Test Windows Phone 7 on iOs or Android | Hacker News Reader

Test Windows Phone 7 on iOs or Android

aka.ms

19 pointsdlapiduz10 comments

I returned my Windows Phone (Samsung Focus S) today and picked up an Android (Samsung Galaxy II)... and you know what, I miss WinPho.

By comparison, Android (and I came from a Nexus One before this, so I know it well) is such an un-unified mess. I find myself fighting the UI often. Windows Phone has what I genuinely think is the best mobile UI out there, bar none.

Once they improve the Maps app (it's awful), add more third party hooks (so I can get GChat etc. in the Messaging section) and people start supporting the browser more (the IE in Mango is fine, but people seem to use too many -webkit- prefixes) I'll happily switch back. In the mean time I'll be developing WP apps in an emulator...

Im not well versed in whats possible on the browser. Had a poke but still not sure how the WP7 transformations happen. Anyone able to provide a link or something to allow myself to learn?

I presume you mean the tile effects? They are using -webkit-transform-origin-x and translate3d to create that

That's the one. Thanks. I shall look into it.

Its too bad they didn't actually put in much real functionality. Its really just a glorified slideshow.

But a compelling slideshow at that.

Huh weird. I don't have the Messenger in the Messaging settings on my WP7.5

I find it ironic that this webpage doesn't work on an actual WP7 device (w/ mango). But, FWIW, I love my WP7.

Imagine a world in which you could load WP onto the iPhone and Android on your Windows Phone.

The freedoms that we take granted on PCs(running Windows 7 on Macs) seem to be lost now.

I think this has more to do with the speed of hardware innovation than it does a lack of interest. Could you run a Mac OS on a Windows PC from 1996? Could you run Windows on Macs in '96? Personal Computer hardware was changing so rapidly that I think porting OSs around wasn't anybody's priority. Of course, the hardware changes slowed down and things are more stable now.

I think there's little stopping you from hacking around and getting each mobile OS to run on the other's hardware, but the effort to utility ratio is so low since your hardware will be severely outdated by the time you're done.

It has more to do with standardisation. Every handset manufacturer seems to use ever-so-slightly different hardware even within their own models. Throw in some closed drivers and you have absolutely no idea what's going on.

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