[Windows Phone 7 General] sandulea:
First of all, just because you didn't see the point in extending the functionality of a phone doesn't mean there isn't one. Some people actually need VPN access and secure data transfers and passwords because their paychecks and/or their company's existence depend on them. Even though Android is better than WP7 already in that respect (to the best of my knowledge), there's always room for improvement and personalised solutions which may include custom apps and modifying core functionalities. Also, since the Linux environment is already preferred on desktops in some lines of work, a Linux based phone would be an obvious choice there. The "smartphone" notion appears to be a bit beyond your current grasp, so I hope you accept the fact that there are many unseen categories of people out there that chose Android for certain features that you probably have not used.

Second, performance isn't really an issue in Android, it's the stock launchers that are at fault. They are always crappier than good quality launchers that can be found on the market. The occasional stutter or slowdown is just the phone wanting to be set up according to your wishes and needs. Indeed, there's really no way around it, stock Android devices are kinda lame when it comes to user friendliness and user experience compared to Iphones and WP7 devices. Some people just want to fire up the phone and just talk, send messages, listen to music and maybe browse the web a bit, and are unwilling to spend more time monkeying around with apps and themes, and they prefer a solid device out of the box. Android is not meant for them, but some get sucked into the hype now and then and, when disappointed, want to make sure that anyone knows Android is crap.

It's truly a shame that manufacturers don't supply Android with higher quality launchers. They could rip more money off people who actually wanted feature phones for some basic tasks, but unwittingly wandered into "smart" land, lured by the "smart" labels everywhere, and fell into money-sucking traps like iPhone and whatever WP7-equipped phone there is out there.

Make no mistake, I truly admire the way WP7 looks and works in basic operations (so much so that I have a Metro UI launcher on my Android device), but the price WP7-equipped devices fetch is huge, considering the fact that at the moment, until the introduction of actual "smart" features, they're just glorified feature phones. In some respects they're even less than feature phones. Just look at the removed features on the WP7 wiki page and see how many features WP7 is missing but are present on almost every lowly feature phone. What Microsoft has done by pushing this OS is shameful to say the least, and unless they heavily update it in the coming months I'm going to consider this a successful Microsoft fail (not financially of course), and a sorry excuse for a smartphone (!) OS.

To me it's very clear: if you want a phone that "just works", you'd be better off buying a feature phone than a WP7 phone. If you want a flashy interface and games, be prepared to pay twice the amount you would pay for a feature phone, at least. Finally, if you need a smartphone, actually NEED a smartphone, you don't need anyone to tell you what to choose, there are a few old, well-established choices. But hey, some people have money to burn. I just can't argue with that:p.