Windows Phone is the best mobile operating system available today. I have a Samsung Focus (running the Windows Phone Mango beta), an iPad, and the HP TouchPad. I have carried Androids, iPhones, and Blackberries and the Windows Phone is my system of choice.

I’m not talking about the old-school Windows Mobile 6.x phones that grew into a fragmented mess.  I’m talking about the written from scratch Windows Phone 7 that was released in 2010. Even with a horrible marketing effort from Microsoft, people who use it start to understand that its usefulness comes from its integration and simplicity. Just ask Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert. Or check out this article from Ziff-Davis last week on the stability of Windows Phone.

Step out of the Reality Distortion Field and you will realize that “other” companies create quality products. In fact, Windows Phone is the best thing to come out of Microsoft in years. (Although some would argue for Kinect.) The ease of use combined with stability and rich feature set makes for a truly remarkable product. I’m running on a Focus (which is a somewhat older WP device) and it is the smoothest, most responsive system I have.  I like my tablets but the Windows Phone operating system is smoother, more responsive, and less quirky. There won’t be a “Windows Phone Tablet” because Windows 8 (yes, the desktop version of Windows) will run on mobile platforms including phones and tablets.  It’s a shame there won’t be a WP Tablet because the hub concept would work perfectly on this form factor.  I’m sure there is a WP Tablet somewhere in a Microsoft lab, but it will never see the light of day.

By the way, after I posted my list of HP TouchPad annoyances, HP stated they were reevaluating their tablet strategy. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen this time!

As great as Windows Phone may be, it is still a relatively new system and there is obvious room for improvement. Here are my top annoyances of Mango:

1. Customization is lacking. Yes, I know this goes against the Windows Phone simple is better theme, but I saw a silly app called “Phone 8” that showed how basic customization could be performed without taking away from the live tile experience. The app demonstrates concept themes that vary the level of opacity of the tiles and allows a background image to be visible.
2. What in the heck is Tap-by-Turn navigation? Yes, I know that turn-by-turn is available through various third-party apps. I’ve also heard the speculation that Microsoft could not include turn-by-turn due to some licensing restriction with NavTeq, but this needs to get worked out. Tap-by-turn may work technically but it is a horrible compromise.
3. Where is the “Find on page” option in IE9? It was there in the original version of Windows Phone with IE8 so why is it missing now?
4. Limited multitasking has been a part of Windows Phone from the beginning.  It was ‘limited’ since it only allowed for managed apps to run simultaneously. You could easily listen to music with the built-in Zune media player, take a phone call and browse the web. However, if you wanted to listen to music with another app, like Last.FM, your music would stop as soon as you navigated away from the app. With the Mango build Microsoft has created a cool new hybrid technique that sits between full-blown multitasking (like WebOS) and a most recently used list (like iOS). This has promise as a multitasking system that doesn’t kill your battery. My issue is with the user interface implementation. To switch between tasks you are presented with a card-like interface that is similar to WebOS users. In Mango, when you hold down the back key you will see the five most recent applications. However, there is no easy way to close the app from this card view or change the number of items in the list. This really seems half-baked.
5. Why why why is there no way to take a screenshot? I would love to show you the multitasking card view, but I cannot grab a screen capture. I heard someone speculate that this is to protect potential copyright violations. Whatever! Every other OS in the world (including Windows) has this ability.
6. No Citrix client. This might not mean much to you, but in a corporate environment this could be a huge deal and prevent Windows Phone from being adopted as a standard. The Citrix guys blame Microsoft for not giving them the proper hardware level access in the API. We’ll see if that changes now that the Mango API has just been released.
7. No Cisco-EAP WiFi client. File this under “special corporate uses”, but this one is biting me since we use CEAP as our WiFi authentication method at work.
8. No Cisco AnyConnect client. Not having CEAP wouldn’t be that big of a deal if I could simply VPN/SSL in. However, that’s not an option either.
9. Some major apps are still not available. There are over 30,000 apps in the catalog. That is a huge milestone that was reached very quickly. This is even more remarkable when you consider that most of these are high-quality apps. There is definitely a limit on the number of fart apps. So what’s missing? For me, I am looking for UrbanSpoon and the Starbucks pay app. I find it ridiculous that the UrbanSpoon app is missing.
10. There are no folders. Since there are so many apps, why is there no way to organize these on the phone?  You can pin your favorites to the home screen but there is no concept of folders (The same feature is lacking on HP’s WebOS and the first few generations of Apple’s iOS).  The compensating factor is the ability to search for an app, but I would still like to see some type of multilevel organization structure in the app list.
11. You cannot search the full index of the phone.  You can search for apps.  You can search for emails in the email client. You can search for contacts in People Hub. You cannot search in one place and return all results on the phone like you can using the “Just Type” feature in WebOS.  This is a “Bing Phone” so you would think this would be possible.
12. Cloudy cloud story.   What is the ultimate cloud strategy for this platform? From day 1 of Windows Phone, you could login to www.windowsphone.com and find or lock your lost phone.  You could also log into SkyDrive and see your photos.  But does everyone know that?  There is little evidence of this on the phone or on the Zune software.  Why isn’t Zune cloud enabled?  I would love to see my phone synced with Zune through the SkyDrive cloud. Or take it further, why do I need Zune?  Why can’t I have a folder on my desktop that syncs with Phone via the cloud?
13. FlickR integration should be part of Windows Phone like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I would like to browse the pictures hub and see FlickR albums listed as well.
14. Custom ringtones are a pain without a 3rd party app.  In traditional Microsoft style, they provided the guts and are waiting for a partner to build a usable implementation.  As it stands today, without an app, you can create a Windows Phone ringtone by setting the genre to “ringtone” using the Zune desktop software. This is a pain.
15. ActiveSync needs a private app store. Yes, as a corporate user I would love to have a private market place.  I think the natural place for this is on our ActiveSync server.
16. Why can’t I run Windows Phone apps in Windows? OK, this really isn’t a Windows Phone annoyance, but it is still annoying.  If WP apps are written in Silver Light, why can’t I run the apps as a gadget in Windows 7?  This would be huge and open up new doors for new types of apps and attract thousands of new app developers. Update:  This will now be possible in Windows 8.

