Question of the Day

Question of the Day:  What would it take to make you switch to a different operating system?

In posing this question, my initial thought was in regards to handheld or mobile operating systems.  In theory, this could also apply to desktop operating systems as well, though.

With all of the news coming in about Windows Phone 7 Series and what it may or may not be capable of doing, I’m suprised to read in various user forums how many people say that some of the features, or lack thereof, are deal breakers for them.  Some say automatically that they are going to switch to Android in the future, for fear of a lack of customization of their device operating systems.  Others are more grounded… they want to see what the new operating system will bring, including if there will be any compatibility with previous applications.  Some are quite content to stay with what they have, or are quite satisfied with Windows Mobile 6.1 or 6.5.

I’ve been through a couple of handheld operating system switches in the past.  It’s not fun.  It’s not a decision to make on a whim, as some seem to do.  It is emotional.  It is painful.  I’ve migrated from EPOC to Palm and from Palm to Windows Mobile.  Ironically, while using the former, I always detested the latter.  I only accepted a Palm m500 as a birthday gift from my wife, with the full intent on using my current device.  The wide application catalog soon won me over.  I had been familiar with Windows Mobile from using an iPaq 110 that was bestowed upon my by a job.  I never fell in love with it.  After buying a used Treo 750 and loving it, only to have it fail later due to a hardware issue, I reverted back to the Centro.  By the way, the Centro rocks.  However, my longing for the customization and more powerful aspects of Windows Mobile soon won out, and I bought another device, later to finally move up to the HTC Touch Pro.

I’m firmly invested in Windows Mobile.  I’m using the stock 6.1 ROM on my Touch Pro, having foregone the temptation to upgrade to a cooked 6.5 for now.  I plan on staying put.  It would take something very substantial, to make me migrate at this point.  How about you?  What would it take for you to switch to a different mobile OS?  Hit the comments below to let us know.