back to article Windows Phone is like religion – it gets people when they are down

Microsoft is mopping up sales from dazed and confused BlackBerry handset users found wandering across Blighty, according to claims from an industry number cruncher. Some 570,000 Brits worshipped at the altar of Redmond (bought a Windows Phone) in Q1, up 32 per cent year-on-year – like religions, it is easier for tech vendors …

  1. 0laf

    Yup

    Integration with AD makes WinPho a pretty easy choice for cheap business BB replacements .

    The lack of apps on WinPho doesn't really matter when all you really need are calendars and email.

    The built in off-line Nokia Maps can be pretty big plus for those that have to delve into remote areas lacking in a mobile signal.

    MS inability to keep up with the Facebook API might put of some folks outside of business.

    Not sure how WinPho 10 will do. Windows 8.1 for phones works really quite well. 8.1 just sucked on everything else.

    1. graeme leggett Silver badge

      Re: Yup

      "MS inability to keep up with the Facebook API might put of some folks outside of business."

      This sounded strange to me so I checked. And on my phone (about 2 weeks old) with the Facebook app installed it integrates quite adequately with Win Pho 8.1.

      I think the Facebook API issue was for phone to facebook without having the app installed.

      1. 0laf

        Re: Yup

        Think you're right if you've the app you're not affected.

      2. big_D Silver badge

        Re: Yup

        @Graeme Facebook are retiring the API used by Microsoft for WindowsPhone integration.

        There is still a Facebook App, but the ability to see updates in the contacts app etc. will go away.

        Don't ask me how it works, I haven't had a Facebook account for over 5 years.

  2. graeme leggett Silver badge

    " attacking B2B users with decent-quality, low-cost handsets,"

    the swines!

  3. MyffyW Silver badge

    I'll be honest, back in 2013 things weren't great in my life - stresses with my job, feelings of self-worth. Then somebody gave me a little blue box. It had a Finnish name on it that reminded me of happy, carefree days in the nineties. It made me feel special again. That's how I got hooked. But it's ok. I can handle it....

  4. Zippy's Sausage Factory
    Devil

    So...

    Your little Windows Phone gets attached to the free Wifi in Starbucks. It gets infected with something nasty because Windows is the prime target for nasties, mainly because there's a lot of it about. Now that there's a unified code base for nasties, you just carried that to your corporate network.

    And that's why I know some IT managers who've banned Windows Phone altogether.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So...

      Is ths fact or just hypothesising? Because afaik current Windows Phone not only is a very different codebase from the popular versions of Windows desktop, but it's running on a completely different physical architecture.

      ...not that I care unduly because I jumped ship to Sony. They may be losing money but they seem to be solid products and the waterproofing and sd card expansion is nice.

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Re: So...

        It's fact, it was something which famously (or not so famously) could be mitigated in Windows Phone 8 with a settings change but could not be mitigated in Windows Phone 7 and as MS didn't push out an update for Windows Phone 7 the users were left hung out to dry.

        https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/2876146.aspx

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          What about when they go to Windows 10?

          Isn't one of Microsoft's big selling points how they're unifying the OS from mobile to desktop? I don't know how true that really is as far as allowing malware to take hold though.

          So long as they stick with ARM and don't fall for Intel's advances they're probably safe, but something running the same Windows kernel on the same x86 might catch some Windows viruses even if WP10 devices aren't the intended target.

      2. StuCom
        Windows

        Re: So...

        Yeah, and I'm jumping the other way from a Z1 to a Nokia 930. Gonna get heat for this, but I've suffered for too long!!

        Yes, Sony hardware was OK (CPU, RAM, microSD, OK camera, nice waterproofing - fun in a meeting once when I dropped my phone in a jug full of water), but the screens are not what Sony think they are, and guess what's the No.1 thing you need to be good on a smartphone. Sit your shiny Sony next to a Sammy, Apple (or Nokia 930) and try not to look like the loser - like I did for 18 months... No, the main problem is that in my opinion Android really isn't very good in many ways.

