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I remember that quite differently. Windows Phone 7 lacked many basic functions like Bluetooth file transfer, the audio player didn't support gapless playback, a

I remember that quite differently. Windows Phone 7 lacked many basic functions like Bluetooth file transfer, the audio player didn't support gapless playback, alarm clock could not turn on your phone (a staple Nokia feature), Internet Explorer was always behind in supporting web standards (and Microsoft did not allow other browser engines). WP7 didn't even support front cameras until Mango Update. The snappiness of apps was also hindered by network I/O in the UI thread (I mean wtf Microsoft). WP8 did some things better but it was too little, too late. Nokia at some point bitterly complained about Microsoft's inertia in getting important features implemented that Nokia needed in order to sell phones (besides the apps, but that is another whole can of worms). https://www.techspot.com/news/53405-microsofts-slow-development-of-windows-phone-frustrates-nokia.html https://www.techspot.com/news/53405-microsofts-slow-developm...

iforgotpassword 3y ago
WP 7 is an entirely different story and not what people talk about when they say Windows Phone. It was a reskinned Windows CE because they wanted to release a product and 8 wasn't done yet.
- chithanh 3y ago
  Microsoft had a Windows CE based smartphone OS at the time, namely Windows Mobile 6.5. Releasing WP7 as a short-lived and compatibility-breaking product with show-stopping deficiencies hurt them in a major way. And it is not that the WP8 release fixed everything that was wrong. Rather, it added to developer churn by switching to yet another API, it upset users because no WP7 phone could be upgraded to WP8 (except for the HTC HD2 which originally came with WM6.1), and it still didn't support any modern mobile web browsers. Then there was this strange limitation to only 720p screens and dual-core CPUs until WP8 GDR3. Or that you could not disable automatic screen rotation until that update. VPN support and the notification center came only with WP8.1.

iforgotpassword 3y ago

WP 7 is an entirely different story and not what people talk about when they say Windows Phone. It was a reskinned Windows CE because they wanted to release a product and 8 wasn't done yet.

chithanh 3y ago
Microsoft had a Windows CE based smartphone OS at the time, namely Windows Mobile 6.5. Releasing WP7 as a short-lived and compatibility-breaking product with show-stopping deficiencies hurt them in a major way. And it is not that the WP8 release fixed everything that was wrong. Rather, it added to developer churn by switching to yet another API, it upset users because no WP7 phone could be upgraded to WP8 (except for the HTC HD2 which originally came with WM6.1), and it still didn't support any modern mobile web browsers. Then there was this strange limitation to only 720p screens and dual-core CPUs until WP8 GDR3. Or that you could not disable automatic screen rotation until that update. VPN support and the notification center came only with WP8.1.