partiallypro

A lot of people put down Windows Phone’s list rather than icon approach…but it’s actually a lot easier to find things instead of getting caught in a blur of glossy icons. But…as you noted, the salesmen had the phone turned off….they aren’t pushing it. It’s like that all over. Microsoft should offer a promotion…if you are a Windows Phone carrier your sales men get a free windows phone if they so choose. You know a lot of people will try it, and if they try it, they may like it, and so they might sell more of them. I think Android did similar?

I wouldn’t call Android DOA, I think Microsoft has a fight on its hands with Google. So does Apple…Microsoft is sort of smart though, if they can kick search out from under Google, they will dissolve that threat quickly. Without search Google is essentially broke. I don’t think Microsoft will succeed, but Bing integration in their devices could help chip away a little. All 3 of them should be a little scared of each other at the moment, because this could all go either way. I’m giving Microsoft the upperhand, but it could fall on its face too. There is no telling. Microsoft can afford to fall on its face with one OS like 8, as long as 9 is good….but if the adaption isn’t there by 9…Microsoft could be in real trouble in the consumer world (not business.)

I actually meant “don’t” but for there to be emphasis on the “don’t” not a strike through.

From my understanding Microsoft’s licensing is/will be cheaper than its competitors for Windows 8. Also, most people don’t buy apps. It’s true, most people are app free riders.

Adobe Flash CS6 includes a Flash to HTML5 exporter. Even Adobe sees the end nearing…within a decade I’d expect Flash (the professional application) to deal mostly with complex HTML5 web animations.

Most all OEM’s package things like PowerDVD…which has a codec, which carries over to WMP. Amazing! Microsoft is just avoiding extra cost on their end, when the OEMs were already doing it to begin with.

I love timeline, I however do not like this revision. The original looks better. Maybe they should go “Metro.”

Still needs lots of polishing, and the icons are the least of it…the tone of the window should be more like Zune to give the window some depth, it feels too old.

This background is just awful, as many others have stated.

I disagree with all but one, which is the ability to resize tiles. Some apps are going to have to have static tiles, it’s just how it is…and people can pin tiles to their start screen, just not everything needs to be updated constantly. The arrow on the side seems like a waste of space, but a) it helps with legibility, (white space is good.) and b) people aren’t naturally going to scroll over, that’s confusing to people, the arrow indicates that something else is there.

If they wanted to make it really cool, they’d have an area when you swiped to the right like the Zune HD has, and now the Xbox has embraced, They could put “pinned” program categories over there, otherwise it’s going to be confusing with the list to the right and cause additional scrolling, which is even sort of annoying in the contacts area where you have categorized contacts.

I wish they would add one option, or even just make it the default for laptops with the swivel head. By default it’s the Classic Windows desktop, when you flip the screen it automattically switches to the tile interface. If they did that, it would become so much more seamless…that and allowing people to “push” metro program to the classic desktop, perhaps by just holding down on a tile or adding a “maximize” button on the metro programs…something that really helps make the experience solid. This is going to help looks wise…but I still feel like there is an experience gap between old/new…when really the can work together perfectly with the right configuration.

I suspect the windows will start to look more like the Zune program…which is gorgeous. Patience, obviously this is a totally new decision, so it’s clearly not going to be polished on first look…why do you think they are saving it for the final release….because it’s not as polished as the rest of the OS. I actually really love the Aero look, but it really clashed with Metro. I wish there was a way they could make Aero look flatter, because I love the idea of a glass like interface…unfortunately Microsoft designers can’t figure it out, and I can’t figure it out myself. The Aero-esque taskbar is basically as far as it can go without a total clash of style. I really hope they put the Xbox/Zune/Windows Phone team on this flatter metro interface…because it could potentially be the most beautiful operating system on the market.

Because they subsidize heavy data users with lower tier users, assuming the heavy data users are more likely to shop elsewhere? Maybe? Seems logical…either way they subsidize the costs of high users, just like they subsidize the cost of their high end phones. AT&T is losing millions on iPhone subsidies. Tier plans are supposed to help address this without ripping into new price territory. Though I don’t know why they can’t offer a 4 tier program with an unlimited plan that costs a good chunk of money….because even then they know that maybe 50% of those users will actually need the unlimited plan and they can subsidize the costs again.

You must live near a “crowded” tower, I’ve seen Sprint devices consistently hit 1.5MB down in my area. Granted in the same location I’ve seen Verizon 3G hit 300kbs, which is pretty good for 3G.

The FCC needs to loosen up the bands, it’s taking years to just clear the white space. One of the reasons AT&T was going to buy T-mobile was more for their spectrum than it was for their customers (measly in comparison to AT&T’s behemoth list.)

The AT&T – T-Mobile merger couldn’t even go through, the FCC isn’t going to allow Verizon to snatch up Sprint, at least not for the next decade…and Verizon won’t risk the legal battle to even attempt it.