        Sluggish UI (really? Still? Even after project butter, etc.).

        Tardy updates to the OS (if you're not on Nexus).

        Exchange mail stopped working properly in Kit Kat so rendered useless for work (not just me, that one).

        I don't install a gazillion apps (I was scared off installing crap after many bouts of random phone lockups or phantom app battery drain), so an app 'store' full of ad-ware wasn't a great draw for me.

        I replaced my Android tablets with Windows 8.1 a while ago, now my phone with Windows Phone 8.1. Got to say I'm very pleased with the results! I get the occasional use of someone else's tablet or phone and I'm sorry to say that I'm not sorry I moved, not one bit.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: So...but the screens are not what Sony think they are

          I take photographs and I'm a bit of a colour accuracy freak. I prefer Sony because their screens are not oversaturated and a bit cartoony like Samsung and Apple, which is what I expect from a manufacturer that cares about optics and photography. I know other people like something that looks like Velvia on steroids, but in my mind the nearer to the rendition of the old Kodak Pro the better.

          My wife buys a lot of wool over the internet, and I keep telling her to rely on the colour rendition of her Sony, not her Samsung tablet. I have seen people have exactly similar problems with iPads.

          1. StuCom
            Windows

            Re: So...but the screens are not what Sony think they are

            Well there are many aspects to screen quality, not just colour accuracy. But on phone screen colour accuracy, you're mistaken. I don't remember a Sony phone screen being lauded as super accurate. If you read the spec sheet you'd believe they were the best displays in the world. But "marketing" != "product quality".

            Google these words: "anandtech samsung galaxy s6 review display". I know it's only one site, but these guys are among the best in my opinion. Look at the results graphs for the different handsets. Notice a theme? Go ahead and check out the Xperia Z1s and Z3 reviews, too..

            Sony colour accurate? Not so much, no. Better than Sony/Samsung? Nope. And this is only colour accuracy/brightness. View your Sony phone screen slightly off centre.. Look at that rubbish! Also, see how the text seems to be sat below a thick pane of glass? Compare that to a Sammy, Apple or my Nokia 930. They look like the graphics are painted on the surface. That's good engineering, right there.

            If you're into your photos then you should really switch to an Apple or Samsung phone (with the "auto-crap" turned off).

            1. Dan 55 Silver badge

              Re: So...but the screens are not what Sony think they are

              "see how the text seems to be sat below a thick pane of glass? Compare that to a Sammy, Apple or my Nokia 930. They look like the graphics are painted on the surface. That's good engineering, right there."

              You'll be saying that if your screen breaks and you'll need to get it replaced.

              Later Sony phones also have a screen white balance setting, unlike many others.

    2. Filippo Silver badge

      Re: So...

      It looks like neither you nor those IT managers you know have any idea of what you're talking about. Nasties that target good old Windows desktop won't work on Windows Phone any more than they'd work on an iPhone. Hell, if the reasoning is "ban the most common platform because everyone will target it", the obvious choice would be Android. How many people run Android apps from outside the Play Store, compared to people who run Modern apps from outside the Windows Store? Are there even any people at all who do that?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So...

      "It gets infected with something nasty because Windows is the prime target for nasties"

      You must be thinking of Android. There is to date ZERO malware on Windows Phone.

      "And that's why I know some IT managers who've banned Windows Phone altogether."

      Yep - you definitely mean Android.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      Re: So...

      "And that's why I know some IT managers who've banned Windows Phone altogether."

      That's because they are idiots that listen to the likes of you.

      Nokia 635 (personal phone), got updated again at the weekend (already running the latest version)

      Samsung S3 (work phone), still waiting after how many years? Despite huge amount of known Vulns, it's still waiting for any updates.

      Both on EE

      Tell me which is the more secure again?

    5. kryptylomese

      Re: So...

