
Windows Phone 7 development from the perspective of an iOS developer - davidedicillo
http://carpeaqua.com/2011/01/02/from-iphone-to-windows-phone-7/
======
redthrowaway
>Microsoft might have done themselves some favors by giving it a whole new
naming scheme away from the Windows brand.

Why on Earth do people consider the Windows brand to be tainted? I've really
only heard this from Mac fanboys who seem to forget that Windows has a 90%
market share. Tying Windows Phone 7 to Windows 7, a great OS by any definition
as well as a very popular one is a stroke of genius. People will look at their
smartphone and think, "this is a small computer", rather than, "this is a
fancy phone". That gives Microsoft huge leeway to push their Windows
integration line. It doesn't have to look or feel anything like Windows for
the average consumer to realize that they can sync their emails, access their
office documents, get on Internet Explorer, etc.

~~~
bad_user

         Windows 7, a great OS by any definition
    

Really? All the reviews I've read / all the people I asked said _"it's not
that bad"_ which IMHO is the second most terrible thing customers can say
about your product, unless you're a monopoly.

And it still features that idiotic UAC interface, among other things: like a
totally remade Control Panel that looks nothing like the one in Windows XP
(and just when I managed to teach my wife how to configure a network
connection). And what bothers me the most about Windows 7 are the artificial
restrictions. Did you know that in Win7 Starter you cannot change the desktop
background? (or distribute an app that does that?) ... I actually had to
explain to my wife that she has the cheap / sucky edition installed on her
netbook, and that she needs to pay another $100 for the home basic upgrade.

It's shit like that which makes me cry every time I have to deal with Windows,
but I still am dealing with it because that's what most people use: i.e. its
popularity has nothing to do with technical achievements (unless you count
not-sucking-so-badly).

And I'm only mentioning this because WinMo 7 was scheduled to be released in 2
editions, i.e. with a cheap version without Zune (at least). Competition with
Android/iPhone probably prevented that (for now).

    
    
         People will look at their smartphone and think, 
         "this is a small computer"
    

Except this marketing tactic has been done before with Pocket PC. Not working,
because it's not like a computer.

What people will actually think: "this just like the iPhone/BlackBerry, only
from Microsoft".

~~~
redthrowaway
Every issue you just mentioned affects <5% of users. If you're a power user,
Windows sucks, period. If you're an average user, it's great. I love being
able to run linux apps in OSX, without having to deal with linux UI and driver
issues. I hate trying to play games in it. Guess which group is bigger: those
who play games, or those who like native linux app support?

Windows succeeds, despite the wailing of mac and linux fanboys, because it
does what it needs to do and does so well. Mac will never have Windows market
share when their cheapest laptop is $1000. Linux will never have Windows, or
let alone Mac, market share. Period. Almost every business out there runs
Windows. Almost every school library computer lab runs Windows. People who use
computers for only the most basic things use Windows, and that's 90% of the
computer-using population.

I have both a macbook pro and an older dell xps running Windows 7. I far
prefer OSX, but that's because I like having a real shell. XCode is pretty
good, too. OSX is a "nicer" OS, and it's certainly prettier, but is it worth
paying twice as much for a computer? For the vast majority of people, the
answer is no.

You seem to be arguing that Toyota is retarded because they make corollas,
when BMW makes the clearly superior 5 series. I think the flaw in such
reasoning is obvious.

------
bbuffone
Two weeks ago, I got the samsung focus to replace my iphone4. The phone is
really really good. The author is right about the tiles approach. It is a nice
change from the app model of the other phones. I can see all my contacts,
feeds from facebook and linked in in one view. It's even better than desktop
experiences.

People have complained that the hardware is plasticy and cheap, but after
using the iphone4 over a 2 month period and seeing the glass screen smash. I
prefer the light feel; plus most people covert their phones with a case and
they all feel the same after that.

Complaints on the phone:

The browser isn't as good as the iphone; change between pages isn't as nice
and the back & forward is a pain. Rendering is also not as good.

The zune navigation system was better than the windows mobile. In zune you
could navigate up and down the system by clicking the title of the current
screen to go back in Playlists click "Playlist" to go back to music, click
"Music" to return to the main screen. This was super convient because
navigation could be done with one hand. In the Mobile OS it would more on a
backwards only system that requires using the phones "back" button which is at
the bottom of the phone. I find it not as easy operate as the zune, but the
same as the iphone.

~~~
kenjackson
I don't get the whole thing with a light phone being "cheap" feeling. I want
my phone to feel like air, because in my hand it really doesn't make that much
of a difference. But in my pocket (especially with sweats or PJs), even a
moderately heavy smartphone begins to make things sag (especially when
running).

------
sriramk
Disclaimer - I work for MSFT but my day job isn't related to WP7 in any way.

I had a bit of a minor hit with an app I wrote (see
[http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2010/11/windows-phone-
micro...](http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2010/11/windows-phone-microsoftie-
builds.html)). For a couple of weeks, that app was #1 in the paid tools
category and #35 across all paid apps.

As someone familiar with the Microsoft stack (C#, .NET, VS, etc), I found the
going pretty straight forward. If you're familiar with the Microsoft
development stack, you should probably have a fairly easy time getting used to
the platform. If you're familiar with Silverlight (which I wasn't), you should
find it very easy indeed.