Overhaul The Microsoft EA

The biggest improvement Microsoft can make is to fix the Enterprise Agreement licensing model.  The world is changing and virtualization is here. More and more companies are finding ways to implement Windows without signing an EA. (IBM even has a program to help users called Liberate.)  My company opted to not renew our EA and saved a load of cash.  The downside is that we cannot use the Enterprise edition of Win 7 and as a result we are implementing Win 7 Pro.  While Pro is ok for most users in my org, we have some users who need encryption. – not just isolated encryption, but the centrally managed BitLocker that only comes with an EA.  I could deploy some isolated BitLocker islands, but this is not a good practice since keys are not managed.  We have a 3^rdparty solution, but if we could implement a mix of Pro/Enterprise and still use the centrally managed tools in AD then life would be much easier and the MS sales people would have a better story to tell.  Other great features that I cannot use are AppLocker and Med-V.  When looking at the cost of the EA, AppLocker and the other included items did not justify the cost.  That’s too bad since these are some great tools that are just collecting dust and could benefit organizations. I bet most people reading this don’t even know what AppLocker is! (See a few paragraphs down; perhaps MS should combine BitLocker with Security Essentials.)

Make Hyper-V More Complete for VDI

While Microsoft is doing well with server virtualization, the desktop Hyper-V product needs to mature.  The fundamentals to Hyper-V seem very solid. In fact, we stood up a Hyper-V VDI environment quicker and with better performance than we had with our VMWare VDI solution. The problem with Microsoft’s solution is the lack of tools.  Like most other products, MS builds the base components with an open architecture, but waits for partners like Quest and Citrix to make the solution manageable in large organizations. So, to stand up a nice VDI solution I need to work with multiple products from multiple vendors. How is that EASY?  They also need to keep maturing RemoteFX as a full featured VDI client. To enable true VDI, the old roaming profile feature needs to dusted off and updated.  While this was a good idea, implementation often wasn’t practical because of the amounts of data that neeed to be streamed.  This feature now seems relevant again, but needs to be integrated with could and VDI offerings.

