10 reasons why Windows Phone 7 has its work cut out

The mobile smartphone race is on. Apple, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG, HTC and Blackberry are all on top of the game. However, Microsoft is a little late to the party. Windows Phone 7 has launched globally, but there’s just a trickle of devices coming in to India. These are ten factors to prove that Microsoft has a tough task ahead for its newest mobile operating system.

1. Competition from the existing app stores: 

Microsoft’s existing app store is woefully inadequate compared to Apple’s App Store or even the Android Market for that matter. No matter how great the hardware or how slick the operating system looks, it’s finally the applications that drive the user towards a certain platform. Apple is currently king of the app stores with over 5 billion downloads, over 300,000 apps and thousands of new additions each month. Android is fast catching up with over 1 billion downloads, 120,000 total apps and thousands of new additions each month.

2. Vendor support:

Just like Windows for a PC, Microsoft is going to charge OEM manufacturers a license fee to be able to use Windows Phone 7 on their devices. Meanwhile, Android, Symbian 3, Bada and Meego are all open source operating systems. Furthermore, OEM manufacturers will not have access to the Windows Phone 7 code, which means they will not be able to make their own customisations to the software. Currently, big players like HTC and Motorola rely heavily on OS customisation to differentiate their products.

3. Bad Press: 

Before Windows Phone 7 devices flood the market, it is getting really bad press. Research firm Gartner ranks Windows Phone behind Symbian, Android, iPhone, Blackberry and the Linux-based MeeGo in its 2014 OS ranking forecast. Reviews are calling it “inferior to Android, iPhone and even Samsung’s Bada” (from CIO Magazine). Infoworld.com published one of the more scathing reviews of Windows Phone 7. “Windows Phone 7 is a waste of time and money. It's a platform that no carrier, device maker, developer, or user should bother with. Microsoft should kill it before it ships and admit that it's out of the mobile game for good.”

4. Dropped features: 

Microsoft seems to treating Windows Phone 7 as a completely new operating system, because features like tethering (using the phone’s data connection on a PC) have been dropped. It does not do multitasking, there is no backwards support for apps and the copypaste function is limited. If it has to compete with iPhone and Android, it needs to go one-up , not two-down !

5. Xbox Live integration: 

Windows Phone 7 has Xbox Live integration. This doesn’t mean that you can play Xbox games on it, but rather that your avatar and gamerscore from your Xbox console is also available on the phone. Games still have to be made specifically for the smaller screen and particular hardware of a handheld device.

6. Microsoft’s track record: 

Microsoft’s track record with mobile phones has been less than stellar. Older devices powered by Windows Mobile 6 and 6.5 were often described as boring. More recently, the Microsoft KIN was announced to the world and just as quickly, was abandoned.

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