As many people know, I’m a bit of a Microsoft fan boy. I’ve been an open supporter of most of their technology and I make a decent living writing code for various Microsoft platforms. Needless to say, when the new Windows Phone was announced, I was pretty stoked. I was even more excited when it actually looked good. My excitement peaked at MIX, when I actually saw the dev tools and got my hands on some prototype hardware.
Unfortunately, my interest in the Windows Phone has dropped dramatically since MIX. In fact, at this point, the Windows Phone is at the top of my 2010 disappointment list. How did the Windows Phone crew complete alienate a known, Microsoft fan?

1. No News is Bad News

   When the Windows Phone 7 was announced, there was a lot of excitement in the MS dev community, but also a lot of questions. At MIX, the team had an opportunity to answer questions. Instead they made a bunch of announcements that everybody expected and they showed of a bunch of apps my friends have had on their iPhones for over a year. Announcing Silverlight support was about as surprising as Ricky Martin coming out of the closet and watching Jeff Sandquist bob along to the Blacked Eye Peas was funny, but we’ve all seen Shazam.

   Even after MIX, the only news I’ve heard is some leaked hardware specs from Dell. If you think I’m exaggerating, check out the wp7dev Twitter account. An entire month’s of updates fits on a single page and most of it is duplicates and replies. Charlie Kindel’s blog has no posts since a week after MIX. Even the Windows Phone dev blog has only had 7 updates since MIX.

2. WinPhone7 Hijacked MIXI was hesitant to write this because overall I think MIX was great, but it really felt like a lot of good web content was killed to make room for WinPhone7 content. Most of the first keynote at Microsoft’s web conference was dedicated to the phone, rather than actual web development or design content. Bill Buxton, who was easily the most anticipated speaker for designers, was given 15 minutes at the tail end of the last keynote. It also seemed that an inordinate amount of sessions were dedicated to WinPhone7, despite the fact that they could even give an approximate release date of the hardware.

   The Windows Phone 7 stuff at MIX was little more than a PR ploy to get more posts on Engadget and Gizmodo. I can honestly say that this was an opinion shared by almost everybody I talked to at MIX.

   Based on this and my previous point, it’s clear that WinPhone7 isn’t close enough to completion to warrant this type of coverage.

3. No HardwareI understand that it will be a while before we see and actual WinPhone7 in the wild, but it would be nice to have something to work with. There are lots of multi-touch devices out there, but based on reading various forums, support for the WinPhone7 emulator is sketchy at best. I’ve tried contacting lots of people, including the special support contact offered to MIX attendees and not one has any recommendations.

   The most frustrating part is that the only hardware I’ve seen recommended was the PDC laptop, which is still not available for purchase. So, if you went to PDC you’re all set, however if you went to the conference about the phone, you’re pretty much screwed.

Overall, it seems like the WinPhone7 pre-launch hype has been a big mess. Most of the windows mobile guys I know are upset because the new phone doesn’t have any backwards compatibility and most of the people who were interested at MIX are waiting for news on hardware and launch dates. I really think Microsoft jumped the gun on this and as a result they’ve alienated many of the same developers they were hoping to woo. With Android 2.1 just released and iPhone 4’s leaking every day, Microsoft needs to get their act together if they want to have a chance in the mobile market.