Windows Phone 7 - A Smartphone Operating System Worth Considering
Windows Phone 7 - A Smartphone Operating System Worth Considering
Author: Mark Walters
In February 2010, Microsoft treated the public to a preview of their new mobile phone operating system to finally prove that what Windows Mobile failed at - that they are able to do mobile operating systems as well as they do PC operating systems. At the time the software was impressive looking and obviously had potential, but the press were skeptical. Fast forward to October 2010 and the final v1.0 of Microsoft Windows Phone 7 was released.
The design brief was apparently simple, though not quite as easy to achieve as it may seem, build an operating system that is able to compete on a level playing field with the likes of the iOS4 from Apple and the continuously updated Android platform from Google, now on version 2.3. What has now been produced is a system that is certainly capable and utilizes hardware specifications to great effect, whilst also incorporating the ever more important touchscreen support.
It seems that Microsoft have achieved quite a lot of what they set out to accomplish as the WP7 interface is a joy to use. Menus are easy to access and scroll through, page transitions are smooth and fast and the whole visual design is extremely attractive. The copy and paste functionality problems that plague so many other platforms are just not present, the onscreen keyboard is very easy to use and is possibly the best example on any device and there is integration with other popular Microsoft platforms such as Xbox Live and Zune. Social networking is also very well integrated with almost too many ways to synchronize status updates, contact information and emails from a number of online addresses.
Some reports have suggested that Microsoft have been working on an updated mobile phone platform since 2004 but each one has been scrapped and some even being adapted into Windows Mobile updates. It has been confirmed, though, that in actual fact the Windows Phone 7 OS has only been in development for a relatively short period since 2008, when Microsoft first recognized that the Windows Mobile platform needed too much work. Ultimately this has meant that although it is a great OS, WP7 is still at least a years development behind Android and iOS4.
The Microsoft Windows Phone 7 operating system is a great looking, fast and capable interface with some very useful integrated functions. The camera software works very well and is easy to use and online browsing is simple and quick. Though what this OS really needs is another few months of updates to bring it right up to speed and therefore able to really compete against Apple and Google. What is good to hear is that Microsoft seems to be in it for the long haul, and with a good base to start with, things can only get better for WP7.