Three-Tiered Virtualization Model

Speaking of virtualizing user profiles, why not take a radical shift and create three distinct virtual layers:

1. The OS
2. Applications
3. User profiles (or user state)

The latter two would be applicable for physical (non-virtualized) operating systems as well.  Imagine how much simpler administration would be if applications were virtualized with App-V and user profiles were virtualized with User-V (I just made that name up).  Not only could I easily login to any computer (or slate device) on the network, but app delivery gets easy, licensing gets easy, etc… There are a couple of problems with the scenario.  The amount of data being transferred for large profiles is one, but the other is how do I take virtual apps on the road without connectivity?  Regardless, this is a huge fundalmental shift in the way apps and users are managed today on the desktop, but this fits into Microsoft’s cloud vision.

Enhance MDT

The Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT 2010) deployment method is LIGHT YEARS ahead of Ghosting type technologies. Instead of maintaining a gold reference machine and making sector based images from this, MDT configurations can be managed from any desktop.  You simply point MDT to your Windows media, applications, and drivers.  From here you build logic around these items (for example, ‘If IsLaptop then install VPN’), then generate your bootable image with all the logic.  This is easy, but the learning curve is STEEP and not for the non-technical.  MDT needs refinement in initial setup (too many separate parts), driver management, wireless config (can’t import wireless profiles), IE config (most settings must be controlled via GPO), and the user experience (no way to set a theme for default user).

Clean Up AD

Speaking of Active Directory, it needs to be cleaned up. AD has grown over the years and the number of individual policy objects is nearly incomprehensible.  As you walk through the objects, the functionality of certain items has changed and the descriptions don’t always agree and many times actually conflict with the setting.  Furthermore, there is no check/balance system so setting A may undo setting B, or the combination of settings X, Y, and Z could have detrimental effects to the end user.   At the very least, AD needs versioning control with the ability to un-tattoo managed computers.

Touch, Pen, & Voice Input

Touch is the big consumer focus for 2011. However, it has relevant uses in businesses as well. Yes, Windows 7 has multi-touch and handwriting recognition, but that’s as far as it goes.  Again, MS wants partners to extend this functionality to make it useful.  MS needs to build in a touch UI that control 100% of the operating system.  Is this what Mosh is all about?

The pen input method is over looked these days due to touch devices.  However, pen is very useful for taking notes in an app like OneNote or drawing diagrams. The ability for Win 7 to convert handwriting to text is unparalleled.  It does a good job even when you try to write sloppily. It even learns as you use it.  When writing in traditional apps such as Office, Windows presents you with a pop-up containing a single line to write text on.  When you pause writing or click “insert” it places the text in your document.  This is a huge area for improvement.  Writing on this single line can be awkward and unnatural.

Most people don’t know that you can control Windows with speech.  It’s been there for years. It’s good for functions like “select word” or “select paragraph” but it’s not intuitive to say “search for mexican restaurants in tulsa.”  Microsoft owns a product called TellMe that is built into Windows Phone 7 devices.  TellMe is fantastic.  This product needs to be integrated into the core of Windows 8.

Windows Security

Keep improving the security story. Windows 7 made huge strides in security – at least in what most people think of security (viruses, spyware, etc).  It is now considered the most secure desktop beating previous versions of Windows, Linux, and OSX. On top of that, while not part of Windows itself, the free Security Essentials is one of the best malware engines I have used.  However, it doesn’t rank in Garnet’s “completeness of vision” chart since it doesn’t offer a Mac OSX version, and there are no firewall, encryption, or other loss prevention (DLP) features.  Figure out a way to combine malware, encryption, and DLP with audit, and then the security story for Microsoft gets even better.  Of course, this all needs be deployable through MDT and managed through AD.

IE9, IE10, and Beyond

Microsoft is doing a surprisingly good job with Internet Explorer 9.  They need to keep up the good work and continue standards compliancy.  Most people don’t really care about 100% compliancy, but it is still a good story to tell.

