On blogs and also on Navigaweb it is very easy to talk about applications and guides regarding the operating systems for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets, little is said about Windows Phone. Windows Phone is very different from Android and iOS (the iPhone and iPad operating system) which are more similar than you think.
Mobile phones with Android and iPhones are not so different from each other and they imitated each other while instead with a Windows Phone mobile phone things change drastically.
Windows Phone, the Nokia Lumia operating system, is something completely new, which can take some getting used to, which differs a lot from its competitors.
The question is: you can switch from an Android mobile phone or an iPhone to a Nokia Windows Phone while remaining satisfied "> You can move these tiles, resize them and arrange them in many different ways on the initial grid.
Each tile shows information (such as the number of unread SMS messages or your next calendar appointment), so you can stay up to date on what's going on without having to open an application completely.
Android widgets do not exist in Windows Phone, but these "live" and interactive tiles remind them a lot.
This layout is very different from that of iOS and Android, but it doesn't take long to get used to it, especially for those who have a PC with Windows 8.
The Home screen of a Nokia Lumia with Windows Phone 8 is really nice to use and to see and also very informative.
However, there is less room for customization which, on an Android smartphone, can be extreme since you can also change the launcher and the display mode of the icons.
As in Android, there is no need to put all the apps on the home screen, but only the most used apps by hiding the rest in the general list of all the apps that can be accessed by sliding your finger on the screen to the left.
2) Graphics
Microsoft has made sure that all applications conform to certain precise standards.
This means that, unlike in Android, all apps have the same menu and operating style.
The interface is very fast and smooth, organized in "pages" that you can browse with your finger.
Curiously, in Windows Phone the writings are very large, which is useful for those who see little of it, which however gives the sensation of wasted space.
3) Notifications
Windows Phone is very disappointing when it comes to notifications.
Both iOS and Android have excellent notification systems to view all alerts from the top bar of the screen.
Windows Phone instead, when you receive a notification (such as a message on Whatsapp), a small banner appears at the top of the screen that must be touched to go to the application in question.
If this banne disappears, however, it remains without notifications and you can check for new unread messages only from the tile on the Home screen.
So there is no area to see all the latest notifications.
4) Multitasking
Android and iOS could really learn something from the ability to work on two or more applications simultaneously.
To view open applications, simply hold down the Back button.
Touching one of those thumbnails resumes the application almost instantly.
The best feature, however, is in the ability to control what is running in the background.
From the Settings> Applications> background tasks menu you can tap on a specific app to see if it works in the background.
So if the battery is running low, you can block these tasks from this settings screen.
5) Applications included
Windows Phone is equipped with all the necessary and indispensable applications for a smartphone: Email, Calendar, Contacts, navigation, Internet Explorer and more.
- Email : the email app is quite simple.
After linking accounts in Settings, you can send and receive emails, organize them into folders and mark them.
The conversation view of the messages leaves something to be desired, the display of other folders takes a lot of touches on the screen.
One good thing is that in the Email app, all mail accounts can be brought together.
- Calendar : the Calendar application is nothing special; shows all scheduled appointments with the view of the day and has a section to indicate things to do.
The month view is rather ugly to look at, with very small text, no colors and does not support synchronization with Google Calendar.
- People: The address book is normal as long as you synchronize your phone with the Facebook and Twitter social network accounts.
You will be able to maintain contacts in sync, view recent statuses and view friends' various activities and photos from one place.
The People app works really well on Windows Phone.
- Maps and navigation : In a Nokia the maps are truly exceptional, up-to-date and functional.
Navigation also works well, except for the very annoying beep when going beyond the speed limit (can be removed).
With a Nokia Lumia then you can also use the maps offline and download the maps for your area.
- Internet Explorer is instead the browser to surf the internet from a Windows Phone which is very different than a Chrome or Safari.
6) Skydrive and computer integration
Owning a Windows Phone smartphone allows you to synchronize settings, address book and files online using the Skydrive app which is also included in Windows 8.
Microsoft's goal is to provide the same operating system on both PCs and smartphones and tablets and, slowly, it is directing its efforts in this way by taking advantage of the Skydrive application.
7) The market of other applications
Some of the main apps of an Android smartphone or an iPhone such as Facebook, Skype, Twitter, Whatsapp (which is free for ever on Windows Phone) can be downloaded for free.
Unfortunately, however, the comparison between the application market for Windows Phone and those of Apple and Google Play is embarrassing .
Most of the apps are mediocre or lack a lot of features compared to their counterparts for iOS and Android.
The apps are few and, unlike other platforms, you can not often find a "good" app for a certain category.
For example, the apps for Dropbox or Instagram and the Google apps are missing (those who switch from Android to Windows Phone will feel a strong lack of integration with Google services), which means that those who are linked to the Google ecosystem will find themselves very bad with Windows Phone.
The good thing, if nothing else, is that you can download trial versions of paid applications before purchasing them.
You can also uninstall pre-installed applications on the phone, just like you would any other application.
READ ALSO: Top 50 free applications for Windows Phone
In conclusion, having a Windows Phone in your hand is really cool at first, and it is immediately easy to use, much more than an Android smartphone or an iPhone.
However, if you were used to certain applications, it is really bad to find out that on Windows Phone, many of these do not exist at all .
Windows Phone however remains the most beautiful operating system that can be found (and, at the same time, the Nokia Lumia is the most "cool" smartphone aesthetically).
For its simplicity, a Windows Phone smartphone such as the Nokia Lumia is recommended for those who want an uncomplicated mobile phone and those who do not feel they need who knows how many and which applications.
Much discouraged instead, at least for now, to those who come from the Android world, accustomed to synchronizing any data online on Google servers and not even the most geeks who enjoy downloading, installing and trying dozens of new applications every day.
In my opinion, the Windows Phone is not a real smartphone, but more than anything else an advanced mobile phone capable of surfing the Internet, sending e-mails and equipped with a GPS navigator, to be considered as an evolution of the Nokia Symbian.
For those who want something simple and without distractions, Windows Phone has a great potential, but users who are comfortable with an Android smartphone and an iPhone can hardly replace their mobile phone with a Windows Phone .
READ ALSO: Guide to Windows Phone 8 functions and for Nokia Lumia
