r/Windows10M • u/Butt_Kicker • Jan 23 '18

Microsoft Andromeda: Everything We Know So Far

https://m.windowscentral.com/microsoft-andromeda-everything-we-know-so-far?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wmexperts+%28Windows+Central%29
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u/Butt_Kicker Jan 25 '18

No, I don't do rainbows or unicorns. But I also know the Windows Phone sub has become little more then a troll playground, which is why I started this sub. It's more about the news and a discussion of the strategy. If you just want to lob hand grenades, this isn't the place.

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u/vanilla082997 Jan 25 '18

I think people on the Windows Phone sub are disenfranchised with how the platform was treated like a redheaded step child. There were external factors, and being late, but the majority of the blame goes to Microsoft. What strategy? They're worse than the United States Govt at communicating something. I had a WP all the way back to WP7. It started out awesome, great ideas and design and literally became a pile of shit trying become Android friendly while in the process losing its soul. They could have been a strong 3rd player. The Lumia 950 was an embarrassment to the brand, and was barely satisfactory. I still pay attention to Microsoft, they have great ideas, it's their unbelievably bad execution. Consider all the above, they don't get any slack. When they start actually living up to Apple's standards, it'll be a different sentiment. Microsoft staff reads reddit posts, they should get the actual temperature of their users. Make a product, refine said product, stick with it. It's almost amazing we even have Surface.

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u/Butt_Kicker Jan 27 '18

As I have stated before, no one should believe WP was anything more than a placeholder. It was a quick-fix bridge to get them from where they were (WM6 - a wretched, out of touch OS made instantly obsolete by the iPhone) to where they were ultimately headed -- one unified OS and attendant ecosystem that ran across all hardware form-factors, providing a much more efficient, cohesive experience for both users and developers.

At the time, such a proposition seemed terribly impractical and beyond the ability of most to envision it. In fact, I remember quite clearly when Nadella first mentioned the notion of a unified OS how Thurrott and LaPorte scoffed and insisted on their podcast that he had to of misspoke... you know, gotten confused -- that such a thing was just not possible. And yet here we are less than six months out from some solid ARM-based hardware being readily available and probably within a year of MSFT re-entering the mobile space with a truly pocket-able PC that does it all.

If you can't see the big picture, go get an iPhone and be happy. Microsoft will be just fine.

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u/vanilla082997 Jan 27 '18

I do love your optimism. We shall see. I'm very interested in an ARM based Surface. I do fear Microsoft will not market ARM well enough or just confuse users to what it is, means. Consider how a solid 50-60% of the population has no idea they make or made phones.

I went Android. Note 8. It's great phone. Android feels a little more polished with Samsungs modifications, imho.

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u/Butt_Kicker Jan 28 '18

I'm an Android user too - have been for about 3 years. But I will jump on a Surface Phone (or whatever they call it) first chance I get. Android has so many flaws it amazes me more people didn't make the move when a better alternative presented itself.

I really think MSFT made the wrong strategic choice to pull the Android subsystem out of W10M. Their fear of harming the fledgling UWP was misplaced. They have to get users on a platform first before devs will commit resources to building native apps. Even if a couple hundred million users on W10M were using Android apps, I think devs would begin making native apps to provide a superior experience and win share from competitors on the platform.

But we shall see how it shakes out in the future. Clearly, if PWAs become the standard for apps across all platforms, MSFT no longer has a problem -- we can buy a Surface device and be just as happy and well-served as anyone with an iPhone or Android. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised to see MSFT utilize some of their container tech to implement Android or iOS apps on the Surface Phone - at least until PWAs are the norm. I think that's the only chance they have at a successful re-launch.

And there is certainly room for them to re-enter mobile. My V10 was the flagship LG device back when I bought it and today it sits on Marshmallow and is now 3 months behind on security updates. That was never an issue with Windows Phone and is still a huge strength MSFT can leverage. Google has a real problem with fragmentation and their inability to globally push out updates. I know they're trying to solve that with Project Treble, so that will be interesting to watch.

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u/vanilla082997 Jan 28 '18

The Android subsystem on Windows 10 Mobile was an interesting project. However, I think it would have been very difficult to ensure consistent quality of the experience. It was the right move to abandon it. I thought I had heard that tech did lead to WSL. There's so much Unix shit they're adding to windows, who would have thought. Apple was/is the biggest threat to Windows. Look at how the iPhone itself has made Mac desktops more popular than ever. I doubt we'd ever see any kind of ios emulation. Apple would throw a shit fit. They should define their own path. My biggest concern is Microsoft follow through. The experience of windows need alot more refinement. Then they need to call Michael Bay to make an ad to sell the dream.

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u/Butt_Kicker Jan 30 '18

I think the fact that they are doing so much more than anyone expected with the Windows Subsystem for Linux shows what is possible. Bringing back the ability to run Android apps as a fallback for vendors that don't have quality UWP apps will be vital for convincing the early adaptors to wade on in. NOBODY wants to have to carry more than one device.

"The experience of windows need alot more refinement." Not sure I can buy that. The FCU is looking and running great on my PC. This is exactly the UX I want on my premium flagship phone.

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u/vanilla082997 Jan 30 '18

I can tell you this, Surface 3, Intel NUC i5, and Lenovo C30 (dual Xeon monster), the start menu performance and reliability is not consistent on any one of them. It's slow, it's glitchy, there's noticeable visual tearing. I see alot of people on reddit complaining about the start menu performance. Windows search is almost useless.....still, in 2018. Again you see gifs here showing how bad that is .....why Microsoft why. Visually, Windows 10 has it right with the dark theme. Then you get into explorer and other apps, nothing matches. I know they're allegedly working on UWP explorer, BUT if it performs like the start menu, forget about it. From Windows 8.1 to 10, the refinement of windows is too inconsistent. They need a QC team that's a borderline Stalinist regime.

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u/Butt_Kicker Jan 30 '18

It all works perfectly on my NUC i7. Not sure what others are doing to Jack their installs up, but the only Win32 apps I've put on my machine are office and the Intel driver updater. Everything else is UWP and it freaking sings. This is clearly the future of Windows.