>Microsoft might have done themselves some favors by giving it a whole new naming scheme away from the Windows brand.
Why on Earth do people consider the Windows brand to be tainted? I've really only heard this from Mac fanboys who seem to forget that Windows has a 90% market share. Tying Windows Phone 7 to Windows 7, a great OS by any definition as well as a very popular one is a stroke of genius. People will look at their smartphone and think, "this is a small computer", rather than, "this is a fancy phone". That gives Microsoft huge leeway to push their Windows integration line. It doesn't have to look or feel anything like Windows for the average consumer to realize that they can sync their emails, access their office documents, get on Internet Explorer, etc.
Really? All the reviews I've read / all the people I asked said "it's not that bad" which IMHO is the second most terrible thing customers can say about your product, unless you're a monopoly.
And it still features that idiotic UAC interface, among other things: like a totally remade Control Panel that looks nothing like the one in Windows XP (and just when I managed to teach my wife how to configure a network connection). And what bothers me the most about Windows 7 are the artificial restrictions. Did you know that in Win7 Starter you cannot change the desktop background? (or distribute an app that does that?) ... I actually had to explain to my wife that she has the cheap / sucky edition installed on her netbook, and that she needs to pay another $100 for the home basic upgrade.
It's shit like that which makes me cry every time I have to deal with Windows, but I still am dealing with it because that's what most people use: i.e. its popularity has nothing to do with technical achievements (unless you count not-sucking-so-badly).
And I'm only mentioning this because WinMo 7 was scheduled to be released in 2 editions, i.e. with a cheap version without Zune (at least). Competition with Android/iPhone probably prevented that (for now).
People will look at their smartphone and think,
"this is a small computer"
Except this marketing tactic has been done before with Pocket PC. Not working, because it's not like a computer.
What people will actually think: "this just like the iPhone/BlackBerry, only from Microsoft".
Every issue you just mentioned affects <5% of users. If you're a power user, Windows sucks, period. If you're an average user, it's great. I love being able to run linux apps in OSX, without having to deal with linux UI and driver issues. I hate trying to play games in it. Guess which group is bigger: those who play games, or those who like native linux app support?
Windows succeeds, despite the wailing of mac and linux fanboys, because it does what it needs to do and does so well. Mac will never have Windows market share when their cheapest laptop is $1000. Linux will never have Windows, or let alone Mac, market share. Period. Almost every business out there runs Windows. Almost every school library computer lab runs Windows. People who use computers for only the most basic things use Windows, and that's 90% of the computer-using population.
I have both a macbook pro and an older dell xps running Windows 7. I far prefer OSX, but that's because I like having a real shell. XCode is pretty good, too. OSX is a "nicer" OS, and it's certainly prettier, but is it worth paying twice as much for a computer? For the vast majority of people, the answer is no.
You seem to be arguing that Toyota is retarded because they make corollas, when BMW makes the clearly superior 5 series. I think the flaw in such reasoning is obvious.
Why on Earth do people consider the Windows brand to be tainted? I've really only heard this from Mac fanboys who seem to forget that Windows has a 90% market share. Tying Windows Phone 7 to Windows 7, a great OS by any definition as well as a very popular one is a stroke of genius. People will look at their smartphone and think, "this is a small computer", rather than, "this is a fancy phone". That gives Microsoft huge leeway to push their Windows integration line. It doesn't have to look or feel anything like Windows for the average consumer to realize that they can sync their emails, access their office documents, get on Internet Explorer, etc.