox will be as successful as the 360. Nintendo and Sony's fall from the top spot has proven that anyone can come out on top between console generations.

The problem for MS and WP7 is that current smart phone users are going to be more and more entrenched as they have more money vested in either iOS or Android apps. WP7 really is late to the game and has a ton of work cut out for it. The fact that I use a few really niche iOS apps is one of the reasons I opted for an iPhone 4 rather than a new Android phone. I'm sure there are others who have bought even more apps than I have.

 

[boomhower]

In one of the videos posted above the guy said there was no Flash OR HTML5 support. Is that correct? If so, yet another reason to cross it off the list. It just seems to be more and more crippled the more I read about it.

 

[zsdersw]

What was the last time MS has had real success?

Windows 7.