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Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week

By | May 6, 2011, 1:18pm PDT

Summary: It wasn’t a great week to be a Windows Phone 7 user, with two seemingly unrelated Marketplace and Xbox Live access issues hitting Microsoft customers and developers.

It wasn’t a great week to be a Windows Phone 7 user.

The Windows Phone Marketplace was down for anywhere between seven and ten hours on May 4-5 (depending on whose account you believe), with many users unable to purchase and/or download applications. Then, on May 6, many Windows Phone 7 users were reporting they were unable to access Xbox Live from their phones.

Microsoft has provided very little, by way of explanation, for the Marketplace outage. This is the only information available, a spokesperson said, which posted to the Windows Phone blog late last night:

“Earlier today some Windows Phone users were unable to download applications from Windows Phone Marketplace for several hours and instead received an error message saying, ‘Can’t get this info right now. Check back in a little while.’ The problem was identified and fixed in a matter of hours. The Marketplace service is now fully available.

“We regret any inconvenience this disruption caused the impacted customers and our developer community. The problem was the result of scheduled maintenance being performed on Microsoft’s infrastructure during the night. The root cause of this issue has been identified and steps are being taken to help prevent future disruptions to the Marketplace service.”

Microsoft isn’t sharing any details about “the root cause” that happened during scheduled maintenance (maintenance about which Microsoft didn’t forewarn its customers).

The May 6 Xbox Live access problem which hit Windows Phone users is seemingly unrelated to the Marketplace issue. According to the Xbox Live service status page:

“Users will experience issues attempting to use LIVE services that use Token services including but not limited to connecting to Facebook\Twitter on the Xbox 360 Console, signing into Xbox LIVE using the Windows Mobile 7 phone, and editing avatars or viewing achievements on Xbox.com.

“We are aware of the problem and are working to resolve the issue. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience.”

A Microsoft Windows Phone spokesperson said there were no additional details to share at this time.

Update: 6 pm. ET on May 6: The Xbox Live status page is no longer flagging the token services issue.

I am not going all Paul Thurrott on Microsoft here — and couldn’t even begin to come close to some of the Windows Phone Secrets author’s epic (and largely deserved) rants about the Windows Phone team’s need to offer customers and developers the best experience ever, in order to grow market share — or at least to slow marketshare losses.  I have to say weeks like these make me wonder whether I should go for a Windows Phone 7 once Verizon finally comes to market with something (which is supposed to happen some time before June 30).

Windows Phone users– what’s your take?

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Topics

Microsoft Windows Phone 7, Microsoft Windows Phone, Microsoft Xbox Live, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Xbox, Marketplace Service, Microsoft Windows, Game Players, Operating Systems, Software, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Mary Jo Foley

Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

Disclosure

Mary-Jo Foley

Freelance journalist/blogger Mary Jo Foley has nothing to disclose. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I do not own Microsoft stock or stock in any of its partners or competitors. I have no business ventures that are sponsored by/funded by Microsoft or any of its partners or competitors.

Biography

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 25 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.

Got a tip? Send her an email with your rants, rumors, tips and tattles. Confidentiality guaranteed.

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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
makrekwe2401-24353663780999116200484948412380 10th Nov
htslzz,good post!
View in thread
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
craigber 6th May 2011
I have been unable to get updated apps for several days now. I get a message saying "Queuing" and then nothing happens.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
dheady@... 9th May 2011
@craigber fortunately you and the six other WinPhone 7 users were not adversely affected.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
jatbains 6th May 2011
WIN 7 unfinished still beats Android!!!!
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Say it twice
Return_of_the_jedi Updated - 6th May 2011
@jatbains

Reverse psychology sometimes works to justify a bad purchase.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
always-a-geek2 6th May 2011
@Return_of_the_jedi - Hardly. I know of no one who has purchased a Win Phone 7 device who is unhappy. Try again to convince me I made a bad purchase... Not gonna happen.
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Reverse psychology
NorthwoodBlueberry 6th May 2011
@Return_of_the_jedi

I don't think reverse psychology means what you think it means. The term you're probably looking for is "denial", "delusion", "rationalization" or something along those lines wink
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I said it twice
Return_of_the_jedi Updated - 6th May 2011
@always-a-geek2

Try again to convince me ..."

