Windows Phone 7

h4rm0ny · Apr 22, 2012

Does this count as an Operating System? I guess it does.

I tried posting these questions on the WP7 forums but got no answers. Figured some people here must have a Windows phone and might be able to reel off some answers... Thanks if anyone can answer these:

I'm thinking of buying a Lumina 710 or 800. There are some things that I've been unable to find answers to and the person in the shop is unlikely to know:

Is it possible to remove / disable / hide all the Facebook, Twitter, Social Networking stuff. I don't want any of this anywhere near my phone ever. It is a major business "No" here and I'm finding it hard to believe I can't find a modern phone that's more business focused.
Can I stop the phone uploading numbers of people online? I want to bring in personal numbers of people from my written address book / old phone and not send these people's phonenumbers to some insecure online account / to some corporation in the USA (in some cases, this can contravene EU privacy laws)
Does WP7 support digital signing of emails? My normal emails get digitally signed with a Verisign digital key from my Desktop. I want to do the same (with the same key) from my phone.
How do I back up all my txt messages and address book? I assume that I can just USB connect the phone to my computer and export them all in

Finally, I guess, does anyone think there will be any major differences between WP7.5 and WP8? I probably can't wait that long, but I'd like to know if I'm buying 'obsolete' tech.

Thanks. Any answers are useful!

c627627 · Apr 22, 2012

Touch screen interface is one of Windows 8's primary new features geared more toward portable device use rather than home desktop use. Because they were painfully slow, I resisted using smart phones, and am still really holding out for new tech coming later this year [Intel's new faster chip / Intel finally getting into Smart Phones with a competitive product] which may finally make things bearable to users used to instantaneous speeds larger devices give us.

I found that companies like Microsoft, Adobe, Symantec do not give users as many customization options as we would like. [This will eventually be their doom but that's another story]. I am using an older generation Android a friend discarded and could not even get the customizations you mentioned put in with Motorola's Android's software because they make you sign in and upload your personal data willy-nilly all over the place, for your protection of course.

Only when I discovered CyanogenMod was I fully able to use the customizations you mention. I would like to test and figure out how to disable everything you mentioned using new gen phones and Windows 8 but I suspect it will be difficult.

Please post your results when and if you find out how to disable all the features which I agree with you can be most annoying.

Definitely get in the habit of connecting your phone to your computer and backing up your data that way. After I customized the Android OS, I even made a drive image of the phone and whenever something went wrong, I simply nuked it it and replaced it with the image when everything was just like I set it up to be.

h4rm0ny · Apr 24, 2012

c627627 said:
Touch screen interface is one of Windows 8's primary new features geared more toward portable device use rather than home desktop use. Because they were painfully slow, I resisted using smart phones, and am still really holding out for new tech coming later this year [Intel's new faster chip / Intel finally getting into Smart Phones with a competitive product] which may finally make things bearable to users used to instantaneous speeds larger devices give us.

I found that companies like Microsoft, Adobe, Symantec do not give users as many customization options as we would like. [This will eventually be their doom but that's another story]. I am using an older generation Android a friend discarded and could not even get the customizations you mentioned put in with Motorola's Android's software because they make you sign in and upload your personal data willy-nilly all over the place, for your protection of course.

Only when I discovered CyanogenMod was I fully able to use the customizations you mention. I would like to test and figure out how to disable everything you mentioned using new gen phones and Windows 8 but I suspect it will be difficult.

Please post your results when and if you find out how to disable all the features which I agree with you can be most annoying.

Definitely get in the habit of connecting your phone to your computer and backing up your data that way. After I customized the Android OS, I even made a drive image of the phone and whenever something went wrong, I simply nuked it it and replaced it with the image when everything was just like I set it up to be.

Thanks for the reply. I've gone ahead and bought a Windows Phone now (Lumia 710 with WP7.5). Quite honestly, it was just too good to pass up. I nearly went for the 800 but unless you care greatly about the storage space or the camera (I don't care a great amount about either), the 710 is almost as good. The moment I saw the sales assistant tap an icon and Word and Excel not only open, but open smoothly and quickly, I think I decided.

I'll post back when I've experimented more with it about the other issues. I've avoided Android because there seemed to be no way to avoid signing up for a gmail account and reporting everything to Google.

Now Microsoft may not be angels, but at least their business model revolves around getting money out of me by selling me stuff, rather than getting money out of others by selling me!

c627627 · Apr 24, 2012

I'm glad to hear that the apps open smoothly. Post back after using it for a while, I'm going to be in the market as well and will be looking at Windows 8 vs. new Intel Androids.

h4rm0ny said:
I've avoided Android because there seemed to be no way to avoid signing up for a gmail account and reporting everything to Google.

Yeah.

You are correct about Retail Android but people use freeware OS CyanogenMod which allows you to disable things. I did not rest until I figured out how to do it.

Of course, one of the main advantages of Android is the Android freeware market, it's bigger than anything else, bigger than iPhone apps

.

https://play.google.com/

Some apps I installed and my notes on Motorola & Android for others reading this:

h4rm0ny · Apr 24, 2012

c627627 said:
I'm glad to hear that the apps open smoothly. Post back after using it for a while, I'm going to be in the market as well and will be looking at Windows 8 vs. new Intel Androids.

Much as I'm leery of Windows 8 on the Desktop (Metro???), I think on phones, tablets... it's going to be fantastic. A side reason I got the cheaper Lumia is that if I decide I want Windows 8 next year, I haven't invested as much money into Windows 7.5. My Lumia 710 cost me £165 (about $270 dollars but I'm sure it's cheaper in the States). Compared to an iPhone it's a bargain. If I sell it and get a Win8 device at the end of the year, I can absorb that cost.

I'm probably not a POWER user. It will be rare that I want to watch a movie on my phone for example. I have so little free time that if I'm going to watch a film, it's going to be on a big screen with bloody massive Dolby system speakers.

So what I'm looking for is something that just does what I want well. E.g. integrates with all my calendars, email accounts, works well as a phone, etc. For the App-addict, I don't Android is probably better.

c627627 said:
You are correct about Retail Android but people use freeware OS CyanogenMod which allows you to disable things. I did not rest until I figured out how to do it.

I didn't know about that. Interesting. I like what I've got but that at least opens up other options next time I'm choosing a phone.

H.

EDIT: I just looked at the zip file you attached. That's a useful little starter kit for someone. Really interesting to see the change in speed from day to night. Quite surprising. I'll be testing that myself out of interest.

Windows Phone 7

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