Early thoughts on Mango
Months ago I purchased an HTC HD7. I’ve used it on and off since then, I really enjoy it but it was primarily purchased so that I could learn about about WP7, literally, so that I could learn how to sell it, and how to identify the target customer.
I went through the update process to get Mango (WP 7.5) on it last night, and here are my early thoughts.
- Windows update is a pain in the ass. Adding the layer needed by Zune just makes it worse. Having to update it, just to update it, so that I could apply the final update seems soooo 2001. Get it right. A single update should be all that is needed.
- The copy and paste method is klunky, I can’t consistently get the input screen to select text. This is possibly a me error though.
- Battery life seems to be better.
- I like the new built in app search. I like how it repurposed the search button for a web search by default.
- I really like how the multitasking works, a lot.
- HTC’s attentive phone was a pain in the ass to find, but I like how it is not integrated right into the settings. Well done.
All in all, I actually really like using WP7, and I think that Microsoft is onto something with it. The interface is brain dead simple to use, is incredibly consistent across apps as well as devices, and anyone can become a pro with about an hours worth of playing with it.
There is the rub though, and what keeps driving me back to Cyanogenmod on my SGS2. It’s so easy to use, it gets boring for those of us with attention spans that you can measure in minutes. It’s not very tweakable, there is definitely not a lot of customization going on, and it loses my interest quickly, no matter how much I actually like using it.
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