Sometimes it's no need to state the obvious.
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Justification?
Forrestall Updated - 6th May 2011
@Return_of_the_jedi
I don't think reverse psychology is appropriate or relevant in this context, but I think I understand the point you're trying to make. If so, if I'm correct, if anything, it seems the level of justification to post WP7 FUD etc. is related to the lack of WP7 hands-on experience and/or the need to see WP7 fail for whatever reason.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
xnederlandx 6th May 2011
@Return_of_the_jedi
I think so many people are saying WP7 is going to fail... because they have something against Microsoft or are unhappy about their past products.
Try a Windows Phone with an open mind. The interface is clean, responsive and beautiful... "Think Different" wink
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
Rob.sharp@... 9th May 2011
@Return_of_the_jedi
Bad Purchase? And you call yourself a Jedi!
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re: Think Different
Badgered 9th May 2011
@xnederlandx "Think Different"

Uh oh... the hordes of Apple faithful will be at your door in no time.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
jordanhawk 16th Sep
Thanks for sharing this information, keep up the good work. online diploma | online homeschooling
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Oh?
Pete "athynz" Athens 7th May 2011
@jatbains And how is it doing that?
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
Socratesfoot 9th May 2011
@jatbains Did you base this on your poor Flash, Silverlight, and HTML 5 support compared to Android, the lack of cut and paste, the lack of true multitasking (which Android has had since the beginning), your love of Win7 Phone's deployment and update issues and outages, the apparent poor sales, your inability to side-load applications, your lack of support for tethering, or is it just fun to get apps after everyone else? ...Or, is it more likely you probably own an XBOX, simply like the tile interface on the phone, and therefore don't care that nothing else is really good about this phone? I'm guessing I hit the nail on the head with guess number two.
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re: Silverlight
Badgered 9th May 2011
@Socratesfoot Did you base this on your poor Flash, Silverlight, and HTML 5 support compared to Android

I was unaware that Android supported Silverlight.
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My take on Windows Phone outages
orcmid 6th May 2011
I have had difficulty with XBox Live and Marketplace access from my WindowsPhone in the past but didn't encounter any of the current difficulties. My existing XBox Live games on the phone play just fine, so I would be unlikely to notice something related to wanting to get to XBox Live itself.

Sometimes, it is difficult to know what is an Internet and carrier bandwidth issue (regardless of having 5 3G bars from T-Mobile).

The oddest thing is realizing that the first-line thing to do is actually reboot the phone. When will we escape that?

At the same time, our WindowsPhone updates have gone off just fine (though haven't seen the recently-announced security update), I have removed apps that just don't seem to update well or be very available consistently enough (such as AP News), and I avoid new apps that may require me to find a WiFi access point in order to download. The sooner that is fixed and Zune PC-connected installs work properly, the happier I will be.

At the same time, we love our Windows Phones here and I even use the Kindle app for escape fiction while traveling or in waiting rooms.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
vanalan Updated - 8th May 2011
@orcmid
hmmm... my assumption that same apps required you to find wifi to download meant that they're protecting you against excesive phone plan data usage.... I thought it was a feature, not a failure!
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
kris_stapley@... 9th May 2011
@orcmid
I did see the marketplace issue when attempting to update the weather channel app. No big deal. I love my HTC Surround. I wouldn't trade it for any other phone.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
ScottE92 Updated - 6th May 2011
Yesterday I got an error when trying to download updates to my apps, but now it seems to be working fine. Also have successfully connected with Xbox Live.
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outages happen to everyone sometimes.... this is not a big deal.
mikroland Updated - 6th May 2011
It hasn't been a bad week for me and my Focus. I've had no problems, as usual.


Mary don't pretend you are going to purchase a windows phone, I know you really will end up with an iPhone in the end anyway (to go with your iPad).