      There are more instances of Linux than (anything else) Windows in the world. Windows isn't compromised because it is popular, it is compromised because it is crap!

      1. dogged

        Re: So...

        go away

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yup

    "570,000 Brits worshipped at the altar of Redmond". That's 570,002 judging by two other comments on here.

    1. Terry 6 Silver badge

      Re: Yup

      Not a very good trolling. B-

      Buck up there!

  6. Christian Berger

    It's an overlapping market

    The sort of company that runs an Exchange server kinda was the prime target for Blackberry. And now that Microsoft builds cheaper devices, and Blackberry looking like it's in its last years, people might think that they work just as well or even better for e-mail with Exchange. Not an unreasonable statement to make.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: It's an overlapping market

      "The sort of company that runs an Exchange server kinda was the prime target for Blackberry"

      So almost every medium or large company then. Other than those still lumbered with Lotus Notes, or that have already migrated to a cloud service...

  7. Amorous Cowherder

    Doing lots and lots of Windows coding lately, my mate is a Windows coder and he let me have a play with his Lumia and I was impressed. The only thing that's putting me off is a couple of apps which I would have to live without if I moved off Android, such as the Photographer's Ephemeris. I think the the Winpho took some stick but seems to be picking up nicely, I see few more every few weeks while on the daily commute.

    1. Charles Manning

      "but seems to be picking up nicely"

      Ah yes, yet another member of the "give MS a fair chance to catch up" brigade.

      MS are not the late comers to phone space that need a chance to catch up. MS got into phones in 2001 or so and have been in phones twice as long as Google and Apple.

      In 2001 they pretty much had the phone space wide open to them (except for BB doing the corporate thing). They took their lead and just dicked around. They made another go of it in 2008 or so with the Kin phone which was withdrawn after 2 months.

      Over the last couple of years we see companies with a huge commitment to Windows CE space getting very skittish and making a break for Android.

  8. Terry 6 Silver badge

    Love it

    Not being interested in stupid mind candy, for my purposes, the small computer in the pocket WIndows Phone is perfect for me.

    I can talk, email, message, check the interwebs, keep notes, navigate, take pictures.

    It works really well, is very intuitive to use.

    A useful device, no Apple Tax and not part of the Googledroid ad network.

    What's not to like?

    1. melgross

      Re: Love it

      So, you would rather pay the Microsoft tax instead?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Love it

        "So, you would rather pay the Microsoft tax instead?"

        Windows Phone OS is free to use for OEMs....

        1. melgross

          Re: Love it

          Sure, now it is, because no one would pay them for it. Microsoft now makes 95% of all Win Phone devices. So there's no discernible income from anyone else anyway.

          And Apple doesn't charge themselves for iOS any more than Microsoft charges themselves for Win Phone.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Love it

            "And Apple doesn't charge themselves for iOS any more than Microsoft charges themselves for Win Phone."

            But they charge customers for it. Microsoft / OEMs don't for Windows Phone.

      2. Terry 6 Silver badge

        Re: Love it

        The Windows phones do not have anything like the cost premium of having a shiny Apple.

        Is there realy anyone here in El Reg who doesn't realise that Apple gets away with a massive premium price because they are so fashionable.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Correction

    – like religions, it is easier for tech vendors to … I think you meant "- like cult, it's easier for tech vendors to ...."

    1. Bucky 2
      Trollface

      Re: Correction

      I don't understand the distinction you're trying to make here.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Correction

      @AC

      I was thinking along the lines of Scientology, L Ron Hubbard knew how to milk a sucker too.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Correction

        "L Ron Hubbard knew how to milk a sucker too."

        That applies to most religions surely, not just "dangerous cults" ?

  10. Baudwalk

    My BB Bold 9900 was...

    ...replaced with a Lumia 630 when our IT department switched last year.

    My first experience with WinPhone, it was a very positive surprise.

