SilverSee

Interesting thought.

Some of you have missed a point. Microsoft said IE in Metro would be “plug-in free”. Others interpreted that as no support for Flash.

In fact, IE on Metro is still plug-in free; Flash is being integrated directly in the browser.

It’s a win for nearly everyone, and it doesn’t compromise Microsoft’s goals for the user experience.

Well, that sucks.

Well, shoehorning Windows Phone into 256Mb of RAM was Nokia’s idea. There already are a number of WP7 platform features that are unsupported on these low-memory devices, and other apps that do not run, Skype among them.

Had Nokia not directly contravened Microsoft’s minimum requirements for Skype on Windows Phone in the first place, this blog post (and all the snarky comments) wouldn’t exist, so I suppose they had this coming.

That said, I respect them for trying to make it work for their customers.

I think that’s a valid point of view for a smartphone enthusiast, but I’d say the majority of smarphone buyers won’t really care about internal HW specs or even about upgradeability. WP7 runs great on the 2nd gen 1.4Ghz Snapdragon; add LTE data speeds + front-facing camera, a great AMOLED display, and what’s not to like?

Sure, the Lumia 900 has a more distinctive HW design and Nokia’s value-added applications and services (which are great), but for those who want a device with a smaller screen, the Focus 2 looks quite nice.

Microsoft is simply not being bold enough. They seem to be afraid to change the desktop too much from what is familiar—so instead they make cosmetic changes that result in a look that is “flat”, but not Metro in any other way, and is really far less attractive than Aero.

They are trapped by their own legacy, apparently.

Interesting to be Sinofsky right now. He’s either the next CEO or the next Leo Apotheker.

“Your mission, Jim, should you choose to accept it…”

“Hanging chad”… great reference Bryan.

IE is a part of Windows so of course it’s going to come preinstalled. However, nothing keeps you from using another browser (on a PC). And last time I checked, PC makers were free to bundle 3rd party browser with their systems.

If you’re talking about the iOS, other browsers exist but they are reskinned versions of the WebKit libraries that Safari runs on. (Similar implementations exist on Windows Phone using IE’s Trident renderering engine.)

But Mozilla can’t make a “native” version of its browser for iOS or Windows Phone, due to platform restrictions. Windows RT is no different. The confusion seems to be with how closely Windows RT seems to Windows 8, and whether an ARM-based Windows RT device can be considered a “PC” or not.

I am glad the regulators are looking into this now, rather than later. In that sense, Mozilla may be doing us all a favor.

Yes, but this is Internet Explorer 9, which means up to date standards support, HTML5, GPU acceleration, etc. Plus “natural input” (Kinect). Could be quite a different experience.

I believe a number of the 600-series HP Touchsmart All-In-One PCs recline so that the display is optimized for touch-usage on the desktop.

Aaron, should you have put “Windows 8” in quotes in your headline (to help call this out as Google’s language), since of course there are no “browser restrictions” in Windows 8?

No it’s not.

Windows on ARM (formerly ‘WOA’) is to be called Windows RT, not Windows 8. Windows 8 is the traditional PC version of Winodws for Intel/AMD platforms. Windows RT is more like iOS: a locked down, touch-first platform built specifically for tablets.

In “the minds of everyday people”, however, you are right: nobody knows the difference yet. This is one way people will learn.

Ubisoft tried to add “gravitas” to Splinter Cell by sending Sam into a gutter of despair, and it just ended up making his character unlikable (they wisely retooled the story). Let’s hope there is a reason to root for Max so we won’t just be stunned into incohate indifference.

Why no LTE-enabled version of the 900 for Europe? Are there just no LTE networks as yet?

Nice publicity stunt on Mozilla’s part. Classic, because they know the Internet will go ga-ga over a story about Microsoft being evil.

On the other hand, Mozilla isn’t allowed (by Apple) to release ANY version of Firefox for iOS, much less a slick, touch-optimized one such as their Metro version of Firefox. Which is made possible because Microsoft EXPLICITLY EXCEPTS browsers from various runtime sandbox restrictions that effect all other Metro apps.

Clearly, Microsoft is doing great evil and harm here. /s

Well, this seems like a setback for those who value the worth of intellectual property.

But if they did that, Apple would use such comments against them in any future litigation. Corporate spokespeople actually have to worry about things like this, which is usually why their comments can seem smarmy to us.

I think the best design should win (whichever that one is). And… Nokia probably has bigger fish to fry.

I suspect OEM’s won’t need to install a 3rd party player; merely a codec pack that supports Windows Media Foundation. WMP and whatever the Metro media experience is will almost certainly handle DVD playback. I would be very surprised if Microsoft limited DVD support to WMC.

I don’t really get the Lumia 900 haters… The phone has a great screen for use outdoors… fine; that doesn’t prove that it’s better or worse for any other use case.

If you feel you need a higher resolution screen or a dual core processor or a different OS, great. Is tearing down Nokia or Microsoft really that important to your self-worth?

I’m not sure I understand. Windows Phone still syncs to Zune software, and the Zune desktop client is still used to manage and update Windows Phone devices. You can still add and remove devices from your Zune Pass account (my Windows Phone device is still listed and still works with Zune Pass content).

The only thing that was removed was access to the Windows Phone Marketplace from the Zune client.

Can you elaborate on what problem you are having? Maybe someone here can help.

It’s interesting speculation.

However, if we are allowed to speculate, I suggest that until very recently Windows Phone probably attracted far more negative “astroturfing” than the other way around. Perhaps becuase of Microsoft’s long dominance of the PC software ecosystem, I think there are some Apple and Linux/OSS (ne. Android) fans who resent the prospect that Microsoft might achieve something similar in mobile.

Regardless, resorting to “astroturfuing” and trolling of any sort (either pro or con) is really just sad

Emily, shouldn’t you have put quotes around the “future of gameplay” in the headline?

Well, this is a surprise, but a good one.

I actually like the 4 inch screen size of the original Focus—the device is a manageable size and the screen size seems well suited to Windows Phone’s current native resolution. I preferred the Focus to the Focus S, for example.

I am glad they brought back the original form factor in an LTE-capable device. This is obviously a stop-gap until the Apollo devices are available, but I like it.

“Just because they came out with a product… in 2007, DOES NOT mean they own they market permanently.”

You’re right. Since 1995, patent protection lasts 20 years (or 14 years in the case of a design patent).

Yay, another game that glorifies military solutions to problems and desensitizes young people to the consequences of warfare. Should be popular.

LOL! I love B&N, but I bought a Kindle Fire instead of the Nook Tablet because there is no Nook app for Windows Phone, and given the patent litigation, I thought it unlikley there would be much B&N love for Windows 8 in the future. I didn’t see this coming, but it’s welcome.

One thing you can say for Amazon: it’s eBook ecosystem may be proprietary, but they so far have been completely agnostic about platform support with Kindle apps. If I buy an eBook, I want to be able to read it on any device I own.

Let’s hope that the new Microsoft / B&N joint venture supports all popular operating systems in the future.

The Kindle Fire OS happens to have been forked from an open-source version of Android, but enhancements and further deveopment by Amazon are proprietary and are likely to remain that way I suspect.

A limited version of Defender already exiists in Windows 7 but is strangely crippled due to the restrictions placed on Microsoft business practices over the past 10 years by the federal government. To get the “full version” you had to download MSE.

We can thank the expiration of the Justice Department’s consent decree that Microsoft can now fold MSE can back into Defender.