I find the list of Ryan Whitwam's blog posts on ExtremeTech (http://www.extremetech.com/author/rwhitwam) to be almost universally negative in tone. Maybe we should all just cheer up and see how this one goes. Microsoft have done some innovation here, and I'm happy to try it out either way.
what are the first questions people ask when they get a new smartphone? They don’t want to know the best way to expose data on the home screen; they want to know which apps to download.
Agreed, but if MS shares with the right 'limited audience', it could work out OK. If they have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (still looks doubtful), a few more big names and a few major games, >80% of users will be fine. Us techies won't be, of course.
Don't get me wrong- this still seems like a weird move from MS. But I don't think it leaves them "teetering on the edge of failure".
I think it leaves MS comfortably in the valley of failure that they've been trying to climb out of for quite a while now.
"Teetering on the edge of failure" far from being overly pessimistic, is actually far too generous. By any reasonable business measure (marketshare, mindshare, profitability) WP7/7.5 has been a dramatic, obvious failure. If not for the enormous will (read: $$ reserves) of MS, it would have died a well-deserved (from a business perspective) death.
NOTE: I am not commenting on WP7/8's technical or aesthetic merits, nor on the overall consumer benefits of having a robust third competitor to iOS/Android. In all of those regards, WP8 should definitely stick around; but we could have said the same of WebOS (and many did).
Substitute "Linux on the desktop" for windowsphone in your argument and this is something we techies have been arguing forever. I would be fascinated if you could explain how the position of today's windowsphone is in any way different from the position of desktop Linux for the past 12 years.
Definitely a click bait title. Since all of the WP7 apps will run on WP8, there really is not much risk in releasing the SDK with the phones. I agree that it's not ideal, but I think that they're doing it this way because they want to announce all of the new features at the same time as they release the SDK.
So many rippable quotes in this article. Here are just a few of my favorites:
"If you were expecting Windows Phone 8′s app ecosystem to be one of its main selling points, think again."
Windows app ecosystem has never been one of its strongest setlling points. At no time has its app store even come close to competing with Apple or Android. Its main selling point is the integration with its existing platform. Bing maps, Skydrive, Outlook, etc. I have no idea why this guy thought it should be a major selling point now.
"A multitude of pundits have weighed in, and the consensus from them is that Microsoft might just be buying time because the platform isn’t quite done yet."
After Apple completely bungled their recent release, I would've thought there was going to be some praise following this paragraph. The funny thing is, I'm wondering if this guy even reads the articles on his own site. Just last week this article was on their front page:
"Microsoft is letting marketing dictate the deployment of software instead of what’s really best for the product"
FALSE. I would instead give them credit for seeing the failures of Apple's release and the backlash which ensued. Can you fault them for making sure their product is ready when it hits the stores?
"Almost any other company on the planet would have washed its hands of Windows Phone after a second unsuccessful holiday season."
Yes, because supporting a handset manufacturer who just lost a multi-billion dollar patent infringement case is so much safer right?
There's more, but these are the ones that stuck out at me.
I thought the reasoning was that MS didn't wand devs tomstop developing for 7.x and since these apps would run on 8 anyway, why not wait a while before releasing the SDK.
Microsoft had already announced previously that the SDK will be out at WP8 launch, there will be 100K+ WP7 apps available in the store at launch. The API and dev tools went through a huge shift from Win CE as the kernel in WP7 to the NT kernel in WP8. It makes more sense to launch when it's ready instead of rushing it out to meet a deadline.
So the "two weeks away, still no SDK" is just trolling for page hits, and unfortunately getting them.
Actually, there has not really been a huge shift in the API or the dev tools.
Yes, there is a new native layer called "Windows Phone Runtime", which is a partial, semi-overlapping subset of the Windows Runtime found in Windows 8.
However, it's partial and incomplete, and mostly targeted at game developers - to access most of the features of Windows Phone 8, you need to write your apps in a managed language, accessing the .NET API for Windows Phone, which is pretty much the same as it's always been, with a few minor incompatibilities, even in so-called "compatibility mode" for WP7 apps.