Dump WMP for Zune

Currently, Microsoft offers two media experiences: Windows Media Player and Zune.While media is often viewed as consumer focused, it still plays an important role in corp worlds.  Microsoft needs to dump WMP and focus on the superior Zune desktop software. Zune is more modern with ties into other devices like Windows Phone and Xbox.  It also has hooks into streaming and cloud storage. Of course, MDT and AD integration are required. (Windows Media CENTER is actually a third built-in media experience, but it doesn’t have much use in the corporate space. Actually, Media Center is one of my favorite home apps, it could use some updating from Microsoft.  I have lots of ideas for that, but that’s another topic.)

The one really cool feature of WMP that Zune does not have is the “play to” feature.  When set up properly, you can select any media file and stream it to any device on your network.  This could be an Xbox, a hand held device, or even another computer.  It’s a really cool feature but set up is less than ideal.

Photo Gallery Needs to Grow Up

Speaking of Media, Live Photo Gallery (part of Live Essentials) is a great tool for managing and viewing images/videos. It has a built in compact version of SQL Server which makes handling, tagging, organizing, moving, etc thousands of photos easy. In fact, my wife uses it for her photo business in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  The problem is (once again) is that it is consumer focused.  There is no way to deploy parts of it with MDT. Furthermore, once the install is completed there is no method in AD to block the Live ID sign-in screen.  I don’t want all my users going out and creating Live IDs just to view photos.  I am NOT suggesting, MS include WLPG as part of Windows 8.  I like the idea of keeping it separate so it remains on its own development path.

Remote Support

The built-in remote support options work but are limited. While Dameware and Bomgar have built solid businesses for desktop support, MS could improve the built in offering to work more reliably over multiple LAN/WAN/Firewall segments.

Desktop Sharing

Building on remote support, I would like to see a user feature for easily and securely sharing desktop screens. Our graphics people would love the ability to share their screen as they are working on projects. We are currently implementing Microsoft Lync for web conferencing, but this is overkill for simple desktop sharing.

Corporate App Store/Marketplace

An internal App Store that allows end-users to install software would be a great idea! Early in 2010, a leaked MS document showed plans for a Windows 8 Marketplace/App store.  This is a great consumer feature (in fact, Apple took notice and created their own for OSX), but I do not want my 7,000 users buying Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja for their work computers.  The Marketplace needs the ability (through AD) to be redirected to an internal version. This could potentially reduce calls to the helpdesk for software installs.

What Else?

My time is running out, but I will re-visit this list again soon.  What other items would you like to see in Windows 8 that would benefit the corporate user?

Of course I recommend you proceed at your own risk.  Anytime you flash a device you could brick it.  Although, I have flashed my Tilt 2 dozens and dozens of times without issue. I recommend the NRG ROMs.  He keeps his ROMs updated and offers various flavors.

By the way, this is what I carry now.

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I’m not a phone geek but on the other hand I don’t want a clunker phone. I want a good phone that will last a couple of years. After having an AT&T Tilt (made by HTC) for nearly three years I decided it was time for a new phone. This was a good phone that has seen several crashes on the ski slopes, a drop here or there, and most impressively my two young boys. Getting a new phone now is good timing since Windows Mobile 6.5, now known as Windows Phone 6.5, was just released. I compared several phones including the Pure and Tilt 2. (BTW, I’m stuck with AT&T since that’s the carrier my company has selected.) The two phones were comparable with slight differences:

• The Tilt 2 is a little larger than the pure.
• The Pure has a 5MB camera and the T2 has a 3.2.
•  The T2 has a very nice speaker phone, I’m not sure what the Pure has but it wasn’t obvious.
• The T2 has a physical keyboard, the Pure does not. This contributes somewhat to the larger size of the device, but they did a good job keeping the keyboard as thin as possible. This obviously makes the Tilt 2 thicker than the iPhone.
• The T2 seems to have a nicer screen than the Pure.

Although I don’t use the physical keyboard much anymore on the original Tilt, I went with the Tilt 2 over the other devices I considered. It felt good in my hands, the screen was one of the best I have seen, and believe it or not, I use the speaker phone.

