iPhone OS 4.0 vs Windows Phone 7: Comparisons!
Our take on how Windows Phone 7 compares to iPhone OS 4.0
Ahhh. Now we have a battle on our hands, my friends. Windows Phone 7 Series (later simplified to Windows Phone 7) was announced recently, and we were all thrilled about the huge improvements – nay, ground up rebuilding – that Microsoft has accomplished with it. Microsoft sure made a seriously ballsy move with ditching existing Windows Mobile users, and going all out n its attack against iPhone OS and Android. If that means abandoning the sacred principle of backward compatibility, then so be it. We may not like it, but we sure have to admit their guts.
And then we have the new champion, the iPhone OS 4.0, introduced (more or less!) yesterday by Steve Jobs and his minions. Like most Apple stuff, media interest was huge, and the big news was that lack of multitasking, something Apple was pilloried for a long time about, has finally made an appearance. Okay, it is not true multitasking, but it is there and that is worth talking about, right? related story: iPhone OS 4.0 on Apple iPad
The interesting fact here is that Microsoft when it introduced Windows Phone 7, went about it in a somewhat similar manner. Remember that Windows Mobile 6.5 has multitasking. And then we have the new Windows Phone 7, which has some basic stuff about background operations which may or may not be called multitasking depending on who you ask.
So in short, Windows Phone 7 ditches true multitasking, while iPhone OS introduces pseudo multitasking. Nice.
We wanted to do a full comparison of the battle between the two upcoming mobile phone operating systems. But then, not much details are available yet, and to do a proper Windows Phone 7 vs iPhone OS story, we need to get our hands on at least a Windows Phone 7 phone (haha, you still have to get the OS name right, Ballmer!) vs. a iPhone 4.0 OS device. That is not going to happen for a long time.
So we did the next best thing – Googled it! Lets take a look at what we found after a bit of searching for comparisons between the smartphone OSes.
Pocketnow, one of our favourite websites tracking smartphone developments has a story about how Microsoft will possibly modify Windows Phone 7 to respond to iPhone OS 4.0. They say that there is time for Microsoft till the Fall season, when the devices would hit the market, to make changes to the Windows Phone 7 OS f they feel like it.
Microsoft announced that many non-native apps will pause when a user exits and resumes when a user re-opens the app and that background push notification will fill the void. That brought Windows Phone 7 Series down to the level of iPhone OS 3.0, but today, Apple’s iPhone OS 4.0 was demonstrated with a more robust multitasking engine–users can call up a task manager bar at the bottom by double tapping the home button.
Apart from that, the iPhone OS 4.0 also gets a game hub, similar to what Microsoft offers in Windows Phone 7′s Games hub.
They go on to add that there is demand for better multitasking, so we think some changes to Windows Phone 7 is a definite possibility.
Gizmodo too has a story about how the iPhone OS compares to other smartphone operating systems, including Windows Phone 7. You can see a pretty detailed chart here. It misses a comparison with the Maemo OS used on the Nokia N900, but otherwise its a good comparison.
Social networking integration
One big difference between the approaches is this: Microsoft has apparently decided that social networks are here to stay, and then went about tightly integrating them into Windows Phone 7. Against that, iPhone OS 4.0 still maintains everything as an Apple-centric setup, and while you can get apps for all the social networks, there is no integration in the user interface of iPhone 4.0, unlike Windows Phone 7.
Adobe Flash
Windows Phone 7 also supports Adobe Flash (we think) – something which Apple has no plans to offer in the iPhone OS 4.0.We love flash despite its crappiness – so many things we like don’t work well without Flash, and here we are calling a win for Windows Phone 7.
Gaming
The iPhone OS 4.0′s games hub is a good idea with scores and all, but Xbox Live has a pretty fanatical following and numbers too – and giving them a phone that integrates into their entire gaming experience has to be worth something. The iTunes app store however has more games, though. Here, I guess we have to call a tie for now.
User interface
User interface. Ah. We have had a look at both – but here we have to say that Windows Phone 7 UI is definitely cooler than what Apple has to offer. Sorry, Apple – you guys started it all, made smartphones cool – but if we talk about a next generation UI, then the one from Microsoft comes closer to it than iPhone OS 4.0. Microsoft actually beating Apple in something innovative – can you believe that!
Input modes
Here Windows Phone 7 has an advantage – there will be full touchscreen devices, as well as phones with a hardware keyboard. We like options, and we go with Windows Phone here. It would not matter to an Apple user, we guess.
Customisation
Some level of customisation is possible in Windows Phone 7 – and iPhone OS 4.0 is not very nice about modding either. Here, we hand over the win to Windows 6.5.3, which can be extensively modded.
App store
As far as apps go, though, iPhone OS 4.0 will anyday win hands down in a comparison with Windows Phone.
Well, that is it for now. If you have more opinions in this battle between iPhone OS 4.0 and Windows Phone 7, do let us know in the comments.