Microsoft Creates Whole New UI Experience, Copies iPhone App Store Experience
I watched WMExperts‘ coverage of Microsoft’s big Windows Phone 7 Series keynote at MIX10 yesterday and while I once again wasn’t wowed by the hyperactive quadrilateral tiles of the home screen, the workflow/funflow of moving through the panoramic hubs continued to impress. While Microsoft deserves a lot of credit for creating one of the few new, post-iPhone user experiences/interaction models, however, it’s interesting to note that they’re pretty much copying entirely Apple’s closed iPhone App Store model.
That’s right, free developer tools (like iPhone), no app distribution outside the market (like iPhone), except for beta and enterprise (like iPhone), which means no side-loading (like iPhone), and little-to-no multitasking (like iPhone… at least until iPhone 4.0), and push-notifications to handle alerts (like iPhone). (They do, however, claim they will be far more transparent than Apple has thus far been with the App Store approval process).
On one hand that’s a huge compliment to Apple’s highly successful, if sometimes controversial App Store model. On the other hand, users of previous Microsoft handsets up to and including the most recent Windows Mobile 6.5.x have seen open app installation and ubiquitous multitasking as bragging rights over the iPhone going on 3 years now. The mainstream consumer Microsoft is obviously targeting with WP7S will no doubt find it simple and clear. The traditional base of tinker-happy, ROM-cooking, power users? Likely not.
What think you, is Apple’s App Store model something Microsoft should have emulated?
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Rene Ritchie, Editor
Chad Garrett, Writer
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“What think you?” I mean, really??
Good artists copy. Great artists steal
Honestly I do think that multitasking in phones should be limited since it is a phone and a computer (i.e. no need for multitasking).
Second for the market place…yes it is a copy but an enhanced one that can company branded…I like that
As for the tiles, I would like them to be more alive than these squares…
As for the applications, yes I would like Microsoft to certify applications for the phone before releasing them…
Title is misleading .. You got it right in the body of the article but the title is wrong..
They copied the app store model .. not the app store experience…
I was coming in here ready to disagree with you … until I read the article..
@Nidal.. so the whole Iphone is the closest thign to a computer is really BS right?
What is so bad abotu multitasking … Here is an easy solution .. GIVE THE CONSUMER the option of wanting multitasking or not.. what the hell is so hard… it’s their own battery life… if they want to drain it quickly .. IT”S THEIR CHOICE
I think this is fantastic news!
Now if only Android and Palm would would adopt those policies I would be totally happy with my iPhone.
LOL @ DON .. you want Android and WEBOS to not be as free so you can be happy with the Iphone? lol
Multi-tasking! I just want a nice app switcher. No phone really multi-tasks…just puts it in pause. The closest is probably webos enabled devices followed by android but that is still more of a visual pause than true multitasking. On a computer I can have a bunch of windows with each doing there own thing, and if I want I can see them all at once.
Microsoft “should have emulated”? I don’t know about “should.”. I don’t find the App Store to be a problem, so I suppose it makes some sense for MS to emulate it. Can they make it work? What will differentiate them from Apple? That seems to be the missing piece, so I assume they’re banking on the OS to be really compelling – and so far it looks like it could be.
Nice, I think Microsoft will do well. iPhone is getting stale. When I look at my iPhone today, then I think back 3 years ago and look at it then. I don’t see a difference. Just a couple new icons on the screen. Windows Phone will be a great platform as is Android and WebOS. iPhone is still light years ahead of Blackberry though I am not sure for how long.
Disappointing that they are getting rid of side loading, but, truthfully, I was likely not going to by a Win7 phone anyways, though the separate netflix “instant streaming” to win7 phones announcement piqued my interest. ( http://tinyurl.com/yf8vb27 )
@truth when someone’s listening to Pandora .. while playing a game .. that’s multitasking ..
when someone has 3 different widgets updating on their home screen .. that’s multitasking ..
Even the Iphone multitasks .. but it’s just extremely limited..
and another point that people tend to miss is Apps that run in the background .. WebOS card view is nice but it doesn’t run apps in the background .. and as a Pre owner .. I can’t begin to tell you how frustrating that is.. Android and Symbian and Maemo do that with no problem ..
You can put lipstick on a pig but at the end of the day it’s still a pig.
M$ can copy Apple all they want because somehow the end product always ends up being some convoluted version of the original vision.
Title is misleading, but shouldn’t be a surprise.
What I don’t understand is the sudden obsession with people demanding that OSes change their UI every couple of years and claiming the iPhone UI is already outdated even though it was hailed only 2 years ago.
Kudos to MS for coming up with something original though. Not that I am saying that the iPhone UI is totally original but Android and WebOS seemed less so.
The problem that I see with the WP7 UI though is the same as with WinMo 6 in that it is graphics heavy and flat so there are no visual cues as to what is tappable or swipable and doesn’t appear to add any value other than looking pretty. But just like iPhone apps can look pretty or ugly I’m sure WP7 apps can either be made pretty or ugly and of course they will be making sure to only show off the pretty stuff at the moment, yet I can’t see all developers wanting to make their apps look exactly the same.
@MRC .. see the Iphone UI is outdated because it’s not customizable.. Android’s UI is highly customizable.. so it ’s never OUTDATED .. cause you can customize it and make it look new..
Oh apple will sue them. Haha microsoft copy my *** now.