Windows Phone 7 - a new generation phone OS

Windows Phone 7 is the latest mobile operating system from Microsoft. You've probably seen the commercials by now, and they're accurate: Windows Phone 7 is unique.

This review will explain the main features of the latest mobile phone operating system from Microsoft and, as appropriate, the similarities and differences of Apple's iOS and Google's Android systems.

It is important to remember that this is an entirely new operating system. If you're used to Microsoft's previous OS, Windows Mobile, this will be a big change, but in my opinion, it is a change for the better.


Getting Started

When you first turn on the phone, you are prompted to go through any necessary carrier-specific setups, and then, to any of your various personal accounts -- Windows Live, Google, Facebook, Microsoft Exchange accounts, and the like (Twitter is unfortunately not one of the social-networking services integrated into the OS at this time).

It will take some time for all of your information to sync to your phone, but once it does, you will see a series of live tiles on the home screen that are constantly updating each time you turn the phone on. This is a big difference from other devices, such as the iPhone and Android phones, where you might be faced with several pages of apps. You can load apps on a Windows Phone 7 device, of course, but they aren't the center of the overall user experience.

Windows Phone 7 OS

The interface is simply gorgeous.
The lock screen shows your next meeting and how many new messages you have. The Pictures app automatically pops up a photo you took as a panoramic background. And Live Tiles for your favorite people display their last Facebook update. All of these little details add up to a user experience that feels more modern and dynamic that what the competition offers. Most applications use what Microsoft calls internally as its Metro interface, which uses large text that runs along the top of the screen horizontally. This serves as a visual cue that you're supposed to move from left to right to see more options.

Windows phone 7 on HTC mobile

Live Tiles on Start screen save time, make the phone truly yours.

When you turn on your Windows Phone 7 device, you'll see an elegant Start screen that includes the time, as well as your next calendar appointment and notifications for new messages. It's a nice touch. Swipe that lock screen up and you'll see a Start screen with Live Tiles. They're called that because many of them display information at a glance, such as the latest Facebook update from a favorite contact. By default, the phone, people (contact) messaging, and e-mail tiles populate the first four spots, and the next four belong to the carrier or phone maker to populate with tiles of their choosing. You'll then see more tiles below.

Don't like the order? Just press and hold to start moving tiles around, or delete them with a tap. The beauty of the Start screen is that you can pin almost anything you can think of to it as a tile for easy access, whether it's an application, note, person (for quick dialing, texting, etc), playlist, or website. Yes, Android offers a fair amount of customization across multiple home screens with widgets, but Microsoft's approach is cleaner.

Launch the camera, without unlocking your phone.

All Windows Phone 7 devices allow users to start the camera app just by pressing and holding the camera button when the phone is turned off. You'll feel a little vibration, and the phone will wake up ready to fire a shot. I used this feature several times during testing, and it really does save time. My device was ready to shoot after 5 seconds, while pressing the power button on an iPhone, unlocking it, and starting the camera app took 7 to 8 seconds. That could be the difference between getting or missing a shot.


E-mail made easy, superior Office integration.

Managing your inbox on the go is a clinch with Outlook for Windows Phone 7. For example, if you want to delete multiple e-mails at once, just tap to the left of a message and checkboxes will automatically appear. You can also flag e-mails and easily swipe between All, Unread, Flagged, and Urgent messages with a swipe. I also liked how addresses are hyperlinked in your inbox, so you can easily map them.

As you might expect, Microsoft bundles the full Office suite with Windows Phone 7, including Excel Mobile, PowerPoint Mobile, and Word Mobile. Once you download an attachment, you can easily open the document with a tap, as well as make edits. We like that you can send documents via e-mail from Office Mobile, but you can't attach docs to outgoing e-mails from within Outlook itself. OneNote Mobile 2010 is great for taking notes on the go, and you can include voice recordings and photos. Once you're done, it all gets synced with Windows Live SkyDrive.

Those businesses that use SharePoint will appreciate SharePoint Workspace Mobile for accessing shared docs, which syncs the latest version to your phone.

Xbox Live on-board and a pretty strong game lineup.

Within the Games Hub you can download quality titles such as Rocket Riot, Star Wars: Battle for Hoth, and The Sims 3, with more top-shelf games on the way. Here you can also personalize your avatar, see if you have any invites, and challenge a friend. Microsoft also promises games where you can play with others on the PC. For now, though, gameplay is turn-based and not real-time multiplayer, which is a bummer. We'd also like to see popular games such as Angry Birds, Modern Combat 2, and Madden NFL 11.

The browser is pretty damn good

If surfing the web on a Windows Mobile phone left a bad taste in your mouth, you're going to really like what Microsoft has done here with Internet Explorer Mobile. It's much faster than previous efforts, complete with tabbed browsing (pictured) and silky smooth multitouch zooming. You don't get cut and paste yet, but at least Windows Phone 7 automatically links street address, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses. We found that an iPhone 4 was slightly faster--both when loading pages and switching from portrait to landscape mode--but overall Internet Explorer Mobile represents a big step forward.

Elegant media player + Zune Pass for all the tunes.



 From the start, Windows Phone 7 is a better platform than Android phones for music lovers. The player looks more polished, and you can easily sync music using the Zune desktop software. If you sign up for a Zune Pass subsription you can download for $15 per month (on top of your data plan) all the music you want and keep 10 songs per month. The Music and Videos hub also integrates TV shows and movie downloads, podcasts, and FM radio. When you're playing a track and using another app, you can skip ahead, go back, and pause playback using small window at the top of the screen, which you launch by pressing the volume controls.






Verdict

If I had to give Windows Phone 7 a grade right now, it would have to be a solid B. The OS looks wonderful (including many of the early apps); its highly customizable Home Screen saves you time; and it's got plenty of speed. I also have high hopes for gaming on this platform as more titles roll out, and suspect that a lot of people who have never heard of Zune will be pleasantly surprised by Windows Phone 7 devices as media players. Good Luck for Microsoft!!