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Bill Gates switches to Android phone

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Bill Gates switches to Android phone

#61

Post by pjmlp »

qubex wrote: post #2

The total failure of Windows Phone to gain acceptance in the market is a huge pity. I have a Lumina 950 as a secondary device (for loading with a local SIM while abroad) and it’s a solid performer with a polished OS, refreshingly ’different’ UI, and excellent basics (build quality, call quality, and battery life). The basic, core apps I ’need’ in this role are available (WhatsApp, Facebook/Messenger, Twitter, & ceter…

As someone that invested into UWP development for Windows Phone, it did not help at all that they rebooted 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 SDKs, always forcing us to rewrite the apps, manually.

The whole .NET Standard only happened to appease developers fed up with the whole story.

On top of that they kept failing the promises regarding the OS upgrades, even dropping devices that were running the preview builds without issues.

Re: Bill Gates switches to Android phone

#62

Post by malnourish »

vbezhenar wrote: post #36
pweissbrod wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an ex-WP user who also switched to android I would argue the android UX is a step backward in some respects. When I open an app in WP I received immediate loading/animation feedback. In android many core actions (such as initiating a phone call) cause temporary freeze while the app loads. Did the phone receive my tap? Do I need to tap again or wait? Coming from a more fluid interface like the WP this is something…

May be your Android is underpowered? It's not an excuse, of course. My iPhone 4S might lag for a few seconds between receiving tap and displaying an action. Modern iPhone (or iPhone 4S with iOS 6) responded instantly. Or it could indicate some kind of hardware problem, where driver is causing delay somewhere in the stack, for example very slow SD-card or something similar.

I have an S8 and can get similar freezing

Re: Bill Gates switches to Android phone

#63

Post by [deleted] »

gruturo wrote: post #24
jasonmaydie wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every major version was a new os. Their phone strategy was terrible and lacked commitment. It didn't help that it was started by one CEO and abandoned midway through by the next CEO.

It failed repeatedly under one CEO, until the next CEO put it out of its misery. Ironically, by the time it was terminated it had developed into a very valid product indeed. Shame - Apple and Android definitely need more competition from someone with actual resources (sorry to the Sailfish, Firefox OS, Ubuntu Phone, etc etc).

[deleted]

Re: Bill Gates switches to Android phone

#64

Post by Touche »

miguelrochefort wrote: post #41
Touche wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that was at all part of why it failed. Palm stuck to their OS but theirs failed too. I think all that ultimately mattered was that Android became the Windows of mobile phones; an operating system that each manufacturer/carrier could customize to sell the idea of value-add (with no actual value-add, I know).

Palm did not kill webOS. HP killed webOS.

Palm sold webOS because it ran out of money. It ran out of money because webOS was not a success.

It was really close, Verizon was going to make the Pre its flagship device but changed its mind when the Droid was a success. The smartphone landscape could looks very different right now had the timelines been just a tad different.

Re: Bill Gates switches to Android phone

#65

Post by Spivak »

vbezhenar wrote: post #36
pweissbrod wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an ex-WP user who also switched to android I would argue the android UX is a step backward in some respects. When I open an app in WP I received immediate loading/animation feedback. In android many core actions (such as initiating a phone call) cause temporary freeze while the app loads. Did the phone receive my tap? Do I need to tap again or wait? Coming from a more fluid interface like the WP this is something…

May be your Android is underpowered? It's not an excuse, of course. My iPhone 4S might lag for a few seconds between receiving tap and displaying an action. Modern iPhone (or iPhone 4S with iOS 6) responded instantly. Or it could indicate some kind of hardware problem, where driver is causing delay somewhere in the stack, for example very slow SD-card or something similar.

It doesn't really have to do with the power of the device, it's just that once you hit the call button the UI hangs until the call starts before switching to 'calling view' rather than acknowledging the user's intent immediately. It's certainly more noticeable on slower phones but it's fundamentally a UX problem.

Re: Bill Gates switches to Android phone

#66

Post by pjmlp »

nwah1 wrote: post #13
dep_b wrote: post #4

Windows Phone 8 was probably one of the best OS's Microsoft ever did. It was fast on cheap hardware and the UI actually had just one idea instead of several layers of cruft of generations of unfinished new ideas. It was more open than iOS where it counted and more closed than Android where it mattered. So naturally it failed.

Windows 10 Mobile is better. Developers can use the same XAML + C# toolchain for universal apps, but easily deploy to desktops as well. The Edge browser is much better. It is fast, and shares the same kernel as regular Windows, as well as Xbox. The upcoming mobile version will have something called CShell which means that the interface will be shared among desktop and mobile, meaning that there will be no differences…

Windows 10 Mobile is not getting the Fall Creators Update, it was parked in a development branch, guess how many of us still care about doing UWP apps for it?

Re: Bill Gates switches to Android phone

#67

Post by ThrowawayR2 »

gruturo wrote: post #24
jasonmaydie wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every major version was a new os. Their phone strategy was terrible and lacked commitment. It didn't help that it was started by one CEO and abandoned midway through by the next CEO.

It failed repeatedly under one CEO, until the next CEO put it out of its misery. Ironically, by the time it was terminated it had developed into a very valid product indeed. Shame - Apple and Android definitely need more competition from someone with actual resources (sorry to the Sailfish, Firefox OS, Ubuntu Phone, etc etc).

> It failed repeatedly under one CEO, until the next CEO put it out of its misery.

The person who was the head of the Windows Phone group while it failed repeatedly under the first CEO was promoted and put in charge of the entire Windows division by the next CEO.

Something to contemplate.

Re: Bill Gates switches to Android phone

#68

Post by justacat »

Divver wrote: post #42

Before I joined Apple I was at Microsoft and I did use a Windows Phone. It was a Lumia 1520. And honestly the OS was rock solid and worked great (unlike my experience with the Lenovo Windows work laptop I was given which would keep blue-screening after going into hibernate for more than 5 minutes. I ended up switching to a SurfaceBook once that was available and it worked perfectly. Amazing laptop. Like a MacBook Pro…

I had real hopes for the Windows Phones, I thought they were really exploring a unique approach to the whole thing. I'm on Apple right now and it is the Apple ecosystem that keeps me here more than anything.

Re: Bill Gates switches to Android phone

#70

Post by rxhernandez »

vbezhenar wrote: post #36
pweissbrod wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an ex-WP user who also switched to android I would argue the android UX is a step backward in some respects. When I open an app in WP I received immediate loading/animation feedback. In android many core actions (such as initiating a phone call) cause temporary freeze while the app loads. Did the phone receive my tap? Do I need to tap again or wait? Coming from a more fluid interface like the WP this is something…

May be your Android is underpowered? It's not an excuse, of course. My iPhone 4S might lag for a few seconds between receiving tap and displaying an action. Modern iPhone (or iPhone 4S with iOS 6) responded instantly. Or it could indicate some kind of hardware problem, where driver is causing delay somewhere in the stack, for example very slow SD-card or something similar.

My samsung s7 edge, has had this problem with phone calls for quite a while and, while not the fastest on the market, I doubt it would be considered slow.
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