~~~
bsk
How much $$$ did you make?

~~~
Stormbringer
From the article: "Browser Plus has gotten a few thousand downloads so far, he
said." Price was 99c. Not sure how much whichever marketplace it was in
charges.

Assume 2000 x 70c = $1,400

Not bad for a week/weekends work (honeymoon apparently, go figure?!? :D )

But a bit ... lacking ... when considered as a #1 hit. On the other hand,
maybe it hasn't been out there too long. You could say okay the time he and
his beta tester put in was worth maybe $20/hour, but that ignores how an app
can be a revenue stream that keeps on generating income.

If he 'only' made $1000 per year from that app (as is) every year for the rest
of his life that'd be a pretty good ROI for a weeks work.

So don't get too hung up on my estimate, the advantage of an entrepreneur
compared to a work for hire salaryman is to keep getting paid long after the
work is done.

~~~
sriramk
This analysis is pretty accurate. That Techflash article was after the first
week or so - it gives you a sense of how many app downloads I got per day back
then. Another thing to factor in was that this was in the first 2 weeks of WP7
launching.

Unfortunately, the popularity took a dive after the first few weeks so my run
rate is much lower now. Also, a big part of my app sales was driven by press
which you only get when you do new versions, etc. My wife and I working
together on a soon-to-be-launched app also meant that I haven't really gotten
back to shipping new updates, etc.

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keithwarren
Good writeup overall, I cant put a lot of stock into things because he
admittedly did not spend lots of time in the development environment. Probably
more aptly titled 'Windows Phone 7 usage and development from an iOS
developer' as most of the article was about usage not coding.

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aaronbrethorst
> First things first. If you want to build Windows Phone 7 apps on your Mac,
> prepare to jump into Boot Camp. The emulator does not work in VMWare Fusion.

It works just fine on Windows 7 running on the latest version of VMware Fusion
under Snow Leopard. It's just not very performant.

------
kenjackson
Very balanced writeup. The only thing I disagree with is the quality of some
of the apps... although I do agree they're not as good as some of the iOS 1-3
person shop apps, I think the big difference is that most of the small shop
iOS apps are small companies, whereas WP7 is still in the early Android-phase
where it is hobbyst working in the evening.

But the quality of paid apps, which are almost all games, is on par with the
iOS top paid apps already.

~~~
alxp
I think games will be where WP7 will shine, Microsoft has the best game and
media development APIs out there for any platform, and there are many many
developers who've been building high quality games for Xbox and PC who could
move to the platform a lot more comfortably than to iOS which requres OpenGL
or to Android which sounds like a mess to have to deal with divergent
hardware.

~~~
tomh-
You are overestimating XNA. Most (almost all) high quality games for Xbox and
PC are written in C++. It is even more likely that they could be ported to iOS
or Android more easily due the simple fact that they allow native code. XNA
would be a competitor to the popular Unity game engine which at the moment has
a more competitive platform to build for (webplayer, iOS, android) and also
offers a superior IDE while offering the same language support as XNA. In
addition to that, UDK and the ID engine are also being ported to support iOS
and Android. Feel free to point me to a list of high quality in XNA produced
titles.

Good game developers are able to create games regardless of the quality of the
tools. Its part of the fun to create impressive games with limited resources
and tools.

Other than marketing the fact that Microsoft also created a successful game
console and xbox live, I don't think Microsoft has any advantage here. Xbox
live could be a key differentiator but only after a significant market share
has been gained. I don't think people will buy a WP7 phone for Xbox live.
Currently iOS offers the best games.

~~~
rottendevice
"Feel free to point me to a list of high quality in XNA produced titles."

If you want to develop a game on WP7, you HAVE to use XNA. All games in the
WP7 app store had to be built with it.

Also, WP7 has no C++ support. John Carmack griped about this on Twitter.

~~~
tomh-
That is exactly my point, why develop for WP7 if you can work with the
technologies you want for other platforms which also have a higher userbase?

However I suspect that some of the titles from companies such as EA or
Gameloft are still written in C++ even though it is not supported officially
by Microsoft. It is highly likely that they have some kind of early access to
native code compilation for the platform.

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comex
> rather than an iPhone 4 as I have for the past three years.

Hmm.

------
redthrowaway
>So long as the phone is available on the AT&T GSM band. No Nexus S for me.

Are there actually people for whom being on AT&T is a _necessity_ , let alone
desirable?

~~~
brudgers
> _"Are there actually people for whom being on AT &T is a necessity"_

iPhone users.

~~~
redthrowaway
I forget that in the States the iPhone is only available on AT&T. Must suck.

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Stormbringer
Executive Summary: if Microsoft supported standards (e.g. CalDav) it would be
better...