BTW, I'm anxious for some Mango!!!
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Contributr
iPhone
Mary Jo Foley 6th May 2011
I don't know what I'd get instead, but I do know it wouldn't be an iPhone happy

Mango tools coming soon! Mango software this fall..... MJ
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@Mary Jo Foley
anono 7th May 2011
So...... you felt the need to let everyone know about your iphone hate (thrice) in an article that has nothing to do with the iphone. Are you also going to post (thrice) every other phone you would definitely not get. Looks like someone is facing regrets.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
unclefixer@... 8th May 2011
@Mary Jo Foley It's ok, Mary Jo- maybe if you get the Windows phone anyway, eventually, they'll have it fixed! :))
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Contributr
iPhone
Mary Jo Foley 6th May 2011
I don't know what I'd get instead, but I do know it wouldn't be an iPhone happy

Mango tools coming soon! Mango software this fall..... MJ
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Contributr
iPhone
Mary Jo Foley 6th May 2011
Hi. I don't know what I'd get instead of a WP7, but I do know it won't be an iPhone happy MJ
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
Grayson Peddie 6th May 2011
@Mary Jo Foley Whoops! Triple post! happy
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Better be a fix for changing country
pete@... 6th May 2011
I've been waiting for 4/5 years to be able to change my country for live billing so that I can actually buy content on Xbox live, Zune and now Windows Phone 7. Why do I torture myself by buying their products? I mean, you think it would be in their interest to allow me to give them money.
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Contributr
changing your country designation
Mary Jo Foley 6th May 2011
Hi. I've asked about this a few times. MS doesn't have any update other than they are continuing to monitor the situation... Sigh. MJ.
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changing country
pete@... 8th May 2011
@Mary Jo Foley Please, don't stop asking happy
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
dofzin 6th May 2011
Hadn't noticed anything. Continue to be very pleased with my HTC HD7. I do think the experience on WP7 is good, got better with NoDo, shows lots of promise. Not really pining for any apps available elsewhere, happy to have "real" Microsoft Office and great SharePoint integration to get to my documents from anywhere--not seeing either of those with other platforms.

Although I do think the NoDo copy and paste is lame. The clipboard is not persistent, so if I paste something once, I can't paste it a second and third time. Still room for improvement, but nothing else is sufficiently superior to make me consider switching.
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The NoDo clipboard is persistent - it just doesn't seem that way
Flydog57 6th May 2011
@dofzin
In NoDo WP7 phones, if you copy some text and then paste it into another context, the paste icon seems to disappear. In reality, it's still there, just off the screen. You can swipe horizontally to get it pack.

This (www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/howto/wp7/basics/copy-and-paste.aspx) says "Tap", but should really say "swipe". It's not very "discoverable", but it works like a charm.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
oterrya Updated - 6th May 2011
As an ex- Windows phone user, I was having difficulties (little minor things) and when I had an opportunity to go with an Apple 3Gs, I did so. Whereas Apple is not perfect either, I am happier with the phone operation and tolerant of the idiosyncrasies in the iPhone link to iTunes to keep my address book current on my Windows computer etc. I am now looking to upgrade in a few months. At the moment, it looks very strongly like it will e a iPhone 5 and neither an Windows Unit nor a Droid. I am in most cases a Windows bigot even, but I guess not in this case.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
neonspark 6th May 2011
love my wp7. doesn't have anything to envy iphone and certainly much more polished than the android mess
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Android mess
NorthwoodBlueberry 6th May 2011
@neonspark
Totally agree with you there. Android is a duct-tape OS and belongs in the lab - not in the consumer space.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
kirovs@... 6th May 2011
@NorthwoodBlueberry
I am not sure you know what you are talking about.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
NorthwoodBlueberry 7th May 2011
@kirovs

I suppose I should clarify what I meant by a "duct-tape" OS.

- Screen Resolutions: When Android first launched, they never specified any resolution standards. As a result of this, I have come across no less than 9 different versions on Android, versus 1 each for the iPhone(960x640) and Windows Phone(480x800).
-SDK : To develop an Android app, you need to first get an IDE (Eclipse), followed by the "Android Development Kit", followed by emulators, and literally duct tape all these together to start building an app. It's a very fragmented and frustrating process. Visual Studio for Windows Phone and XCode for iPhone come as a single package and work right out of the box.

