11-30-2004, 04:00 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Where Should Microsoft Focus Their Efforts?
As I mentioned yesterday, I'm heading down to Mobius this week, and it's always a good opportunity to meet with people at Microsoft and talk about the current and future state of the platform. I was thinking about the feedback I want to give them, and the way the Pocket PC works today, and I realized that my desire for improvement is focused more about improvement of current features rather than all-new features.
For instance, now that we have VGA screens and VGA video support with WMP 10 Mobile, two of my big "missing pieces" have been addressed. Other than better hardware (which is in the hands of the OEMs) my wish-list is now focused almost entirely on seeing current features/apps honed and enhanced, rather than brand-new features/apps, with things like:
- Better memory management on the device (cache size limit in PIE, etc.)
- Better reminder notification windows (I want to see the location of my appointment)
- Improved VGA GUI (I want to see smaller fonts EVERYWHERE on the device, not just in the data list window)
- ActiveSync (where to even start...?)
Do you feel the same way? Answer the survey and give me some feedback.
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11-30-2004, 04:07 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 127
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I think ActiveSync should be the number one feature they should be improving. Nothing grates on my nerves more about PPC then ActiveSync failing to do what it's supposed to do. ie: doubled up entries, failed connections, disconnect reconnect. Yeah, they all have work arounds but why not just fix it?
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11-30-2004, 04:12 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 160
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Upgrade the Office applications to guarantee round-trip.
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Common Sense is Not Common
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11-30-2004, 04:16 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 43
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Office apps. It's a pain in the arse having to zip a document just to retain formatting when ussing my PPC to transfer it from one machine to another.
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11-30-2004, 04:16 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 574
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Re: Where Should Microsoft Focus Their Efforts?
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
- Better reminder notification windows (I want to see the location of my appointment)
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Jason,
How about showing them when they are needed?
My old Nino was guaranteed to make enough noise to resemble a scrambling jetfighter when i had an appointment. Currently i cannot rely on these reminders. I see reminders pop-up when i turn on the device. When the device is turned off, i do not get a reminder to go to the next meeting. This issue has been on the list since mid-2000, so i guess that after 3 1/3 years somebody must have been able to think of a solution. I have tried even WM2003SE, but the problem is still present.....
Another is that since the same OS update the possibility of having reminders for tasks go off on another time than 8:00AM is gone! Very impractical if i have to be warned to perform a task at 17:00. The desktop allows it, but the PDA does not take that into account.......
Jaap
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11-30-2004, 04:18 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 468
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The single best thing they could do, IMHO, is add HTML email support to the Inbox.
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11-30-2004, 04:20 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Re: Where Should Microsoft Focus Their Efforts?
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Originally Posted by JvanEkris
I have tried even WM2003SE, but the problem is still present...
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And what's odd about that is that I have no problems with reminders triggering - I get all my appointments (when I was using my X30 at least). The problem, and why this is SO difficult for Microsoft to nail down, is that it seems to be dependent on some interaction between Microsoft code and OEM hardware + OEM code. :? But, sure, I'll bring it up again. ;-) I think Microsoft needs to "sandbox" their alarms more - create a system whereby the OEM tweaks CANNOT interfere with the core OS function of triggering a reminder.
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11-30-2004, 04:24 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 254
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Where Microsoft really needs improvement is in the low level memory management - where hardware drivers, SIP methods, and Today screen plugins live.
Actually, Microsoft doesn't need to add features to any of their OS's. I don't need new features, I just want the OS to work better. That's why I prefer Win 2k to Win XP.
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11-30-2004, 04:26 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 217
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Jason,
I'll be at Mobius as well this week and have a list of things I would like to see improved, but I will share one with you now since this is one of my biggest pet peeves.
I want the ability to press a button or make a shortcut stroke on the screen that will hide the top and bottom taskbar in any application. For example, while I am work in Word and typing away in landscape mode I only want to see a blank white display while I type on my Bluetooth keyboard. Many times there is no need for the top or bottom taskbars. I can get this in Internet Explorer now with PIEPlus, but I want to see it in the OS and available in every included Microsoft application.
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11-30-2004, 04:36 PM
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Executive Editor, Android Thoughts
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,233
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1. Activesync needs fixed!
2. Improve reliability of all features.
3. Fix pesky bugs (we all know these)
there are my top 3 wishes.
on another note, i'm on a lab pc and saw the frontpage w/ ads for the first time in a long time. not only did I see an ad for my camera (the dx7590), but also was amazed at how much I'd gotten used to seeing it subscriber-oriented (i.e. no ads / sidebar / customized!)
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Dr. Jon Westfall, MCSE, MS-MVP
Executive Editor - Android Thoughts
News Editor - Windows Phone Thoughts
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