Once every phone is also a desktop, you suddenly have opened all kinds of options for people who only have a phone, and not a full computer. Which, last I checked, is the majority of internet users who access it via their phones. Continuum would have been a literal game changer, and they gave up on it.
At the time when Windows Phone was released, the iPad had been released 7 months prior (both in 2010). It looked like consumers would continue to own a desktop or laptop computer, likely running Windows. It certainly wasn’t clear that mobile phone and tablet computing power and functionality would rise to the point of consumers dropping laptops and desktops altogether as is happening today.
Choosing to back Continuum meant possibly losing two Windows desktop licenses, and possibly worse, an MS office license. Why would you need to buy multiple Microsoft licenses if your single Mobile Phone device held both your Phone, Mobile, and Desktop OS licenses, as well as your Office Suite license?
They weren’t willing to risk current day (at that time) profits for a future selling fewer licenses.
fatboy93@lemm.ee 1 year ago
I don’t even care about other features. The tiling home screen of the OS was really nice to use and when used properly by the apps could result in a “live” OS unlike the iconographic interfaces of iOS and Android. The homescreen was also old-age friendly and really a pleasure to use.
The OS ram like really smooth on 512mb RAM, unlike their counterpart android phones which were struggling back then with 2-3GB RAM.
The lumias themselves had a ton of useful features like tap to wake etc, which didn’t consume much battery and in general the Nokia cameras were top notch for the time.
Basically, the OS got killed because of a chicken and egg problem with the apps, and the OS being from Microsoft, got a death knell because of the reputation. Also for some fucking reason, Microsoft decided that the already low userbase WP7s were to be depreciated rather than provide an upgrade path fo WP8 and WP10.
prashanthvsdvn@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Bro I kid you not the way that crazy OS took advantage of AMOLED for pure black backgrounds in every screen and along with a fluid interactivity, it was like a blessing from god.
Evilcoleslaw@lemmy.world 1 year ago
If you’re on Android you should try Launcher 10. Very customizable Windows Phone tile interface. Although it has in-app purchases for a couple bucks each to disable ads and enable live tiles (they work really well) or alternatively a paid $0.99/month subscription for both. Still gets active support, as it just got one to improve support for foldable devices