Apr
5
2009

Android vs. Windows Mobile

Did I ever mention that I now have a T-Mobile G1 phone?  No, I guess I didn’t.

Anyways, I switched to this phone after using an AT&T Tilt for serveral months.  I had been putting custom ROM’s on that…and I rooted my Android phone, so I guess I’m just a phone junkie all around… (thinking back, I messed with my RAZR a lot too).

Anyway, to get to the point, ANDROID IS AMAZING.  There.  I said it.

Android is at least a million times faster (exaggeration) than Windows Mobile.  I even had hacked my Windows Mobile phone to be FASTER and it was STILL really slow.  Not to mention the screen was horrible compared to the G1’s.  Windows Mobile can’t support capacitive touchscreens, whereas Android can.  This, right off the bat, makes Android a lot more kick-ass.

Capacitive Touchscreens = only respond to human touch.  Meaning if you try to touch it with a glove, it wouldn’t work.

Resistive Touchscreens = work if you touch them with anything.  They just sense pressure on the screen, so you could set it off with a door handle.

The G1, in many ways, is better than the iPhone.  I’ll only get into the one topic for now which is “how do you use the iPhone with gloves on?”  You can’t.  Same question for Android? You use a TRACKBALL.  That’s thinking outside the box.  I’ll get into that some other time…

Back to my Windows Mobile vs. Android debate.

ANDROID:

T-Mobile G1

PROS:

Fast, sleek, sexy, refined, MARKETPLACE FOR ALL APPS, capacitive touchscreens, open source, can use in winter, better onscreen keyboard, made by Google.

CONS:

Only one phone (for now…this will change in a matter of months), less software currently available, can’t record video (will be able to as of update coming in a matter of days).

Windows MobileWINDOWS MOBILE:

PROS:

Lots of software available, on a lot of phones, extremely customizable.

CONS:

Buggy, slow, ugly, only resistive touchscreens, no marketplace (yet).

This leads me to talk about how much a Marketplace / App Store is needed for every platform.

In Windows Mobile, you have to go on your computer and search websites for .cab files.  You then have to find one, somehow get it onto your phone, and then install it onto your phone.  In order to update that application, you have to repeat the entire process.

In Android, you merely click on the Marketplace app, browse / search to find the app you want, and click Install.  It then downloads the file onto the device for you and installs it.  It’s even simpler than I made it sound.  In order to update any application, you merely have to wait until it tells you that there is an available update for a certain application.  Then you just click “update” and it does the rest.  SIMPLE.

All I can say is that the minute I turned on the phone, I almost cried at how beautiful everything was and how responsive and easy to use everything was.  I never even turned on my Windows Mobile phone again.  (I have since sold it on eBay to someone in Kentucky…sucker!).

About the Author: Chris Bellman

Sophomore ECE major at The Ohio State University. Technology enthusiast. Runs own IT business in Cincinnati.