    Going from the premium build quality of the 9900 to one of the cheaper Lumias was not a problem. The beating my phones sometimes get, the cheap looking, but extremely robust, Lumia 630 was actually a better fit for me.

    Something about the UI appeals to me, and it ticks all my work features.

    The built in calendar app is crap, but Chronos+ solves that, and is better than even Android's great Business Calendar 2 for displaying my schedule.

    The app gap is substantial, and will be a deal breaker for many. But with mSecure and Simon Tatham's Puzzle Collection recently making their appearances, I'm covered and could easily make the switch from Android.

  11. cambsukguy

    This is the year

    Of Windows on the Phone.

    I haven't used Win10 yet but I read that the latest phone hardware with WinPho10 allows one to attach it to an HDMI TV/monitor and, along with connecting to a BT keyboard and mouse, presents a full Desktop scenario.

    This sounds like the exact thing many Linux users/lovers desire from their phone (and N900 users practically had).

    If it is fairly full featured affair, allowing proper document editing etc., it would mean even less reason to take a laptop and/or a tablet somewhere where you regularly work as long as they have the 'docking' required.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Windows it like religion

    "Windows Phone is like religion – it gets people when they are down"

    So, it's a harmful predator, that should be made illegal?

  13. Jim84

    Bring back the E6

    I wouldn't mind an updated version of this with windows phone 10 on it.

  14. Charlie Clark Silver badge

    It's nice to read the number of people who are happy with their Windows phones. The hardware is good and if Microsoft can't get the Exchange integration working for business then you do have to worry for them. Still, I think the move to provide their services on both IOS and Android will bring Microsoft more in the long term.

    I'm not trolling but I can't remember seeing a Nokia here in Germany this year. Meanwhile one of my corporate clients is switching from BlackBerry to Apple. That would be about 5 % of all the Windows phones sold in the UK in Q1 and with much fatter margins.

    1. Hans 1

      >I'm not trolling but I can't remember seeing a Nokia here in Germany this year.

      I have, exactly, precisely, 1, in the wild, in France, mind. I see them daily in ads everywhere, but in people's hands ? Nada ...

      And Android really sucks.

    2. MJI Silver badge

      Blackberry & Apple

      With custard!

  15. AegisPrime
    Happy

    Very happy with my Lumia 520 - considering it's Nokia's landfill phone it's considerably more robust than similarly priced Android phones were at the time.

    I'm pretty agnostic when it comes to phones - I had an iPhone 1-4 then (when I was skint and needed a replacement) picked up a Samsung Galaxy Ace which was good for a while (if sluggish) once I'd wiped all the Samsung crud off and installed vanilla Android. I was tempted by a Nexus 5 (actually bought one and fiddled with it for a week before returning it) but finally settled on the Lumia 520 which I continue to really enjoy using - only thing I miss on it is an oleaphobic coating 'cause it's a grease magnet - next phone will almost certainly be a nice, compact WinPhone.

    1. AIBailey

      I've had a 520 for almost 2 years now. Loved it at first, feel pretty fed up with it now. The earlier WP8 version was faster and the People hub worked really well, however the WP8.1 update pretty much killed it, meaning that I need to use the 3rd party apps much more. The Facebook and FB Messenger apps are ridiculously slow, the Maps navigation is unreliable, the browser is limited (really MS, STILL no forward button?).

      I'm due a new phone in a couple of months. No doubt it'll be an Android, and I can't wait.

      1. StuCom
        Holmes

        re: really MS, STILL no forward button?

        Phone 8.1:

        Swipe right = backward

        Swipe left = forward

        I like the browser, personally.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: re: really MS, STILL no forward button?

          "Phone 8.1:

          Swipe right = backward

          Swipe left = forward"

          Not on mine. You must be holding it upside down...

  16. AIBailey
    Pint

    lol, I'd never noticed that. Have a thumbs up and a beer...

    ...all other complaints still apply though :)

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