So how does the new Tilt 2 compare to the original Tilt? It’s night and day:

• The old Tilt had Windows Mobile 6.0 or 6.1, the new one has Windows Phone 6.5 which is basically the same OS but with a much needed face lift.
• Included in 6.5 is a vastly improved mobile Internet Explorer.  I can’t even begin to describe the improvement here.
• The Tilt now feels like a brick in my hands compared to this sleek ergo device.
• The new Tilt has a radio. Haven’t tried it yet.
• The screen, as I mentioned before, is amazing on the T2. At the time, the Tilt screen was nice but we’ve come a long way.
•  The Tilt had no accelerometer so the only way to change the orientation was to slide the keyboard out or hit an onscreen button. The T2 does have an accelerometer but it is very underused with the bundled software. The bundled game Teeter does an excellent job demonstrating the capabilities.

I wasn’t sure I would like this phone at first, but after I removed some proprietary HTC/AT&T stuff I am thrilled with my decision. Namely, I removed the TouchFlo 3D and enabled the default 6.5 UI. The TouchFlo interface is nice looking and great programming but it’s not that efficient or useful. You can flick photos and emails all around, but it seems more for show and selling phones in the store than it does for actual use. The TouchFlo interface quickly becomes a nuisance and gets in the way. On the other hand, the native 6.5 UI is efficient and very natural to use.

Note: Even though Windows Phone 6.5 was officially released just last week (as of this writing on 10/21/09), there are already rumors and leaked builds of 6.5.1 (or 6.51).  I’m sure there will be an HTC upgrade in flash ROM format when this is officially released. HTC did this with the original Tilt providing a ROM upgrade from Windows Mobile 6.0 to 6.1.

Here are a couple of screen shots of the TouchFlo and the native Windows Phone 6.5 interfaces.  Both have a nice look in these screen shots, but you can’t get a sense of their usefulness until you get your hands on the device.

How to disable the HTC TouchFlo 3D interface:

Start > Settings > Today > Items. Now uncheck TouchFlo and check “Windows Default” – This will give you the new 6.5 UI. I really like this interface, it is very Zune and/or Windows Media Center like. (Don’t get me wrong, there is room for improvement in 6.5.1 and the complete rewrite of Windows Phone 7.) Alternatively, if you prefer the WindowsMobile 6.1 look, you can select your own items for the Today screen. However, I find the 6.5 interface very useful and efficient.

How do I remove my Microsoft Live or Hotmail account?

This isn’t exactly obvious, but if you set up a Live or Hotmailaccount and want to remove it, follow these steps: Start > Windows Live > Switch LiveAccounts This will remove all emails and account settings which you previously entered.

How to create your own Windows Phone 6.5 Theme:

I haven’t done this yet, but it looks simple. Simply go the site, select your phone, select your preferences, and if desired supply a background image. You’ll then get a link sent to your phone to install the theme: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/downloads/theme-generator.mspx

Remaining questions I am working on. Can you help?

• The phone came bundled with some software I can’t remove. Specifically, how do I remove Opera Mobile 9.5? I like Opera but I prefer to use 9.7. Skyfire is also a very good browser that supports Flash.
• How do I remove the “Getting Started” menu item? This problem is solved HERE!
• How do I add/remove any item in the Windows Phone 6.5 menu?
• Why is there a preinstalled YouTube app but no shortcut?  Most users will never find this app buried in the folder structure.

These codes can only be used once, so if you are the first to read this then you are the lucky one. Check back every couple of days to see if I’ve posted more codes.  Don’t be a hog, if you don’t like the artists, then don’t use the code. Also, if there are multiple codes for the same song, then please only take one.

To use the codes, simply open iTunes, go to the store and click redeem. You should see the field to paste the code in.

Enjoy.

