The Book of Brian

So this week had promised to be one of the biggest weeks in the mobile phone industry, and while I originally had doubts that Microsoft would be able to deliver on everybody’s hopes of creating a product worthy of major attention in an attempt to get back into the smartphone game, I was happily surprised. Windows Mobile 7, forever to be known as Windows Phone 7 Series, really is a radical departure from their previous attempt, Windows Mobile 6. And when you first look at it, it really does look like it’s mainly sunshine and roses from this point on. We asked for a change, and boy did we get it. But is the grass really greener on the other side?

Microsoft is a company that, as a whole, has little experience truly innovating in any field. Two notable exceptions in my eyes has been the XBox line, specifically the XBox 360, which invented the concept of a next generation gaming platform should be. The second exception was the Zune HD. As a matter of fact, when the Zune HD was first released, I went around telling everybody who would listen that what Microsoft really needed to do was just completely trash Windows Mobile 6 and replace it with an enhanced version of the Zune HD operating system. And I was thrilled at first glance to realize that this is exactly what they did. Make no mistake, Windows Phone 7 is an enhanced version of the Zune HD OS. So what’s the problem? Isn’t this exactly what I wanted?

Well, not exactly. My vision of Windows Phone 7 was an operating system that took all of the good parts of the Zune HD experience – the amazingly innovative (albeit slightly overwhelming) UI, the much more enhanced version of Internet Explorer than their last mobile version that’s actually sort of comparable to Mobile Safari, an actual finger friendly interface, capacitive touch screen support, and multitouch support – and mixing it with the features that Windows Mobile 6 “traditionally” held over the competition – such as multitasking, and copy and paste. The issue is, Microsoft takes all of the cards that they had held and often mocked Apple about, and just completely threw them down the drain.

Windows Phone 7 has no multitasking. That’s right, Windows Phone 7 has no multitasking. Basically the single card that Microsoft has consistently held over Apple, they just shredded it. When asked about multitasking, a Microsoft representative had this to say:

Yeah, so the core operating system in Windows Phone 7 Series phones is a modern multitasking operating system which we use for a lots of things. If you play music, for example, the music will play back as you navigate around the experience and be smooth and glitch-free and all those sorts of things. If you’re using email, we have great support for push email, and that happens in the background.

For third party applications, we’ll get into a lot more detail on this in MIX, but we have a few ways we going to make sure that 3rd parties can bring their value to the user even when the app is not running. Live tiles are an example. Data feeds in the hubs are another example. (http://gizmodo.com/5472235/windows-phone-7-apps-what-we-know-what-we-dont)

But wait! That’s not describing multitasking… why… that’s describing Apple’s implementation of “multitasking” as it exists in iPhone 3.x… push notifications! That’s right, Windows Phone 7 forgoes proper multitasking for push notifications. Live tiles and data feeds are fine and dandy for your average instant messaging application, but it won’t cut it for Pandora.

Oh, wait, that’s another issue I have with Windows Phone 7. Absolutely, positively, no compatibility with WM6.x apps. None. Nothing. Not an emulation layer in sight. So if you’re a big corporation who not too long ago spent tons of resources building an application for the still relatively large Windows Mobile 6 install base, you’re basically stuck with what you have now with little room to grow in the future. If you want to continue to grow, you’ll need to completely rebuild your application for WP7. So for the end user, too, expect absolutely nothing out of the box, similar to how Apple started from scratch in 2007. You’d think Microsoft would want to utilize their large install base to get the upper hand on their competition… but no. They’re confident enough to feel as though they can pull an Apple here. I really hope that they can, because Palm thought they could, too, with the WebOS… and we know how well that’s taken off. And they have an emulator which allows people to run apps designed for their old OS.

Thirdly, no copy and paste support. This one literally made me laugh out loud. Absolutely no copy and paste support! None! It’s truly hysterical to me that Microsoft, not too long ago, was harassing Apple up and down for this very issue. Microsoft fanboys were joining on the fun at the time, too – but now that the tables are turned, I don’t see those same people talking about copy and paste now. (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/02/15/first-impressions-windows-mobile-7-now-known-as-windows-phone/)

These are just my first impressions, and besides everything I posted here, it’s important for me to note that for the first time in years, Windows Mobile looks promising. These are all issues – and very real issues – but none of this can’t be overcome, in time. Microsoft could very well implement copy and paste before release. They could release an emulation layer that allows for classic Windows Mobile apps to run on Windows Phone. They could allow multitasking. And I’m really hoping they do. I’m not rooting against them. By criticizing, I’m rooting for them.

So this is a warning to everybody out there: this is not a diet based on any sort of super-scientific research, nor is this guaranteed to wield any sort of weight loss. It’s just some tricks and tips that I’ve picked up that I feel are important enough that everybody should at least attempt.

Stop drinking sodas. Drink water instead. This is the very first step I took before I was even trying to figure out what’s healthy and what’s not. Soda contains large amounts of sugar (or high fructose corn syrup), as well as tons of other little chemicals such as preservatives which just aren’t natural. The common trend in this list is this: if it’s made in a laboratory, don’t eat it. Diet Sodas are included in this, seeing as 99.9% of diet sodas contain Splenda/Aspartame instead of sugar, which some studies have shown has the potential to increase your risk of cancer. Trust me, you’ll feel so much better by the first week of doing this. Also water isn’t the only thing you can drink – some juices, such as blueberry juice, is absolutely amazing for you in moderation.

Switch to whole grain. This one’s also a little bit of a no brainer – switch to whole grain, if you can. In my opinion whole grain has a much better texture, and has tons of health benefits for you as well. You’ll also find that you can get whole grain in products you already love. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Poptarts, and those little fish crackers all are great examples of products that have the same taste that you know and love, but with the added health benefits of whole grain.

Stop eating traditional chips/”crisps”. There are a whole bunch of alternatives to the average “Lays” potato chips that everybody seems to buy lately. Lays themselves makes a baked alternative which you can find at basically any market. Some of my favorite chips are the famous Cape Cod Reduced Fat Potato Chips, which really cut out a ton of the fat content in their originals and compared to Lays, and they taste better, too. There are alternatives to your standard Market Basket branch corn chips  as well. Instead of the regular corn chips, try finding “Good Food Should Taste Good” brand multigrain chips – they’re absolutely delicious, and much healthier than your average corn chip.

Change the way you consume dairy. Another good one. Today we see all too many people drinking whole milk, or eating american cheese with their meals. Switch to 1% of even fat-free milk, and maybe to provolone cheese instead of american. If you’re a cheese and crackers sort of guy, may I recommend that you switch your regular cheese with Cabot 50% or 75% Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar. It’s amazing.

Switch to organic products wherever and whenever possible. Apple juice. Grapes. Milk. Cereal. Almost everything you can possibly think of has an organic version of it that isn’t riddled with chemicals made in a laboratory, and other things that you and I don’t even want to know about. I recommend just switching to organic wherever and whenever possible, if your budget will allow. It’s just better for you.

There are a whole bunch of little things you can do along with all of these as well, of course. Try exercising a bit more. Portion control is also very important.