Historical Perspective- Android (based on the linux kernel) was built by an independent developer and later got accquired by Google, which then built further features on top of that. Compare to Windows Phone and iOS, which were both designed and built from the ground up in-house and subject to rigrous quality control.

User Interface- Again, extremely fragmented on Android - from SenseUI to TouchWiz, nearly every manufacturer loads the OS with bloatware. Essentially a couple of designers at these hardware manufacturers throw together these enhancements for Android, compared to the extensive research and UI Engineering efforts put in by Microsoft and Apple. (4 buttons on the main bezel, followed by 3 homescreen icons directly above those is just poor design. And 7 homescreens??!! ..in addition to yet another main menu to list all the apps??!! )

Malware - There have been serious cases of malicious apps on the Android market, thanks to the efforts put in to screen the apps before publishing them. So far, the iPhone and Windows Phone have had fairly sanitised apps.

And before you start off with the whole "open source" argument, I actually support the open source movement. Android is surely a very valuable operating system and has helped spur a wave of immense improvement in hardware devices. Android as a platform has a huge advantage in the superior hardware and the large number of apps. But the bottomline still remiains - it's a 2nd rate OS, duct taped together in place.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
tonymcs@... 7th May 2011
@neonspark

No problems with my WP7 phone. Still waiting for my carrier to finish testing, but even without NoDo it's great. Give it a try Mary, you'll be doing yourself a favour wink
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I wasn't very effected by the outages to be honest.
Justin071894 6th May 2011
I didn't even know that the marketplace had gone out to honest. I think that if it's gone out twice in a seven month period, that's a good track record.
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Noticed a problem w/Marketplace on Thursday
mibjr 6th May 2011
@Justin071894

I noticed a problem with the market place Thursday afternoon. I tried purchasing an app but got a message telling me to try again later.

Other than that, I haven't seen any other problems when using this phone.
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2 in a 7 month period may not be bad however
Pete "athynz" Athens 7th May 2011
@Justin071894 Just for comparison I have yet to see the Apple App Store go down and I've been using an iPhone since the 3G an apps first came out. I also have a BB Curve for work and I have yet to see the BB app world go down. Nor have I heard any stories about Google's Android App Store going down. I'm not hating on WP7 or MS I'm just putting these outages in perspective.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
pdskep 7th May 2011
@athynz Because you never experienced it, it must have never happened right? Google 'iTunes store down' and you'll see it's happened many time. Here's just one: http://www.macslice.net/2010/03/07/itunes-store-down-for-some/
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Indeed
Pete "athynz" Athens 9th May 2011
@pdskep I stand somewhat corrected... I did the search for itunes store down and found a few that seemed to affect only a few people here and there... wonder why those outages never made it beyond iTunes forums and Mac centric blogs?

Doing the same type of search on Android App Store down and Blackberry App World down yields 1 result for Android's and 2-3 for BB. And again those outages were never on ZDNet or other tech blogs.

It makes me wonder how significant the WP7 marketplace outage was compared to the rest?
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
rphunter42 6th May 2011
The headline is vastly misleading. It clearly implies that the phones stopped working. Please check the headlines better in the future. Many users wouldn't notice that Marketplace was down, nor care!
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
jfreedle2@... 6th May 2011
Hmm, I never had any issues.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
always-a-geek2 6th May 2011
I had a bit of trouble that night downloading some things, but truthfully, by the morning, everything was fine again. It didn't really bother me at all. Considering everything, I couldn't be happier with Win Phone 7. My only two gripes are not being able to create my own ringtones yet, and the loss of direct sync with Outlook on my laptop (my organization doesn't use Exchange). All in all, those are minor gripes on an entirely new platform. I love it. I love it a lot more than anything else I have ever used. So, you should try it on Verizon, at the least.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
EricVM 6th May 2011
maybe it was for security update - upgrades and they didn't want to blab about it all over the intermet.

so far I really like my Dell Venue Pro and it really "WOW'ed" people at my office. It was the first time they ever saw the new phone OS.
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Dell Venu Pro
NorthwoodBlueberry 6th May 2011
@EricVM
It's cool to hear that it wow'ed people! I've been watching the Dell Venue Pro videos on youtube for ever, and it does look pretty darn impressive... but haven't had a chance to try it in person.

