Microsoft’s WP7 seems to have had a good start … let’s review – Instantly I feel livid

Microsoft’s WP7 seems to have had a good start … let’s review

‘Windows Mobile for the next generation’ touted Microsoft on the launch of Windows Phone 7. It must have been hard for Microsoft to discard Windows Mobile completely and start from scratch for WP7. Marketed by Microsoft as smart, sleek and stunning, the WP7 is definitely a refreshing break from the sluggish Windows Mobile. Although no one actually missed Microsoft in the smartphone battle, the entry of WP7 is perfectly timed. So, is this the time to give a Windows smartphone a go?

It wasn’t difficult for Apple and Google to kick Windows Mobile out of the smartphone OS market and it will be hard for Microsoft to get a leg in now. The iOS and Android are now two mature operating systems with a huge number of loyal followers; they have taken their own time to evolve and refine their interface and features. Unlike the iPhone, there were no long queues for WP7 powered phones outside retail outlets.

There are a few reasons why I might think about making the big switch and top among them is its lively user interface. The Live Tiles are so clean and dynamic; they give you instant access to your content, whether it’s an unread email, text message, missed call, status update, etc. But if users are allowed to make tiles for everything ranging from Facebook friends, to websites, won’t it end up making the home screen really crowded? Yes it would and in fact you can’t have more than 15 applications on the home screen or an error will pop up.

Android and iOS have multiple home screens and folders for organizing application shortcuts, files and widgets. WP7 has Hubs instead which are really nothing but a substitute for extra screens and folders. There are Hubs for Market, Pictures, Office, People, Xbox Live and Zune and these are completely integrated with the apps. Integration is the key element of WP7 and it does have better integration than Android or iOS. There’s Bing for search (a universal search feature is missing though), Xbox for gaming, Zune for music, videos, podcasts and Zune store, and Microsoft Office for creating and editing files.

The applications list is another highlight of the home screen and as it is in alphabetical order and non-customizable, be ready to scroll down a lot before finding your desired application. But WP7 excels in touch responsiveness; it’s really fast and intuitive. Social media integration is one of the highlights of WP7, though it has plainly ignored other popular networking platforms like Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn.

The People Hub is fantastic; it can fetch all updates from Facebook contacts, messages and websites. In addition to that, users can respond directly from the people’s Hub, like replying to messages or updating status messages in Windows Live and Facebook. The People Hub displays all contacts which can be a little annoying when it mixes your phone contacts with unknown Facebook friends. Similarly, the Pictures Hub displays not only your phone snaps, but also every single picture uploaded by friends on Facebook.

Talking about photos, a superb feature of WP7 is that when you hold down the camera button it becomes instantly ready to take a photo, even if the phone was locked or asleep. In addition there are many handy options to adjust contrast, color saturation and settings.

Let’s talk about the missing features of WP7. Some really basic features like copy and paste, unified inbox, HTML 5, video calling and third party apps multitasking are absent from WP7. Then there is no Silverlight or Flash support either. But to our relief, there are rumors of some major upgrades for WP7 early next year, which should bring support for copy/paste, HTML 5, and Silverlight.

There are some other major issues with WP7 though. WP7 lacks true multitasking. Just like the iPhone’s iTunes, the integrated Zune or browser can run in the background, but not the third party apps.

There is no support for expandable memory in WP7 and that means that there will not be any slot for SD cards on a WP7 handset. Although some OEMs have added SD cards beneath the battery cover, SD card swapping is not supported. If swapping is done deliberately, all data on the phone will be lost.

App downloads are limited to Windows Marketplace and music is restricted to Zune; although, Zune is actually pretty cool, supporting streaming music from a PC, and USD 15 will get you a Zune pass to listen to as much music as you want.

Although its predecessor was rated as one of the most secure mobile OS, WP7 is the least secure mobile OS available currently. This is due to the lack of on-device encryption which means you are not allowed to connect to any secured corporate network. Ultimately you are barred from checking office email and accessing VPNs, plus there’s no support for complex-password policies. The lack of these features proves that Microsoft is targeting socially active consumers with WP7, not enterprise users.

It’s been a wonderful first generation release, but there are a lot of glitches. It will be really tough for Microsoft to convince consumers to ditch their hot favorites—Android and iOS. I do invite all WP7 enthusiasts who have had a chance to test a WP7 phone to share their experiences with us. What features do you like the most and what is WP7 lacking?.

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