ARTICLE NO. 485    February 15, 2010

Microsoft reboots the experience with new Windows Phone OS

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Via Engagdet: "The phone operating system does away with pretty much every scrap of previous mobile efforts from Microsoft, from the look and feel down to the underlying code—everything is brand new." Video:

Microsoft has officially unveiled its new mobile OS and wiped its slate entirely clean of the oft derided Windows Mobile platform. New code, new name, and a new experience that builds on that of the Zune. It's great to see Microsoft really do its own thing here and by the looks of it do it well. Looks like we may have three viable smartphone OSes now.

Microsoft's new UI makes the iPhone's actually look out-of-date and it's fantastic to see so much courage and innovation from them. I would actually be more excited about a tablet with this OS than the iPad. The official video:

Check out the official site, too.

UPDATE:

Interestingly it looks as there will be no Flash support in this release. Considering that Microsoft has a direct competitor to Flash in Silverlight this does make some sense. Adobe's announcement of AIR for smartphone platforms somewhat undermines another attempt at killing off the platform, however.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Alex is CEO of Sideshow , an award winning creative agency. You can read his blog here.

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December 10, 2010

Windows phone OS? it sounds great. I have been using Android and am looking for something like this.

April 22, 2010
My understanding is that Flash was not going to be available in the first release but it is coming according to Adobe. http://www.mikechambers.com/blog/2010/03/09/flash-player-10-1-and-window... That to me is a big win over the iPhone.
February 15, 2010
The OS7 is a step forward for MS but 'courageous' is not the word I would use to describe a company that stubbornly puts aesthetics and usability at the bottom of their list. It feels like a new generation of MS designers has forced MS to change it's ways. My UX observations: The lack of iconography forces the OS to use a lot of words and pictures. This can be taxing on the screen real estate and foreign language porting. There are a lot of multi-screen menus, drilling down to necessary data may be time consuming, I hope they can create short work for busy people (and our fingers). Looking forward to the UX MAG review. Not necessarily UX, but business minded individuals may not want the lifestyle menus and transitions to clutter their efficiency. The Zune is a casual entertainment device, a Phone is a different tool, though it can be entertaining, there seems to be efficiency sacrifices being payed toward the god of 'cool'. Overall, its an attractive experience, I hope they have the 'courage' to use it in their actual OS.
Alex Schleifer
February 15, 2010

While there are some conventions it does (and must follow) the UI is indeed a big step forward. I agree that they're late with delivering a smartphone UI which doesn't suck but now that it is on its way we need to judge it for what it is: a truly original, even ballsy interface that, I believe, delivers something different to any other currently on the market. With everyone copying the iPhone we're in dire need of diversity.

February 15, 2010
And will be ready Late 2010 - nearly 4 years after the iPhone was announced. 3.5 years after the iPhone was launched. Is that still considered an innovation in today's environment?
February 15, 2010
It's just a mix up of iPhone and nexus one with a splash of media centre. Not ground breaking really.
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