First read this, which I posted back in 2009 (i.e. before iOS4 and multitasking was available on the iPhone) at my old blog.
I was quite certain that since the launch of the original iPhone, crippled multitasking would be a thing of the past on new devices/OSs. But this post (how’s that for history repeating itself?) then reminded me just how utterly useless Windows Phone 7 is in its current state.
But just when I thought that it could not get any sadder I came across this post about the multitasking in the upcoming Mango. Here is the relevant part for your convenience:
“You’ll be able to have up to 5 apps open and “multitasking”, and once you open a new application, the last app will be bumped off your multitasking list. That’s probably a perfect number for everyone, and will definitely help keep the operating system running smoothly.
And further down in the comments section by the same author:
“If you let an app sit in the multitasking section for awhile (like 3 minutes), it’ll tombstone and not be instantly resumed anymore. So it works fine as long as you’re switching between things quickly and frequently, but don’t expect to instantly jump back to a game after a few minutes!”
If true, that is just so wrong (read “pathetic”) on so many levels I do not know where to even begin: the fact that a “modern” OS in 2011 still does not have multitasking; that people actually buy such a device at all; that when MS finally do come with a “solution” it is not even half baked (as in iOS); the arbitrary number of 5 apps that can run simultaneously (as opposed to the number being based on available RAM memory, though some WP7 users think that the criteria for that number should be based on the name “WP7″; he’s lucky MS did not chose the name WP1 then…); the author of the post jumping up and down in excitement because he will get multitasking on his WP7 device; the fact that the author even matter-of-factly states that the number 5 will be absolutely perfect for everyone(!); the author’s ignorance when he implies that multitasking will necessarily degrade the user experience on any phone (or maybe he just means WP7, but what does that say about the OS then?).
God forbid Windows Phone ever becomes the dominant OS, what with such followers/users and such poor OS design that it apparently cannot handle a reasonable number of concurrent process without noticeable slowdowns.
Oh, and if you have not been able to deduce so yet, I will not be buying a WP7 phone in the foreseeable future, whether it is from Nokia or any other maker; it is apparent that Windows Phone 7 and phones based on it will remain on my ‘What’s not’-list for a long time still….