• Adele – “Chasing Pavements” Song: MAMAMPFJEMF7, XNWKHEAAYYX9, E4YYF3PME4EL, M3P7Y7JHF3W4, YXXTX9MH6E4L, TFYFXYA39NY9, 74WM9N99Y47K
• Duffy – “Mercy” Music Video: A4R4TR9E734P, 4EPYJ437W6MM, M39MAN4EHFNA, MPM6RRAHWFNT, 7RPFALFE9MKJ, EYN97JJEMX77, 774AYFAFMJ6F, RMMKLHKY6PE4
• Carly Simon – “So Many People To Love” Song: RMFJP4MK649H, A3KMNRYW9KEL, LA7FY3JX6M49, 9TR7HW949XL7, MRXET4THLY9T, TMN9LWJJWXWN, 44EHT3LT3JTH
• Hilary McRae – “Every Day” Music Video: THEWENKFP4JP, 9MW7F3NX3KKA
• Counting Crows – “Washington Square” Song: JE9WK7F6MEWT, W7R43R7HPMLX, WM6EFR3FFWWP, MLRFKL9FAP79, XFM6A64JL4X4, XKKRKFEJM7HH, XLLW7KMK9MFP, J3774667TRXT, N9J9P6WMRY7K, 9KX34KMPYYML

However… I never imagined I would buy a Zune. According to the Apple commercials, Apple is the only cool company around. To buy MS would make me look like “PC Guy.” I like my iPod. Aside from some battery issues, it’s been a good device and is very easy to use. My problem with ipod has been with itunes. I don’t like itunes. It looks like a software relic and has been patched and glued together more times than a downtown Tulsa road. So, I bucked the trend and purchased a 2nd gen Zune for my wife for Valentine’s day. It’s an 8 GB flash model, and of course, pink. She loves this device and the Zune software. I have to admit I am very pleased with this purchase. I tried the original Zunes and was not impressed. It’s amazing how much progress they made from Gen 1 to Gen 2. (If you read the tech magazines, it’s not even the same device. Gen 1 was a rebranded Toshiba.) What is it that I like so much?

• The screen is very bright and clear. Even on the small flash-based device.
• Video playback is cool. If the video is widescreen, it will rotate the screen and the controls. So, if you need to increase the volume, then you don’t need to think about which way is really “up.”
• Sound quality is much better than my ipod with the same headphones. I don’t have the newest ipod, so sound quality may have improved with a newer codec.
• It plays all my WMA and WMV files without converting!! This is a huge pain in itunes.
• The Zune has an FM radio with a RDS. The radio is as clear as my car radio.
• Wireless sync. We were able to sync media content over our wireless network. (we may turn this off, I bet it kills the battery)
• The Zune software is a pleasure. Setup took a long time on her old PC, but it is very simple to use. Just drag the videos/songs/photos/etc… to the Zune icon and it syncs. There is no “undocking” or “ejecting” the device. You simply unplug it. All content is very organized. The photo content is especially attractive.
• The onscreen menu of the device is easy to use and intuitive. For example, it is simple to set a photo as your background because the control is where you think it would be and not buried under 24 layers of sub menus.

• The features are all controlled via flash updates. The device had Zune 2.0 software, but on the first sync it upgraded to 2.3 automatically. A Zune software upgrade is due soon which will include games. Check out this video of a game on a Zune: http://www.istartedsomething.com/20080221/video-xna-game-running-zune/
• If I ever upgrade my Media Center to Vista, then all my Media Center content will auto sync. This is really cool since I use Media Center as my only DVR. I’ll be able to watch recorded TV on the Zune.

What don’t I like about the Zune?? Not much – it works like you think it should.

• One thing that stood out was that the control wheel is different. With my ipod, you scroll in a circle. With Zune, you scroll up and down.
• Also, the included earbuds do not have great bass response and are too big for my wife’s ears.
• I don’t understand the integration between WMP11 and Zune.  Do my tag edits in WMP11 effect the Zune library?  WMP12 and Zune need to merge for simplicity 
• Since the laptop that runs the Zune software is old, we don’t get all the flashy animation.

Does this now make me a Microsoft homer? Not even close. I have yet to drop the cash to upgrade my Media Center to Vista. (Not that I think Vista is bad, but I don’t see a reason to upgrade.) However, I am no longer convinced that a single manufacturer makes the best media player now.

BTW, I also considered Sansa and Creative Zens. I liked these, but I liked the little Zune better and honestly I am concerned about the future of Creative.