Android vs Windows: Think twice before buying a Windows Phone
Windows Phone or Android – This question always pops in the mind of any die hard Microsoft fan. “Should I go with my ever loving Microsoft brand or should I jump on the new bandwagon Android” – You can either keep buying emotionally or you can analyze the real facts listed in this post and judge for yourself. This post slices and dices the true facts of Windows phone (which was previously called as windows mobile) vs. Android using credible artifacts.Choosing the right mobile OS is, as important as, choosing OS for your PC. Choosing wrong mobile OS may lead you to disappointment in using the hardware, apps and different features of your mobile to the fullest.Think twice or even thrice or even more before you choose the right OS so that you don’t regret your decision later. This article will help you to choose between android and windows mobile phones. 1. IntroductionAs you might know, Windows Phone OS is developed by Microsoft. It replaced previous Windows OS mobile platform. It was first released in October 2010 in Asia.With Windows Phone, Microsoft has created new user interface called as metro design. More over this OS can be integrated with the third party application so that user can create application and make money.Android is a Linux-based operating system mostly used in smart phones that has touchscreen and also used in tablet computers. Initially Android was developed by Android, Inc., which was later bought by Google in 2005. Andy Rubin is the guy behind AndroidAndroid is open source software that allows anyone to freely modify and distribute using permitted license. Moreover, Android has a lot of apps that are written primarily to attract consumers. As of March 2013, there are approximately 7 million apps available to download in Google Play. It billion by June 2013Android has a smartphone market share of 53.4% (As of December 2012) and around 500 million Android mobile devices get activated every single day.2. InterfaceLock screen:Lock screen of Windows can play different apps at the background, numeric password and notification of different apps. Latest Android version has unlock by swiping to the right and also other applications can be opened by swiping left. It also has a notification of different apps when user swipes the mobile from the top.Opening Screen:As we enter the Start screen of a windows mobile, you can find set of live tiles similar to a checkerboard. Windows interface avoids list of icons and replaced with live tiles. These live tiles give live information or feeds from different applications. It is different when compared with the old trendy icons. However, the notification system in windows is not effective as Android. You will not be able to see the exact notification when the screen is locked as in Android. Another big annoyance in windows interface is multi-tasking. One needs to press the back button to view the list of recently opened items. Upon clicking any recently opened app, the user will not be taken to the point where to left previously!In one line, windows interface is simple but not impressive. It’s different but not up to the mark!3. AppsAt present Windows has more than 150,000 apps. If we compare this statistics with android, Windows is no way near to android. Currently android has around 8 Million apps.It is always not only the quantity; quality of available apps matter the most. Many top apps are still missing in Windows. For example: Instagram, Viber, Pinterest, HootSuite, Runkeeper, Google+, Spotify are completely missing in Windows. Further, some apps, like YouTube, are just pointers to the mobile sites. People who moved from Android to Windows claims that they are not satisfied with windows apps at all.Windows Phone App: 160,000+ (via wpcentral as of June 2013)Android Google Play : 800,000+ (via Rssphone as of January 2013)When it comes to app, android obviously wins the race at ease.4. Mobile OptionsAndroid is open source software. It offers high flexibility. Android has been offered by multiple device manufacturers like Samsung, Sony-Ericsson, Motorola, HTC etc. These different mobile manufactures are competing each other on price, quality, features, specifications etc., to attract customers. Not surprising that Android has 53.4 percent share of the global Smartphone market! Depending on your budget and features, one might have lot of options to choose when it comes to Android operating system.On the other hand, windows mobile has been offered by only few manufacturers with limited handsets.5. IDE (Integrated Development Environment)How a mobile O.S appeals to developers is also an important factor. To start developing applications for Windows Phone 8, you will need to use the Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows Phone. Although this IDE is free, the requirement to use Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows Phone is a little bit difficult. More still, you’d need to meet the hardware and OS requirements. This means that you will need to have Windows 8 desktop operating system, and a computer that supports hardware virtualization to develop an application for Windows Phone 8. Additionally, you need to have the special enterprise version of windows 8, not to forget that it must be the x64 version. Well, most older PCs don’t support hardware virtualization, and most of