The Windows 10 Preview for Phones Conundrum...
I like the Windows Insider program. I think it is a terrific idea. I wish they could find a way to weed out the hapless twits so that they could enable more frequent, if unstable, builds. I think the pervasiveness of the Insider program is one of the primary reasons that they don't want to push out Windows 10 to phones without Partition Stitching (clearly possible given the Lumia 1520 Joe B loves to demo with but which wasn't included in first wave). But I honestly don't know how they would manage that, so it is an empty wish I think.
But the real problem with Windows 10 for Phones and Small Tablets (heck, I guess I could shrink that to W10PST) is the timeframe for the Preview vs the expected final release date. Which is to say that it is actually quite a small window.
Expectations are that Windows 10 will ship in the fall. Some are predicting it will even be finished as soon as June (though that may be the desktop flavor only). Still, June is less than 4 months away. And you can bet that since they share the same core OS, not many (if any) major changes will be taken after that point.
Many of the early adopters and those on higher end phones are currently SoL on the Insider program for phones and are thus effectively barred from providing feedback. And it feels like if those devices do get added (see my prior post where I predicted devices requiring Partition Stitching would probably be a month or more away) it may be too late by that time to provide meaningful feedback. And the problem with that is simple... that group that is excluded is most likely to contain the people that actually care about the platform and would have the most valuable feedback. The devices that got the Preview in the first wave are all newer low end phones. No Windows Phone enthusiast would trade their higher end, if older, phone for those supported. And few would trade an older low end phone for a new low end phone just to toss a preview OS on it.
So the only group of W10PST enthusiasts on the preview at the moment are the few who are new to the platform and couldn't afford a 930 or 1520 and those who have money to throw at something like the cheap 630's on Amazon.com.
Again, I'm not super upset about my 1020 not being supported in the initial wave of devices. I am a bit disappointed and understand the justification. The problem is that by the time the preview reaches the bulk of the people who will have the most valuable feedback it may be too late to incorporate it into the final product.
I will state again for the sake of those feeling spurned by the current device selection; no platform (be it Windows Phone, iOS or Android) has ever allowed access to such an early version of an OS. Acting like something has been taken from you or threatening to leave the platform over this is ridiculous. You won't get better treatment elsewhere. Apple only gives near final OS's and only to paying developers only, Android is also only made available in a near final form. In both cases the OS's usually only get out a 1-2 months before the OS is officially available. On Windows Phone, for every version there has been a preview it has been possible to get it several months ahead of an official release. It sucks to not be included in the initial release. I know. I'm in that boat as well. But, it is still a better program for advance versions of the OS than you'll get anywhere else unless you work in the OS team for one of the companies producing them.
But the real problem with Windows 10 for Phones and Small Tablets (heck, I guess I could shrink that to W10PST) is the timeframe for the Preview vs the expected final release date. Which is to say that it is actually quite a small window.
Expectations are that Windows 10 will ship in the fall. Some are predicting it will even be finished as soon as June (though that may be the desktop flavor only). Still, June is less than 4 months away. And you can bet that since they share the same core OS, not many (if any) major changes will be taken after that point.
Many of the early adopters and those on higher end phones are currently SoL on the Insider program for phones and are thus effectively barred from providing feedback. And it feels like if those devices do get added (see my prior post where I predicted devices requiring Partition Stitching would probably be a month or more away) it may be too late by that time to provide meaningful feedback. And the problem with that is simple... that group that is excluded is most likely to contain the people that actually care about the platform and would have the most valuable feedback. The devices that got the Preview in the first wave are all newer low end phones. No Windows Phone enthusiast would trade their higher end, if older, phone for those supported. And few would trade an older low end phone for a new low end phone just to toss a preview OS on it.
So the only group of W10PST enthusiasts on the preview at the moment are the few who are new to the platform and couldn't afford a 930 or 1520 and those who have money to throw at something like the cheap 630's on Amazon.com.
Again, I'm not super upset about my 1020 not being supported in the initial wave of devices. I am a bit disappointed and understand the justification. The problem is that by the time the preview reaches the bulk of the people who will have the most valuable feedback it may be too late to incorporate it into the final product.
I will state again for the sake of those feeling spurned by the current device selection; no platform (be it Windows Phone, iOS or Android) has ever allowed access to such an early version of an OS. Acting like something has been taken from you or threatening to leave the platform over this is ridiculous. You won't get better treatment elsewhere. Apple only gives near final OS's and only to paying developers only, Android is also only made available in a near final form. In both cases the OS's usually only get out a 1-2 months before the OS is officially available. On Windows Phone, for every version there has been a preview it has been possible to get it several months ahead of an official release. It sucks to not be included in the initial release. I know. I'm in that boat as well. But, it is still a better program for advance versions of the OS than you'll get anywhere else unless you work in the OS team for one of the companies producing them.
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