Well, WinPhans... Another year is passing and for another year, I've been wrestling with all things great and annoying with that "Android" operating system that has been shoved down our throats as a replacement to my beloved Windows Phone. It's hard when you didn't leave WP because of the App Gap or for some other solid reason, other than not being able to keep your phone charged for a full day of use. It's a bummer deal, but that's the honest reason that as of this moment, I'm no longer a Windows Phone user. I didn't care that the experience was getting stale - heck, give me back Windows Phone 7.5 (or even better, 7.8) so I can rock that for a while longer. It was nearly perfect in every way.
Of course, this year, I had the pleasure of going to see an HTC device launch in Taipei, Taiwan, so I am using the U11 right now. It's quite an amazing phone, but there is something "crashy" about Android, even the latest Oreo build, that just didn't happen with the early versions of Windows. Of course, that was then, this is now and Windows is all but gone from the mobile ecosystem. Sure, there were blasts of Windows S devices or the Windows on Arm concept that is getting closer and closer to happening, but honestly, it's probably way too little, way too late for most users.
Sure, the diehards are still waiting for something magical, but in all honesty, unless something like the Surface Phone finally emerges or a Note 8 style device hits shelves with a stylus and a full Office assortment (along with that Continuum dock) there probably isn't much for Windows Phans to get excited about. In fact, some of the last hold outs have officially made their way to unique Android devices like the Essential Phone, Razer Phone or even the HTC U11. It's sad to see it, but if Microsoft can't figure out what Windows is going to be soon, it's a sure bet that they will start losing ground in the CPU OS race soon enough as well. In fact, it might even be time to look at cross bootable devices that do Android or Windows on partitioned drives. Hey, I can dream right?
