[Windows Phone 7 General] lekhwani:
Some good points/snippets for general users.

1.Windows Phone 7 lets me pin not

only apps , but contacts, and even

websites to the start screen. In a

word, this is "awesome".

Why? Because, it makes the

smartphone both more

customizable- -enabling me to make

the start screen into exactly what I

need it to be, and more functional--

giving me simple one-tap access to

the apps, contacts, and sites I need

most.

2. So, while it is impressive that Apple

has more than half a million apps,

or that Android has more than

250,000 apps, and it may seem like

Windows Phone 7 can't compete

with its measly 30,000 apps, the

reality is that 30,000 is way more

than I will need. As long as

Windows Phone 7 has the 10 or 20

apps I actually use, it will be fine. But, for the new kid on the block it

seems to be progressing nicely, and

it offers an app shopping and buying

experience that is at least equal to

its rivals, and in some ways it's a

little better.

3. That brings me back to the

Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.

With Windows Phone 7, I have the

option to either "try " or "buy" a

given app in most cases. Many paid

apps offer a trial option as well. If I

click on "try ", a free trial version of

the app installs and I can check it

out and see if it works as advertised,

and that it meets my needs before I

decide whether or not to spend the

money to actually buy it.

4. I prefer the

Samsung Focus over the HTC HD7S .

I didn't have any problems with the

HTC during the week or so I have

been using it, but the Focus just

feels much more comfortable in my

hand. I also ran some side by side

trials and found the Focus to be

noticeably faster than the HTC

HD7S .

5. The "Me" tile gives me simple, one-

tap access to post messages to my

various networks.It turns out that it

is not quite as narcissistic as it

seems at face value. The same way

having a live tile for my wife lets me

have quick, one- tap access to

communicate with her through

whatever means are available, the

"Me" tile gives me quick, one-tap

access to post messages, check in to

locations, or review notifications

from my various services and social

networks.

6. The

Windows Phone 7 Marketplace has

only a fraction of the apps available

for iOS. Some of the tools I use

regularly are just core apps that

come pre-installed in Windows

Phone 7. Things like Alarms,

Calculator, Calendar, and Camera

are already there, so I don't need to

find replacements. I frequently use

my smartphone to look things up on

the Web, and Windows Phone 7 has

the Internet Explorer browser pre-

installed, so I am all set there.

7. When it comes to entertainment, I

rely on apps like the Kindle app

from Amazon, the Netflix app, the

YouTube app, and other tools like

Fandango and IMDB. All five have

Windows Phone 7 apps , and all five

are free. So far, I am doing pretty

good and haven't spent a penny.

For productivity on the iPhone I

have the Apple iWorks apps- -Pages,

Numbers, and Keynote-- as well as

Documents To Go. With Windows

Phone 7, I have Office Mobile apps

installed with the OS, and integrated

with cloud- based file storage on my

SkyDrive, so I don't need to replace

those apps.

8. Out of the gate, Windows Phone 7

lacked copy and paste, third-party

multitasking, SD memory card slots,

Wi-Fi hotspot tethering, Adobe

Flash, and a variety of other

capabilities that Microsoft knew

users would expect. It is like the

Windows Phone 7 developers were

working in a basement sequestered

away from following any tech news

and completely oblivious to what

rival mobile operating systems like

iOS and Android were going

through.

So, now Windows Phone 7 has copy

and paste, and lets you do custom

ringtones, and has some form of

multitasking, and many of the other

features and capabilities it should

have had when it launched. There

are still some notable exceptions

like Adobe Flash, and SD memory is

only available on some Windows

Phone 7 smartphone models.

9. There were things I liked about

Windows Phone 7 out of the gate,

but overall I wasn't very impressed .

With the launch of the "NoDo"

update, WP7 got significantly better.

With "Mango", it is finally a mobile

OS worthy of going head to head

with iOS and Android .

10. Angry Birds is still Angry Birds. I

don't really see any difference

between launching birds at pigs

hiding in structures regardless of

platform. But, I played Need for

Speed on both phones (Need for

Speed: Shift on the iPhone 4 , and

Need for Speed: Undercover on

Windows Phone 7) , and the

animation seemed smoother on

Windows Phone 7 with more

vibrant detail.

11. you're a speed nut (and who isn't ?),

you might appreciate that Mango is

running a full desktop version of

the IE9 browser, not a mobile

variation.

Microsoft demonstrated this IE9

capability in Mango in April for

Windows Phone developers, who

cheered when a browsing speed test

favored Windows Phone over

phones running Android ,

BlackBerry and iOS. Again on

Tuesday, a speed test favored

Windows Phone on Mango and IE9 .