Windows Phone 7 Reviews are in: Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have Ourselves a Race

Business Insider ^ | 10/21/2010 | Matt Buchanan, Gizmodo

[SeekAndFind]

Let's just get it out of the way: Windows Phone 7 is the most exciting thing to happen to phones in a long time.

WHY IT MATTERS

There's a million reasons why Windows Phone 7 matters. It's the most important PC company in the world, battered, bruised and badly lagging, coming back to the next generation of PCs, after crashing on a bunch of rocks and abandoning ship. It's potentially the most tectonic shift in mobile since the launch of iPhone and Android. It's Microsoft starting over and betting massively on its future.

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USING IT

Windows Phone 7 is the most aggressively different, fresh approach to a phone interface since the iPhone. Everything is superflat and two dimensional. Ultra-basic squares, primary colors and lists. Fonts are gigantic and clean, white text on an almost universally black void. It's fluid. This spartan nature is emblematic of the entire OS, for better and for worse. You don't get a lot of choices; there are no custom ringtones, for instance. It just is how it is. And while it looks and feels very different in some regards, it's still uncanny just how deeply inspired Windows Phone is by the iPhone in its philosophy, versus anything else Microsoft or anybody else has made.

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THE VERDICT

Windows Phone 7 is really great. A solid foundation, it's elegant and joyful. True, a lot of that greatness is potential. But if anybody can follow through on their platform, it's Microsoft. Should you buy this instead of an iPhone or Android phone though? In six months, after the ecosystem has filled out, the answer will be more clear. But right now, Window Phone is definitely an option. Considering where Microsoft was just a year ago, that's saying a hell of a lot.

[SeekAndFind]

I’m not sure if Gizmodo is as antagonistic towards APPLE as you say they are. In the first place, their review of the iPhone 4 was quite good. See here :

http://gizmodo.com/5573952/iphone-4-review?skyline=true&s=i

They also review other APPLE products positively. See here :

http://gizmodo.com/5668810/new-macbook-air-faster-lighter-more?skyline=true&s=i

Here :

http://gizmodo.com/5668770/all-the-cool-new-stuff-from-apple?skyline=true&s=i

and here :

http://gizmodo.com/5668805/mac-os-x-lion-the-best-features?skyline=true&s=i

[D-fendr]

I’m surprised they didn’t come up with a better name than “Windows Phone 7.”

The considered: "Kin: The Second Generation" ...

[j-damn]

*That’s interesting news about Ballmer, my understanding is Gates is really pushing for the income tax in WA.*

Uh, no, that’s Bill Gates’ dad, who I knew absolutely nothing about until he endorsed the income tax, and I’ve lived here for a few years.

[Kath]

I have the Samsung Omnia II as well. I need word and excell for my dog show handling business so iphone and Droid are useless to me. You can only read them, they can not create spread sheets. I understand Verizon will have the new Windows Phone 7 but not until 2011.

Windows mobile has been clunky compared to the other systems so it will be nice to have the new system and still have the advantage of word and excell. I am looking forward to getting one of these new phones.

Samsung has a little better user friendly touch system on the Omnia II but it still is nothing like iphone or Droid. I will be getting the new windows phone just as soon as Verizon gets them.