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Comment by 9oliYQjP | Hacker News Reader

I disagree. I think Microsoft and RIM should team up. Microsoft is supplying Windows 7 to vendors that just don't give a crap about what software is on their phone as long as it's got all the checkbox features (i.e. they offer both Android and Windows 7 devices but won't focus on one over the other). So stop supplying Windows 7 to these vendors and make RIM the exclusive vendor for Windows 7 devices. Microsoft has a pretty great mobile OS in Windows 7 (this coming from an iPhone lover) and RIM has great hardware and a fan base. These two companies need each other.

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I wasn't aware Windows Phone 7 was released. I don't know about you, but I can't really tell what a product is like until I've at least read independent reviews, or preferably used it directly.

That's usually true unless the product is from Microsoft. Unlike Apple, Microsoft is pretty up-front about what their product will be like before it's actually released. Also, it's not like Microsoft will be starting from scratch. They've got a good kernel and solid foundation to build from. They've got great developer tools. Yes, the user experience is a HUGE blank that needs to be filled in. But do I think Windows Phone 7 will suck like Windows Mobile? I'm a betting man and I say it won't suck, it will actually be decent and won't feel like Android's "I'm running KDE" crappy feel/user experience.

> Microsoft has a pretty great mobile OS in Windows 7 (this coming from an iPhone lover)

You might want to reconsider that knowing that the web browser is the most used app on both the iPhone and Android:

Internet Explorer Mobile browser will be a mixture of Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 desktop versions

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_Mobile

Nice try, iPhone-lover! You just want to get RIM out of the picture for good, probably so your beloved platform can have the enterprise market all to itself or something... And what better way than with RIM switching their "fan base" over to WinMo. /~

Seriously, I don't know where to begin dissecting your assertion that "Microsoft has a pretty great mobile OS in Windows 7". To start, it would be prudent to point out that Windows Phone 7 is not even out yet, so who knows how great it will turn out to be. The screen captures so far seem a little bit low on usability to this smartphone user, but it's obviously a bit early to be making such a judgment. At this point, we don't really know whether MS has an ace or a turd up their sleeve.

"Nice try, iPhone-lover!"

Seriously, though, what's the deal with iPhone fans giving a shout-out to Windows Mobile 7 constantly? It's a little transparent.

Probably because Microsoft is following Apple's lead in many ways with a clean elegant UI and a managed App Store. Android on the other hand seems to be adding complexity, UI has never been good, and the Market is descending into an even deeper level of chaos (apps stealing private data, fake banking apps, etc) So if you like the iPhone there's a good chance WM7 would appeal to you. If you like Android there's a good chance neither iPhone or WM7 would appeal to you. I don't plan to buy a WM7 device myself but I think it will be successful because so many people just don't want to deal with all this added complexity of an Android device. Going back to the original article I think simplicity is a big reason RIM is still doing fine. Lots of people just want a phone that can also do e-mail. I believe long term Android's complexity (UI, different models, different limitations per model, etc) is going to be a big problem for Google.

Windows Mobile 7 is not available: You haven't used it or even read a reasonably accurate review of it, and your assumptions about its usability are completely baseless. The app store is not available. Further, Windows Mobile in no way will be limited to their "app store", completely undermining your comparison with Apple.

Your Android points are so far from reality that I don't even want to engage in that. Android complexity? Security?

The truth of the matter is that iPhone owners who wave the flag see Windows Mobile 7 as the crippled kid that they try to promote as the alternative to Android, singing its praises as a weak distraction. Every teenager saw this transparent technique play out, and I would hope that we can all recognize it for what it is now.

I've seen a video walk through of every single feature of WM7 along with apps/games. I think that's a pretty good basis for an initial opinion. I've also used the Zune HD which has a very similar UI. (nearly pixel-by-pixel identical for the media player app)

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/LauraFoy/First-Look-Windows-P...

http://gizmodo.com/5471805/windows-phone-7-series-everything...

For the record I own an iPhone and an Android phone. I've owned a BlackBerry, WM6 phone, Palm Pre, etc. If I had a third front pocket I might consider buying a WM7 device.

I can't speak for the original poster... but to me WP7 seems actually quite nice despite me liking the iPhone too.

I like that MS tried for once to think outside the box: maybe it will be good, maybe it will be crap. Ironically everything I hated about MS (trying too cover all the basis, doing me-too products) seems to be the way Google is going.

But that doesn't mean I want Android to do badly. I just think the mobile market is still young and there's a lot of innovation. I like a good competition, and I appreciate when a company, ANY company, tries to do a serious product. I could not care less that it's MS, Nokia, or Palm.

My guess is they miss the old rivalry, back when things were simple, good vs. bad, white & black. The tech industry today is too morally ambiguous, with Apple sometimes playing the part of evil villain against Google, Adobe and others, something they're not comfortable with.

That actually makes a lot of sense. At the end of the day, RIM and MS have always shared the same target demographic for the most part - they are the de facto handset / OS of the enterprise. The iPhone has slowly been working its way into the enterprise sector, but they could easily lock down that entire segment by focusing on security + encryption and heavily integrating with Visual Studio / .NET. It would also allow Microsoft to benefit from having pseudo-vertical integration, as their best products seem to be the ones where they are developing for a single hardware platform (eg, Xbox, later Zune models, etc).

I totally agree. Another good pairing I have thought is HP(webOS to me needs better branding then either HP or Palm) and Nintendo. Exclusive access to Nintendo games and Nintendo allows devs to create/submit apps using some of their IP (Luigi but not Mario for example)

Id buy a Nintendo like iPhone.

My kids would choose a DSPhone over an iPhone any day, and they are valid consumers since 3 out of 4 of them have phones.

Great idea! What RIM needs is a Blackberry Kin for the social-connected workforce of the future!

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