Add to that the people that complain about things that don’t actually matter. Multitasking really wasn’t important when the iPhone first came out but it didn’t stop some people from crying bloody murder.

People complain about Apple’s tight control and then often don’t complain when others do the same thing. But at this point it’s not so much about wanting control as it is about not having time to develop all of the extensibility features and have a device that still actually works.

Your requests are reasonable, but the devices are so new they’re just not sure exactly how to do it yet and even if they were they don’t have the time. Be patient. It is regressive but that’s just the way it has to be. It’s like a new seedling and it’s still growing.

One thing I will say though

Microsoft need to sort out their act with this business of restricting file system access. On my WM 6.5 I have books and comics where I own both the paperback version and the electronic version. I would like to be able to copy these files to my device and read them in a single application without having to re-purchase them.

What about all my mp3’s? Will I have to upload them to the internet before being able to download them to my phone again?

What about all my existing photos and videos, how will I be able to copy those up to my phone and view them with whatever app I choose.

As far as I’m concerned, this takes content dictatorship to the next level (Apples level)!

The only people that use phones that are so restricted (like the iPhone) are people like my Granmother who can’t be bothered with tweaking her phone, using her phone as a file storage device or having applications that can access the file system.

It is pure evil that Microsoft think they can dictate the content I want to store on my own phone. Yes, by all means keep it simple for the majority of users, but please allow us power users to use the phone the way we choose.

Yes the UI on touch screen mobile devices needs to be simplified a lot from the days of WM, but I want a computer in my pocket that I have full control over. Not some dumbed down device that can only do what Microsoft says it’s allowed to do.

If Microsoft are truly worried about security, then just popup a notice before any app can access the file system, warning the user that they allow this at their own risk. This isn’t about security, this is about money and greed. Mark my words, watch what will happen to the iPhone as it eventually loses out to Android. Users will eventually realise that they want the freedom to use their phone however they want.

I really hope Microsoft get burned by this. I love developing for Microsoft, but these sorts of limitations are regressive, and really make me angry.

It seems newer products are only developed these days to take away the freedom users had for decades with the older stuff. Oh, we will throw in some shiny baubles and social networking crap to try to make this Kool-aid more palatable This is a future I do not want.

The iPhone proved that native code works, and can work well, as part of a phone app “ecosystem”. Non-native code means slower apps that chew up more precious battery life, and some types of apps simply won’t be possible to port (like Mozilla Firefox or Opera).

This last point is kind of a deal breaker — Internet Explorer for Windows Mobile 6.5 and previous has always been borderline unusable, but it was simple to install a browser that actually worked. I question why anyone would want to be chained to whatever the next “pocket” IE version is for Windows Phone 7 when they could just pick up an iPhone with a full Safari that works, or an Android phone with full Chrome that works.

I speak this as a loyal Windows Mobile user since the Palm-sized PC days. Windows Phone 7 will get relegated to niche status (like it already is), or just die completely. It’s a shame to see what used to be the premier smartphone platform relegated to irrelevance.

At first, it’s nice. Then after a few hours, it starts to annoy the crap out of you. You can’t concentrate on what you are doing because of that damn glass screaming “look at me!”

I remember when Windowsblinds introduced transparency support for window borders. Who would’ve thought that Microsoft would take the gimmicky fad, and use it for an actual operating system.

However, the glass is not among the worst. They’ve really screwed up the navigation, also. But, that’s another story.

After XP has lost support for new hardware/software. I will move to a Linux/Mac based desktop.