[Windows Phone 7 General] N8ter:
Blackberry does not have Native ActiveSync support and BIS is terrible with POP/IMAP email accounts. It's very fast for IMAP, but it truncates emails and the HTML Email client on the device is terrible.

BBM is limited to blackberries.

OWA support in BIS is terrible.

Android is better than Blackberry for heavy communicators. Keyboards are largely subjective, but what you can do on an Android surpasses what you can do on a Blackberry. Sorry, but I have owned a Bold 9780 and a Curve 3G. I know what I'm talking about. We also used to mandate Blackberry use at work, until recently.

Blackberries do get good reception and generally have good call quality, but Android phones do as well. The only big advantage I see for Blackberries is UMA. Being able to use a phone and seamlessly handoff between WiFi and cell towers automatically saves a ton of data and allows you to use your phone in places where other phones would have no signal. Android (on T-Mobile) has WiFi calling, but it does not hand-off, which makes it useless to me since I'm constantly going in and out of buildings where cell signals don't penetrate (Ice rinks, etc.).

Wrong. Blackberry is king in business because of the fast Exchange Sync with BES[x] deployed and its' 500+ security policies. They are also allow businesses to save a ton on data costs because of the compression.

You don't think truncated emails and a crappy HTML Email client can hinder productivity? Add in a crappy web browser and cramped keyboard with s tiny screen and some people start to cry just when they hear "blackberry." Blackberry has been losing marketshare at an accellerating pace to Android/iOS and businesses are now even starting to look for alternatives. RIM is planning to replace their entire BB OS with a QNX based OS and now even they are releasing a 4" full touch screen device. What does that tell you? It certainly doesn't say it's as perfect as you're makign it out to be. Blackberries aren't popular because the phones and the OS is great, they're popular because:

1. BES works only with Blackberries, and Vanilla Exchange doesn't offer the security features/policies/encryption many businesses (or governments) need

2. They're cheap (Curve is their entry model and has maintained as their best selling SKU)

3. Saves on data costs due to compression (some BB models are still 2G only and being sold in carrier storea i.e. 8520/30) - People in emerging markets, or markets with higher data costs like this

4. BBM : If you have a ton of BBM contacts, there is no migration path from Blackberry

Windows Mobile had just as many custom-tailored applications, but it lacked those other advantages and Exchange does not have 500+ policies for security whoring corporations and IT departments. Good does have clients for other OSes that packs a comparable amount of policies and comparable encryption, though. If you have to put a caveat in your argument, it usually means it falls flat on its face btw...

EDIT: I also want to add, the HD2 has better hardware than any Blackberry smartphone on the market right now - every component from screen to SoC to camera, etc. is better. Some Blackberry phones (i.e. curves) still come with 2MP cameras without autofocus that shoot QVGA video... For the price you pay for a Bold, you can get a cheaper mid-ranged Android device and actually be able to do more on the phone, with better hardware and everything. RIM is also worse than any Android manufacturer when it comes to updating their devices and Blackberry is just as fragmented - even some Apps will only work on CDMA or GSM phones in some cases, and there are still phones being shipped with 2-3 (soon) different OS versions on them. Blackberries that ship with OS 6.1 will have 0% chance of being upgraded to QNX when it is introduced next year... Those phones haven't even shipped yet.

If you like the QWERTY formfactor, IMO you're better off getting a Nokia eSeries as a consumer than a Blackberry - unless you're addicted to BBM...

Codec support is not that big of an issue if you have a client software like iTunes and Zune that can transcode it without much loss in quality. Zune Pass exists and it's too cheap to not have if you have a WP7 phone. It's like getting a Zune HD and not having Zune Pass. Stupid.

Media has more to do with codec support. The entire media experience has to be factored in and Android falls on its face when it comes to media management and synching. This is why Google is said to be releasing a Cloud Music service. Consumers and Reviewers have been complaining about Android's terrible media functionality.

Using a phone like a thumb drive is for 2001, not 2011, sorry guy... I know people who have never used a USB stick, nor will they want to.

1. I'm not on AT&T or Verizon, so not iPhone for me. Not a fan of getting a 3G phone just to look cool, and have 2G on my network cause I don't wanna pay 30% more.

iOS has tons of worthwhile apps - way more worthwhile apps than any other platform. They are generally developed first for iOS, and get better support/updates/bugfixes for iOS than other platforms.

Facebook has been way better on iOS, Android's facebook client only became largely usable a few updates ago. Twitter is better on iOS. IM Applications tend to be better on iOS (and certainly don't kill you batter as much, with more consistent push notifications).

iOS has better apps than other platforms. It's a fact and only an idiot can disagree with that. Android apps are factorably worse quality and a lot of people who port their apps to Android tend to run public betas via Market downloads. Apple would never, ever, allow that. Words with Friend on Android... Terrible. That **** would never make it onto the App Store.

No one cares about that other stuff. You're talking like jailbreaking an iPhone is bad when people basically do it on Android phones right after booting them up out the box if they can.

Android also has a lot more security vulnurabilities than iOS/WP7/Blackberry.

BTW, those apps you listed aren't all basic functions (WhatsApp, a paid app is a basic function?), but stuff like an HTML5 browser in 2011 IS a basic function. As is tethering on a mobile phone (which iOS added). I'd say a LED indicator light is a basic function that many manufacturers omit. Facebook/Twitter/etc. aren't basic functions because on any smartphone OS worth mentioning there is a decent app for those either form the company themselves or from the manufacturer. I do think it's hillarious that Samsung did People Hub better than Microsoft, though...

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What does jailbreaking have to do with it? WP7 doesn't provide anything that you'd need to jailbreak an iPhone to get. WP7 is thin in functionality and cannot compete with iOS at this point in time. You'll have to wait for WP7.5 (i.e. Mango) to have anything remotely comparable to any other smartphone OS.

iOS isn't hard to use...

I don't tinker with my Android phone, and it's superior to WP7 in every way other than aesthetics.

Android phones tend to get better reception. They have better cameras these days. They have better screens than most high end WP7 devices. They have more storage (or the possibility to have more). They have 4G radios with FFC. Some have NFC chips.

They tend to have better Social Network integration. Apps are generally better than WP7.

And last but not least, looking good only matters if you are not so functionally thin that you fail to meet the requirements of factorable portion of the market. WP7 as it stands now would never be able to achieve above 10% marketshare because it's basically an expensive feature phone.

There comes a point where functionality trumps aesthetics, and Microsoft seems to have missed that clue in their rush to get this OS out on the market.