Descroogling: an open request for guidance from Microsoft (and Nokia)

In the wake of Google's "winter cleaning" announcement indicating that devices using the EAS protocol (effectively, Windows 8/RT/Phone) are going to be cut off from using free Google services, Microsoft has suggested that Windows Phone users should move from gmail to outlook.com.

I'm a Windows Phone user, so I'm feeling pretty strong antipathy for Google at the moment and I'm receptive to Microsoft's message. However for myself and many other people this move isn't necessarily easy for two reasons:

1. I use many google services besides gmail (for instance, this is a blogger blog). Can I ditch Google entirely, or do I have to have the inconvenience of using accounts on multiple platforms to access the services I want to use?
2. My family, friends and work colleagues use google services. How do I collaborate with them?

Microsoft: I'm ready and willing, tell me what to do.
Nokia: interested in your ideas as my phone is a Nokia device, and you have been producing some nice online services and Windows Phone apps.

I have had a go at putting together a table listing Google service, equivalent MS/Nokia service, the experience from the WP user's perspective and the experience for googlers I collaborate with. This table probably still needs lots of work!

I was pessimistic before compiling this, but the results are actually not too bad so far. To me the hard areas are where private sharing is needed - Calendar, Drive, Apps. For non-US-based people, Bing is a constant disappointment and very hard to switch to.

Notes:

• I have not included entertainment as this is covered elsewhere.
• Call me old school, but I still do a lot of stuff on desktop/laptop and this is important to me.

Google Service	Microsoft/Nokia Service	Individual experience	Non-MS collaboration experience
Gmail	Outlook.com	I used my Gmail account as an email aggregator. I could filter easily by account and reply from other accounts. Not sure if Outlook.com will be as good?	Dude it's just email
Calendar	Outlook.com calendar	Hurry up and modernize it!	Public Outlook.com calendar items?
Contacts	Outlook.com contacts	Can contacts be shared by either?
Drive	Skydrive	My experience with Skydrive has been nicer I use Otixo as an online storage aggregator so experience not so important to me	Move file to google using Otixo and share Public Skydrive file links - download only?
Apps	Office Web Apps	Not as mature as Apps, can be quite slow, crashes occasionally	Public Skydrive file links - download only?
Search	Bing	Bing is a US-only sideshow and has a frankly feeble international presence	I don't have a need to share search results
Blogger	Windows Live Spaces	Is WLS still available?	Blogs are usually public, should be no issue
Google+	so.cl	Experience dependent on community size. Why not just use Facebook?	No one I know is likely to sign up. Why not just use Facebook?
Reader	Nokia Xpress? Is there an online service behind this that I can access from the desktop?	Online rss service seems to have been a gaping hole in MS offering forever	Sharing and commenting desirable, could be achieved via links to social services
News	Bing News	As per search. Lousy experience outside US	Sharing and commenting desirable, could be achieved via links to social services
Youtube	MSN video (dead?)	Skydrive (as far as storage allows) but I don't really have a need to privately share videos, and very little need to upload at all	Youtube has private videos but nobody I know is using it
Translate	Bing translator	My experience with both is fine	I'm not aware of any reason to share private translations
Maps	Bing Maps Nokia Here	Again Bing's international support lets the side down - limited availability of traffic or transit info	I don't have much need to create/share map overlays

Jabra headset pairing tip

The pairing instructions say to hold down the Answer button until the light turns solid blue. However the light will NEVER turn solid blue if the headset is already on when you hold the button down. Make sure the headset is off before holding the button down.

Bing, you're making me give up on you - and possibly Windows Phone as well

Bing keeps talking big with campaigns like the Bing It On challenge, but continues to fail to deliver.

The two most asked for controls  are the ability to narrow and sort results by date. In theory this is now available but it's unreliable, and decides to disappear when you most need it.

It's clear to me that the date functionality must be fairly shaky and Bing chooses to selectively hide it away in situations they think it will produce bad results. Unfortunately working around this limitation makes using Bing feel like hard work compared to the effortless experience of using the Google date controls.

In some cases narrow by date can be forced by adding &tbs=qdr:d to the url. But how hard would it have been to provide a GUI setting for this?

What's worse, the date controls are completely unavailable in many countries. One of the most infuriating aspects of Bing is the glacially slow country rollout. Many countries like Singapore are still waiting for Bing to provide such basics as local news. But sometimes the limitations are subtler - try switching to your country to Australia. You'll find a Bing home page that superficially looks as feature-rich as the US. However as soon as you try force-enabling narrow by date, you'll find that you can't.

Windows Phone 7 currently has Bing baked into it, and it's very hard to change the default search provider. I don't expect Windows Phone 8 to change this situation, which means the success of Windows Phone 8 is heavily tied to Bing. Windows Phones are sold globally, so Bing must perform globally if Windows Phone is to avoid becoming a US-only sideshow. At the very least Bing must achieve worldwide parity with Google on the search functionality.

What Windows Phone REALLY needs: CHEAP PHONES!!!!!

Media attention is usually grabbed by the "hero" phones with high price-tags, leading-edge features, and huge marketing budgets. And while sales figures are very healthy for top-of-the-line phones such as the iPhone 4 and the Samsung Galaxy S III, they are really only appealing to two relatively small market segments: the cashed-up and the so-tech-obsessed-they're-willing-to-take-out-second-mortgages.

Most people buy their first smartphone when the price drops below a certain threshold - say $200. Often their needs are met by little more than a touch screen and Angry Birds. They don't care if the phone has a relatively small screen, lousy camera, is slow or has hardly any storage - they're just basking in the warmth of being new members of the smartphone "club". These are the people who make up the vast bulk of the sales figures, and they all without exception will buy Androids.

However, over time they will become aware of the cool things that other people's more expensive phones can do, which will make them irritated and frustrated with the limitations of their own phones. The temptation to upgrade may quickly become overpowering. The starter phone will soon have served its function as a gateway to more expensive phones.

So what phone are they likely to choose next? While there might be a few who find the shininess of an iPhone irresistible and not too much of a financial stretch, that's not the most likely outcome. Android will already be comforting and familiar, by now the owners would have their Google account setup and they would lose the apps they bought if they switched operating system. So they're probably going to stick with Android.

Entry level pricing gives Android a fundamental advantage over Apple in capturing and retaining new adopters. This is where Windows Phone needs to play if they want steady, sustainable growth. The Tango update allows Windows Phone to run on punier hardware, which is a good start. But I think Microsoft needs to go further.

For decades Microsoft has been giving Windows and Office away to schools to get the kids hooked before they've developed the ability to make their own independent decisions (Apple have been doing it too, but from what I've seen the margins aren't exactly being slashed).

With the launch of Windows 8, I'd expect that the education relaunch will be in full swing. Windows Phone should be an integral part of this. I think Microsoft could run courses on safe phone usage (you know the kind of thing - safe social media usage, the dangers of oversharing and how to handle electronic bullying), and as part of this they should offer discounted phones to educators and kids (with parental approval, of course).

The first time I saw a video of Windows Phone in action, I knew I wanted it. However my first smartphone was an Android, and I even upgraded to another Android. Partly this was due to cost, but also it was hard not to be scared off by largely negative media commentary about Windows Phone. It wasn't until a Windows Phone came up in a clearance sale three months ago that I finally followed through on my first preference. Now, I can't stop thinking about the Lumia 820, and I'm going to get one as soon as it's available in my area. If a $200 Windows Phone had been available when I was shopping for my first smartphone, I could have been at this point 18 months ago.