Windows Phone 7: The "Has" and "Has Not"

[Brad Wasson]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9179593/What_Windows_Phone_7_i_doesn_t_i_have_becomes_a_hot_topic?taxonomyId=201&pageNumber=1' target='_blank'>http://www.computerworld.com/s/arti...01&pageNumber=1</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"The list of features missing in Windows Phone 7 -- no multitasking of third-party applications, no copy-and-paste, no native Twitter client -- has dominated forums and early reviews of reference hardware phones put in the hands of 1,000 developers last week."</em></p><p>Matt Hamblen from Computerworld has written a article highlighting some of the rampant discussions about the features Windows Phone 7 "has" and those it "has not". Matt has included some representative comments from potential buyers and analysts that touch on the lack of copy-and-paste functionality, the limited multitasking capability, and the omission of Twitter support, among other issues. It seems be a divided world out there, with some people thinking the omissions are going to be fatal, and others thinking they are no big deal as long as they are included in a future release. What do you think? Are these omissions outweighed by what else Microsoft has included?</p>

[Fritzly]

Personal preferences are..... personal preferences. Someone would consider the lack of a Facebook app as a no go; I avoid FB as the plague so I would not be affected at all.

Again, personally I do not see the lack of Twitter as a huge deal, much worse is the lack of Pocket Informant, no removable storage, no exposed file system, no unified inbox, no tasks and desktop sync.

[caywen]

Here's the thing, though. Microsoft has based this whole thing on .NET underpinnings, and this is potentially a Really Good Thing. Slow out of the gate, it's vitally important they get the base OS, execution environment, SDK, tools, and marketplace right at a really fundamental level. And AFAICT, the fundamentals are spot on.

How does Apple iOS stack up? Well, Xcode is quickly improving, but seriously - Objective C? Really? I think Microsoft will eventually have a far easier time innovating on its .NET platform than Apple will with its ObjC / Cocoa platform. They may be behind, but these underpinnings will hopefully mean quicker turnaround of features.

Copy/Paste is a really needed feature for a vocal minority, and it's obvious that Microsoft has things planned. Multitasking is something I think Microsoft will find a very innovative solution for.

Overall, I think the goal is to exercise and solidify the base OS, and then follow up with a truly killer 2nd release.

[efjay]

Hands up, can anyone tell me if the iphone or android has a native twitter client? No, so why is MS continunously being bashed for it?

[Rob Alexander]

Hands up, can anyone tell me if the iphone or android has a native twitter client? No, so why is MS continunously being bashed for it?

Okay I'll take this one. Perhaps it's because, in the absence of many features that most users consider to be essential, such as multitasking and copy & paste, the only thing that WP7 has going for it is the very clever integration of social services. Since Twitter is one of the two major apps that dominate social media today, it would make sense to have a twitter client integrated into the system. Integration is what they're selling and only they could build an integrated Twitter client. Neither Apple nor android claim social network integration, and so it doesn't matter whether they make their own app or let a third-party do it.

[Jonathon Watkins]

Overall, I think the goal is to exercise and solidify the base OS, and then follow up with a truly killer 2nd release.

Too little, too late. :-/ Sorry, I'm thinking Android. If they publicly said they would add the missing functionality into 7.1 which would be able to be upgraded onto the new devices, then maybe. I'm *not* taking a giant step backward.