Windows Phone 7: First Impressions

Many IT geeks are now discussing the latest mobile OS from Microsoft (Windows Phone 7) as well as its pros and cons. Most people haven't touched it yet, but the hands-on videos imply a lot about what this operating system has to offer.

After years of Microsoft's stubbornness of designing complicated interfaces containing dozens of toolbars, tabs and menus, the company is now redesigning its solutions from scratch in a simpler and user-friendlier way. Have you ever compared Apple's remote control versus a Windows Media Center remote? This is what I'm talking about:

Apple remote does everything it is supposed to do (only with 6 buttons). That was the magic behind Apple's best-selling iPods and iPhones. Now it's Microsoft's turn to correct its interface design strategies!

All these years, Microsoft has attempted to be part of the mobile industry by introducing Windows Mobile, which was a continuum of the older Windows CE. Users were able to surf the web, create or view documents and files, listen to music or watch videos, take photos and a lot more. However, in less than two years a revolutionary device such as the iPhone sold more units than all various phones loaded with Microsoft OS. This clearly conveyed a message: Users were frustrated of the complexity of those smart phones and were demanding an easy-to-use device.

Microsoft is now learning from its flaws. They redesigned the whole OS and here's what they come up with:

This device has lots of similarities with the iPhone (and its Android-based rivals): Momentum scrolling, side tapping, large icons that no longer require a stylus, on-screen keyboard (that only slides in when needed) are a few examples of the original elements of the iPhone interface that Microsoft has embedded in this operating system. Some people might refer to this OS as a ripoff of Apple's OS and to some extent that's true. However, Microsoft was aiming at designing a function-oriented phone rather than an app-oriented phone (e.g. the iPhone). I'm not going to get into this field as my objective is to discuss the interface, not the functionality factor.

Although Microsoft did its best to design a simple and polished OS, but I still think it's quite cluttered, especially when it comes to particular apps such as photos. Having a photo as a background, showing tiles of photos on top of it alongside text with different size doesn't provide a clear and eye-catching sight. Sooner or later, the interface would get boring, not to mention the annoying transitional effects when switching between pages or panes.

Another thing that bothers me is the home screen (or as Microsoft states, the "Start screen"):

When I first saw the snapshot, I posed a simple question: Why there's a lot of unused space on the screen? It might seem cool, but having only 7 or 8 tiles on the home screen means users have to scroll all the time to run various apps, especially if they are of the heavy-duty users who carry around phones loaded with dozens of apps. Another feature that might seem promising is the dynamic nature of those tiles (their content changes all the time). I haven't used the phone by myself, but I reckon Microsoft is overdoing it, and that might make the phone's home screen more clogged up and bothering.

I also spotted that from time to time the phone doesn't respond well to commands. Sometimes it takes a few seconds for a command to be captured. That might make users uncertain of whether they've tapped properly. The transition animation also makes thing worse. Thus, a user tapping might require a second or two of no response, followed by a 2-3 second transition animation and then having the application appeared. I'm sure most people won't like to face that all the time. On the other hand, this phone is still a beta version, so such judgement might seem premature.

To sum up, I still believe Microsoft is not doing professional and original work when it comes to interface design. They've learned the lesson, but they're still scrambling to come up with well-designed interface solutions. Windows Phone 7 is not an iPhone-killer OS, but it's definitely a good starting point for Microsoft to realize that for the majority of users, interface is everything!