EDIT: That was a hideous run-on sentence, but I kinda like it.
Seriously? Metro (/Modern, whatever) has been almost universally praised by designers. You're entitled to your own opinion on it, but suggesting that no-one has read a design book is a bizarre statement.
[+] [-] yenoham|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] untog|13 years ago|reply
Agreed, but if MS shares with the right 'limited audience', it could work out OK. If they have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (still looks doubtful), a few more big names and a few major games, >80% of users will be fine. Us techies won't be, of course.
Don't get me wrong- this still seems like a weird move from MS. But I don't think it leaves them "teetering on the edge of failure".
[+] [-] admiralpumpkin|13 years ago|reply
"Teetering on the edge of failure" far from being overly pessimistic, is actually far too generous. By any reasonable business measure (marketshare, mindshare, profitability) WP7/7.5 has been a dramatic, obvious failure. If not for the enormous will (read: $$ reserves) of MS, it would have died a well-deserved (from a business perspective) death.
NOTE: I am not commenting on WP7/8's technical or aesthetic merits, nor on the overall consumer benefits of having a robust third competitor to iOS/Android. In all of those regards, WP8 should definitely stick around; but we could have said the same of WebOS (and many did).
[+] [-] Toshio|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] warrenmiller|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Metrop0218|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] randomfool|13 years ago|reply
This schedule rules out any chance for developers to catch these bugs and report them.
[+] [-] josteink|13 years ago|reply
This is pretty bad.
I dont think I've ever heard of a Microsoft launch like this.
[+] [-] ghurlman|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] awa|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] at-fates-hands|13 years ago|reply
"If you were expecting Windows Phone 8′s app ecosystem to be one of its main selling points, think again."
Windows app ecosystem has never been one of its strongest setlling points. At no time has its app store even come close to competing with Apple or Android. Its main selling point is the integration with its existing platform. Bing maps, Skydrive, Outlook, etc. I have no idea why this guy thought it should be a major selling point now.
"A multitude of pundits have weighed in, and the consensus from them is that Microsoft might just be buying time because the platform isn’t quite done yet."
After Apple completely bungled their recent release, I would've thought there was going to be some praise following this paragraph. The funny thing is, I'm wondering if this guy even reads the articles on his own site. Just last week this article was on their front page:
"Microsoft promises major Windows 8 app improvements before Oct 26 launch" http://www.extremetech.com/computing/137469-microsoft-promis...
"Microsoft is letting marketing dictate the deployment of software instead of what’s really best for the product"
FALSE. I would instead give them credit for seeing the failures of Apple's release and the backlash which ensued. Can you fault them for making sure their product is ready when it hits the stores?
"Almost any other company on the planet would have washed its hands of Windows Phone after a second unsuccessful holiday season."
Yes, because supporting a handset manufacturer who just lost a multi-billion dollar patent infringement case is so much safer right?
There's more, but these are the ones that stuck out at me.
[+] [-] manojlds|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] jamesmiller5|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ivanbernat|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cooldeal|13 years ago|reply
So the "two weeks away, still no SDK" is just trolling for page hits, and unfortunately getting them.
[+] [-] katabatic|13 years ago|reply
Yes, there is a new native layer called "Windows Phone Runtime", which is a partial, semi-overlapping subset of the Windows Runtime found in Windows 8.
However, it's partial and incomplete, and mostly targeted at game developers - to access most of the features of Windows Phone 8, you need to write your apps in a managed language, accessing the .NET API for Windows Phone, which is pretty much the same as it's always been, with a few minor incompatibilities, even in so-called "compatibility mode" for WP7 apps.
EDIT: That was a hideous run-on sentence, but I kinda like it.
[+] [-] adjwilli|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tomrod|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sukuriant|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mikemarotti|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] untog|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jsolson|13 years ago|reply
What do you find so objectively appalling about Metro?
[+] [-] jwoah12|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sukuriant|13 years ago|reply