us are still comfortable with Windows 7.To develop an android application, a developer just needs to download open source eclipse, and the Android SDK. Without going into more scrutiny, it is evident that Microsoft is making it a little harder for new developers to join and contribute their ingenuity to the community.6. CostYes, cost. Think about it, by definition, android is a open source community. By definition, this means that you get a lot of free goodies by just owning an android device. On the other hand, it is unlikely that you’ll be getting a lot of free applications as developers have to pay more to create accounts on the Windows Phone marketplace. Also, the fact that dozens of hardware manufacturers’ support produce android devices as opposed to just the few who make windows mobile O.S compatible devices means that you generally buy cheaper on android. While there are a wide variety of low end mobile phones and tablets running android, Windows mobile O.S currently only runs in a few high end devices. 7. Notification CenterAndroid boasts detailed notifications, including music controls, toggles, etc. On the other hand, Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system does not provide a central notification centre, which means users can only access controls from the home screen through live tiles.8. Password Protect ResetAndroid has a provision to protect devices when stolen. If at all an android device is stolen, the password protection can help keep unauthorized users from accessing the phone, and more specifically personal data. Windows mobile operating system has no feature to protect stolen phones.9. File Handling & Flash SupportWhat happens when you want to play that favorite video you have got on your desktop right from your smartphone? Well, while android offers support for multiple file formats, Windows Phone does not. So if you get that interesting .dv video file from a friend, you can just play it on your android phone, but not on your Nokia Lumia 920 or any other Windows Phone for that matter. Most file formats will work with the Windows Phone when imported from a device running the proprietary Microsoft OS. Some of us still love Linux based open-source operating systems, so this doesn’t do you any good. And without making a lot of arbitrary dots, let’s remember that while Apple was always advocating for a closed system, Microsoft has always been against such.Android offers flash support, but Windows Phone just won’t. Why? The argument is that flash on mobile is dead. Well, you can’t just tell all those content providers out there on the World Wide Web to switch to HTML 5 so that you may access their contents on your windows Phone.
Windows Phone or Android – This question always pops in the mind of any die hard Microsoft fan. “Should I go with my ever loving Microsoft brand or should I jump on the new bandwagon Android” – You can either keep buying emotionally or you can analyze the real facts listed in this post and judge for yourself. This post slices and dices the true facts of Windows phone (which was previously called as windows mobile) vs. Android using credible artifacts.Choosing the right mobile OS is, as important as, choosing OS for your PC. Choosing wrong mobile OS may lead you to disappointment in using the hardware, apps and different features of your mobile to the fullest.Think twice or even thrice or even more before you choose the right OS so that you don’t regret your decision later. This article will help you to choose between android and windows mobile phones. 1. IntroductionAs you might know, Windows Phone OS is developed by Microsoft. It replaced previous Windows OS mobile platform. It was first released in October 2010 in Asia.With Windows Phone, Microsoft has created new user interface called as metro design. More over this OS can be integrated with the third party application so that user can create application and make money.Android is a Linux-based operating system mostly used in smart phones that has touchscreen and also used in tablet computers. Initially Android was developed by Android, Inc., which was later bought by Google in 2005. Andy Rubin is the guy behind AndroidAndroid is open source software that allows anyone to freely modify and distribute using permitted license. Moreover, Android has a lot of apps that are written primarily to attract consumers. As of March 2013, there are approximately 7 million apps available to download in Google Play. It billion by June 2013Android has a smartphone market share of 53.4% (As of December 2012) and around 500 million Android mobile devices get activated every single day.2. InterfaceLock screen:Lock screen of Windows can play different apps at the background, numeric password and notification of different apps. Latest Android version has unlock by swiping to the right and also other applications can be opened by swiping left. It also has a notification of different apps when user swipes the mobile from the top.Opening Screen:As we enter the Start screen of a windows mobile, you can find set of live tiles similar to a checkerboard. Windows interface avoids list of icons and replaced with live tiles. These live tiles give live information or feeds from different applications. It is different when compared with the old trendy icons. However, the notification system in windows is not effective as Android. You