• Windows Phone 7 (or How Microsoft Dropped the Ball)
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Posted on May 30, 2011 by Dave Crenshaw
This weekend I went in to the store to replace my phone. At the store I was absolutely shocked when the sales rep told me that Windows Mobile 7 WON'T natively sync with Outlook. I didn't believe him. But, in doing research I found this: WM7 will sync with exchange or via the cloud, but it lacks native support for tasks! Whatever tools you use, you must be able to carry your Calendar, Contacts and Tasks with you wherever you go. If you're using a tool with one of these three things missing, you have a productivity tool flawed at it's core. Frankly, I was a bit shamed personally  that I wasn't aware of the problem until now. I'd like to think I'm on top of these things, but I missed this one. This experience illustrates how much of a moving target technology truly is. It also illustrates that tech companies, given enough time, are very likely to shoot themselves in the foot. Microsoft did that here. Big time. Microsoft has had the new Windows Phone 7 OS on the market for many months now and hasn't made an effort to resolve the problem. They may not ever. Any phone and software can work with my time management program, but some work easier and better than others. So, in short, this means that for the time being I will now recommend Google calendar and Android phones to my clients who need guidance. P.S. And for those wondering why I recommend Android over iPhone the answer is one word: Tasks. If Apple decides to start natively supporting tasks, please let me know. But in the meantime, iPhone is second choice to Android for productivity.Google's tasks support is meager, but at least it works and it's built in to the program. To quote Alan Hardisty: "I object to having to pay for an application that makes a phone work when it should work without it in the first place."
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  • http://twitter.com/darkmobius Andrew Molloy

    I really had no idea, I just (as you) would have assumed that it would sync with Outlook. 

    I’m continuously trying to improve my workflow and “life management”, but at the moment I use GMail, Google Calendar, and Google Tasks. I only ever use Outlook now as a way to back up my GMail. Everything also almost by default syncs nicely with my Android and since it’s all cloud based it’s not tied to a device. Google Tasks is lacking somewhat but I use it synced with Astrid on my phone and Google Tasks+ Astrid it’s the best task based solution I’ve found that I can comfortably use daily (I display the Astrid Widget on my Homescreen so my tasks are displayed as soon as I unlock my phone). Google do seem to keep adding improvements to all their Google Apps so hopefully we’ll see further improvement to their Tasks, which already tie in quite well ish to their email and Calendar apps.

    • http://www.DaveCrenshaw.com Dave Crenshaw

      I agree, Andrew. Google’s tasks are still a bit lacking, but they have improved steadily over the last year. (I’m still holding out for reminders support.) But, when compared with the alternatives, it’s still the best option.

      It’s pretty easy to add Google tasks to both Android and even iPhone. Simply create an onscreen bookmark to gmail.com/tasks.

      • http://twitter.com/darkmobius Andrew Molloy

        That’s where a third party app like Astrid fills in the holes, it has reminder functions and even a Locale add in (but you need Locale app as well) so reminders of tasks can be set up for geographic locations or other situations. 

        There’s also Tasker (which isn’t a task manager) which is a more powerful app for setting up these kinds of automated smart conditions although it requires much steeper learning curve. I’ve yet to properly give it a try.

        And while Astrid syncs with Google Tasks both ways it would be nice if the additional features on my phone through Astrid were available natively to Google Tasks and hence integrated with everything else and available on other devices.