Unless MSFT starts paying phone manufacturers or developing their own hardware, I don't see this catching up as much as Android or IOS.
There is nothing intuitive about the OS and honestly very underwhelming, I doubt a consumer who is aware of IOS and Android and have the option of choosing either one of the three will end up with Windows7.
Could you elaborate on this?
but its not that bad reminds me of sony's PS nav.
That's exactly what I was thinking...something like Android 2.1's pinch to zoom out on the home screen which brings up miniature versions of the 7 screens you could get to by scrolling left/right.
The UI doesn't follow a conventional way how people use UI in any form of mobile devices. There are differences in IOS, Android, Blackberry and PalmOS but those differences aren't huge. If you use either of those devices/OS who should be able to pickup any of the other devices relatively easily. At least this has been my personal experience with Android, IOS and WebOS. What Windows Mobile 7 is doing is a fundamentally different way of how you use a mobile device. You could argue that when IOS was first introduced it was also a different way of how people uses mobile phones. But it was different in the sense that it was not confusing, it was very intuitive.
In contrast Widows7 mobile UI is a confusing mess and very bland to be honest. There no "Wow" factor. Who thought big blocks of animated tiles taking up huge screen real-state to be a good idea? I think this is also a good example of different design philosophy with MSFT and Apple. IOS with its new update introduced folder with the goal of giving you more screen real-state so that if you have a lot of apps you don't have to keep sliding and MSFT adds huge block of tiles (and animated!) that will require you to slide around to find what you need.
It would have made an interesting showcase for concept design that car manufacturers always make, but I don't see this being much practical at all.
Is this just your personal preference speaking? I actually was impressed when I first saw the UI, and the article describes it as useful and functional.
And that's the point, Albert Shum, a Nike-alum and now one of the folks behind this UI, is making. It's less about chrome/gloss but more about typography. Personally, I like it a lot. The "WP7 version of" Metro-UI seems to be inspired by direction signs (for travelers) you see at airports, train stations etc. that help people find their way.
More here: http://live.visitmix.com/MIX10/Sessions/CL14
I'm waiting for "HN pedagogues" to jump in and say MS is again copying Apple. Oh nevermind. Someone already did. Sigh.
With this logic taken to the extreme, we'd all still be using phones with a typical Nokia-interface. I'm very glad we don't.
What Windows Mobile 7 is doing is a fundamentally different way of how you use a mobile device. You could argue that when IOS was first introduced it was also a different way of how people uses mobile phones. But it was different in the sense that it was not confusing, it was very intuitive.
Just noting I read this part and that I agree.
In contrast Widows7 mobile UI is a confusing mess and very bland to be honest. There no "Wow" factor.
Having used a Windows 7 phone I have to disagree. It's very simple to use. It may lack a "Wow" factor but it is sufficiently different to be interesting.
IOS with its new update introduced folder with the goal of giving you more screen real-state so that if you have a lot of apps you don't have to keep sliding and MSFT adds huge block of tiles
The Windows Phone 7 idea is that you shouldn't need as many "apps", but that apps should plug in to "hubs". I like this idea, but getting back to the actual implementation my personal complaint about this is that too few of the hubs on the phone are extensible by applications.
I'm replacing my iPhone (3G) now and it's not for a Win7 phone, it's for an HTC Desire. Even to me, a .NET developer, Android seems like a better platform to develop for.
IMO Microsoft copied pretty much everything Apple did with iPhone,with a subtle taste of too little too late. Ofcourse I would love to be proven wrong, but for the time being I'm going for Android and Java, despite all its shortcomings compared to C#.