will not be able to see the exact notification when the screen is locked as in Android. Another big annoyance in windows interface is multi-tasking. One needs to press the back button to view the list of recently opened items. Upon clicking any recently opened app, the user will not be taken to the point where to left previously!In one line, windows interface is simple but not impressive. It’s different but not up to the mark!3. AppsAt present Windows has more than 150,000 apps. If we compare this statistics with android, Windows is no way near to android. Currently android has around 8 Million apps.It is always not only the quantity; quality of available apps matter the most. Many top apps are still missing in Windows. For example: Instagram, Viber, Pinterest, HootSuite, Runkeeper, Google+, Spotify are completely missing in Windows. Further, some apps, like YouTube, are just pointers to the mobile sites. People who moved from Android to Windows claims that they are not satisfied with windows apps at all.Windows Phone App: 160,000+ (via wpcentral as of June 2013)Android Google Play : 800,000+ (via Rssphone as of January 2013)When it comes to app, android obviously wins the race at ease.4. Mobile OptionsAndroid is open source software. It offers high flexibility. Android has been offered by multiple device manufacturers like Samsung, Sony-Ericsson, Motorola, HTC etc. These different mobile manufactures are competing each other on price, quality, features, specifications etc., to attract customers. Not surprising that Android has 53.4 percent share of the global Smartphone market! Depending on your budget and features, one might have lot of options to choose when it comes to Android operating system.On the other hand, windows mobile has been offered by only few manufacturers with limited handsets.5. IDE (Integrated Development Environment)How a mobile O.S appeals to developers is also an important factor. To start developing applications for Windows Phone 8, you will need to use the Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows Phone. Although this IDE is free, the requirement to use Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows Phone is a little bit difficult. More still, you’d need to meet the hardware and OS requirements. This means that you will need to have Windows 8 desktop operating system, and a computer that supports hardware virtualization to develop an application for Windows Phone 8. Additionally, you need to have the special enterprise version of windows 8, not to forget that it must be the x64 version. Well, most older PCs don’t support hardware virtualization, and most of us are still comfortable with Windows 7.To develop an android application, a developer just needs to download open source eclipse, and the Android SDK. Without going into more scrutiny, it is evident that Microsoft is making it a little harder for new developers to join and contribute their ingenuity to the community.6. CostYes, cost. Think about it, by definition, android is a open source community. By definition, this means that you get a lot of free goodies by just owning an android device. On the other hand, it is unlikely that you’ll be getting a lot of free applications as developers have to pay more to create accounts on the Windows Phone marketplace. Also, the fact that dozens of hardware manufacturers’ support produce android devices as opposed to just the few who make windows mobile O.S compatible devices means that you generally buy cheaper on android. While there are a wide variety of low end mobile phones and tablets running android, Windows mobile O.S currently only runs in a few high end devices. 7. Notification CenterAndroid boasts detailed notifications, including music controls, toggles, etc. On the other hand, Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system does not provide a central notification centre, which means users can only access controls from the home screen through live tiles.8. Password Protect ResetAndroid has a provision to protect devices when stolen. If at all an android device is stolen, the password protection can help keep unauthorized users from accessing the phone, and more specifically personal data. Windows mobile operating system has no feature to protect stolen phones.9. File Handling & Flash SupportWhat happens when you want to play that favorite video you have got on your desktop right from your smartphone? Well, while android offers support for multiple file formats, Windows Phone does not. So if you get that interesting .dv video file from a friend, you can just play it on your android phone, but not on your Nokia Lumia 920 or any other Windows Phone for that matter. Most file formats will work with the Windows Phone when imported from a device running the proprietary Microsoft OS. Some of us still love Linux based open-source operating systems, so this doesn’t do you any good. And without making a lot of arbitrary dots, let’s remember that while Apple was always advocating for a closed system, Microsoft has always been against such.Android offers flash support, but Windows Phone just won’t. Why? The argument is that flash on mobile is dead. Well, you can’t just tell all those content providers out there on the World Wide Web to switch to HTML 5 so that you may access their contents on your windows Phone.
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