How has your experience been so far? Is the bulk worth the screen size and the looks? Do you ever use the physical keyboard? How's the battery life?
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
EricVM 6th May 2011
@NorthwoodBlueberry
It is my first cell phone and I'm over 50...so the big bright everything is sweetness to my eyes...especially the phone numbers and who it is...dang real easy! The heft goes with the size and it feels like the high quality it is. Everyones first comment is "how nice it feels" to hold. Just like the videos youv'e seen I think they are pretty much spot on in my experience. I really think Dell has all the bugs worked out hardware wise.....the camera is nothing special...but none are that I've ever seen from a phone with a micro-lens.
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What Phone to Buy
NorthwoodBlueberry 6th May 2011
My advice to anyone looking for a phone - get one off the open market. It's super easy to find an unused Windows Phone on craigslist for $200-$300. No need to worry about contract extensions, wait periods and such. Also, if you don't end up liking the phone, meh, sell it off and buy something else.

My top 3 picks would be - Samsung Omnia 7, Dell Venue Pro, HD7S (although these three will be hard to find for cheap). Also looking forward to Nokia W7, W8... whenever those come out. Or if only I could lay my hands on one of those exclusive Asus devices....

Anyhow, Android to me isn't a particularly well engineered platform. There's too much focus on developing features versus optimizing the experience for end users and developers. Their business model deems that the OS be just good enough that you can easily do a google search and download apps.

The prevalent perception in the industry is that Android being open source is probably the most "developer friendly" platform. In reality though, the SDK, (not unlike the OS) is largely duck taped together as an eclipse plugin. Before you can start developing, you need to put together disparate pieces from a multitude of different sources. Oh and then the OS versions, screen sizes... it's God awful!

iPhone as a platform seems like it has plateaued and stabilized. With the iPhone4, form factor, screen, touch, battery, camera, OS- don't have any complaints left. Everything it does, it does well. So I'm not nearly as excited about the iPhone this year as I was last year. I expect a more incremental improvement (like from 3g to 3gs).

Windows phone on the other hand, shows a promising roadmap with plans to offer more than just a pretty device or a "wild west OS". Live tiles, deep linking, hardware acceleration, metro UI, cloud integration, are just some of few things that demonstrate their sheer engineering prowess.

From a development stand point, the Visual Studio experience with the SDK is a delight and is easily the best developer experience, followed by iOS, far below which is Android, with Blackberry even further down the stack(aka a total monstrosity!).

Keep in mind that these guys probably do know a thing or two about Operating Systems. WP7 is in the catch up mode only due to a leadership lapse, not their engineering. Now that development is actively underway, leadership is striking deals left and right, developers and partners are being aggressively engaged, the next wave of handsets set to come out soon, it's pretty obvious that Windows Phone is on track to become a formidable player in the mobile space.

In conclusion, I see Android as a great prototyping lab but not a great end user device, iPhone as having plateaued after making it's point about the importance of prettiness. Windows Phone however, is headed in exactly the direction and working on exactly the features that I'd like to see in the next generation of smart phones - both as developer and as a consumer.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
Ken Doll 6th May 2011
What a BEAT UP Mary Jane! So it was down - ooooh for 7 hours - it was so bad that I couldn't access the Marketplace, that not only did I consider throwing my phone out the window - I also contemplated suicide.

Seriously Mary Jo - what's with the headline? Are you not really just Paul Thurrot's sidekick? Why make a headline that sounds like it was a major issue, when it was a short hiccup.

Get over it.
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RE: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 users hit with two service disruptions this week
makrekwe2401-24353663780999116200484948412380 10th Nov
htslzz,good post!

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