Windows Phone 7: The AnandTech Guide
by Brian Klug on March 21, 2010 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Windows Phone 7
- Mobile
Final Words
At the end of our discussion, I talked with Andre about the work the WP7S team has ahead of them. It's hard to not get excited about just how dramatic this platform reboot is, but there's obviously still much to be done before launch Q4 2010. What really stuck out in his response was one line - he mentioned that the Microsoft team is approaching WP7S with a "crawl, walk, run" philosophy. Right now, they're still at crawl.
That isn't to say the team is crawling forward, but rather that they're nailing down core things first and plan to rapidly deploy extra features later. They call these extra features "delighters," and although copy and paste and multitasking won't be among them at launch, it's very likely (if not critical) that they come later. I asked about whether they're going to update WP7S devices continually - the same way older Zune hardware saw software platform updates years later - he confirmed this would be the case. There's something very Apple-like about this approach; focusing on what you have time for, only delivering what's done, and steadily updating. It's a refreshing difference from the oft-uncertain upgrade path most Windows Mobile devices were left at.
WP7S will have a hard case to make this holiday, against heavily entrenched competition - the same competition which will very likely have compelling updates of their own rolled out by Q4 2010. We'll likely see iPhone OS 4.0 before the year is over, and more flagship devices and software updates from Android. Microsoft needs to plan and develop for the future, and they're already behind - but they know it. The team will have to finalize and carefully decide on the remainder of their Marketplace criteria, get a number of carriers on board, nail their launch hardware with OEMs, build a large catalog of applications ready for launch, and keep their third party developers excited. The WP7S dev team knows it has this hard work cut out for them, but what we've seen so far is a promising and compelling deviation from the past. They've demonstrated they're not afraid to purge themselves of the old, and start anew.
It's a philosophy that's radical for Microsoft, a company that has built its empire on backwards compatibility. To have a key OS team within Microsoft accepting the fact that sometimes you need to douse the place, light a match and walk away is huge. That's exactly what Windows Phone 7 Series feels like. I only hope that the rest of Microsoft is willing to do the same, if necessary.
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pcfxer - Sunday, March 21, 2010 - link
Android is far easier to develop for than WM and iPhone. For my engineering project my team is developing a device for non-verbal users.pro5 - Monday, March 22, 2010 - link
Is android Java only? (I don't know) but if so that would reason enough for me not to develop for it. C# and objective C are 'bad enough' but java has always left me cold (I'm a C++ coder mainly).If it can use native C++ then great, still doesn't make up for it's other short comings. The only real advantage I see to Android is how 'open' it is, but really that's more of killer than a helper in the dev community (if money is your goal). How does the GPU compare to Winphone for example? Where is the 'standard' development target (screen size, hardware features). Stuff like iPhone and WP7 are 'easier' to develop for because you never need to 2nd guess the user's hardware config or screen size (ok 2 sizes in the case of WP7 in future)
Penti - Monday, March 22, 2010 - link
Android has the NDK so you can run native code, you don't need to run your code in dalvik. That means C and C++. Just as any other Linux based Phone OS. Such as WebOS. Of course Maemo too. Bada too of course, and of course none Linux based Symbian.The shit runs at the same hardware so what's your problem? Nobody is forcing you to develop for free. That you can release your apps without review is not a bad thing. Apps such as Firefox (Fennec) are ported to Maemo and being ported to Android. There's an Alpha for WinMo too. Something that can't be done on iPhone OS or Blackberry. Or WP7. If you only want to develop for a specific phone thats fine, but then you miss millions of other users. Even if you do android apps you don't need to support every single phone there is. Old phones won't be upgraded to newer versions of Android OS any way. And it's really the software platform that should have the focus any way.
jms102285 - Saturday, April 3, 2010 - link
Hey Anand, I sent you an E-mail regarding what the implications of Microsoft Communications Server just before the release of the WP7 is.... I haven't heard anything back yet in over a week from anyone I mailed about it.Are you guys tight-lipped about it because of NDAs or something???
CSMR - Sunday, March 21, 2010 - link
Not really (http://jkontherun.com/2009/11/23/windows-mobile-vs...">http://jkontherun.com/2009/11/23/window...droid-wi... but hopefully it will be within a year.I'm hoping that it will get full, reliable exchange support (e-mail+calendar+tasks+scheduling meetings+search server etc.).