Feature Articles

7 Days with Windows Phone 7

By Seow Tein Hee & Wong Casandra - 29 Oct 2010

Day 1 - Going Home

7 Days with Microsoft Windows Phone 7

Many of you might have read about Microsoft's latest mobile OS, Windows Phone 7. From mostly positive vibes, to some little grouses with its interfaces, it has all been said and done.

However, when Windows Phone 7 was given the official global announcement and had its devices ready on the retail shelf, it was still in its teething stages. Apps are still populating the Windows Marketplace, and there's much more to explore. From October 21st, various Windows Phone 7 devices became available on retail shelves, and with it, the floodgates finally opened.

In commemoration of the 7, we bring you seven days worth of highlights in this article chronicling our Windows Phone 7 impressions.

 

Day 1 - Going Home

What is extremely striking about the Windows Phone 7 is that it has a pretty easy and straight forward homepage, and its simplicity is clearly discernible from the get-go. Sure it is less decorative than its competitors, but instead of focusing on the attractive elements, it concentrates on providing a streamlined design that gives users a birdeye's view. You simply scroll either up or down to get a quick glimpse of what's available (or what needs attention), and it's extremely easy to pin apps or your important contacts - simply long press them to add and if need be, long press the tiles to move them around - onto your home page. While you can put as many tiles as you like, the list gets longer as you start pinning more shortcuts and tiles; you'll definitely find yourself scrolling quite a bit. As much as we like the simplicity of the UI, Microsoft should work around something more effective like spreading these hubs and tiles across individual pages to make the browsing experience even snappier and useful.

The tile and hub layout is easy on the eye, but requires a lot of scrolling once you start pinning too many apps/contacts to your home page (which is akin to adding too many shortcuts).

Long-pressing an app on the apps page list will allow you to select between pinning it to the home page, uninstalling or reviewing it.

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