Why I can’t love Windows Phone 7.5

I like Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango.” OK, so most of you who read my column regularly are thinking, “There he goes again, just taking the Microsoft side.” But wait a moment. I didn’t say I love it. I didn’t claim it to be better than an iPhone. I just said I like it. Here’s why I like it but don’t love it.

I’ve said for months that I would give up my Android smartphone for a Windows Phone 7.5 device to see if Microsoft’s mobile platform could be a real contender for professional use. Now that my Android contract has expired, I’ve made the switch. I’m now using a Nokia Lumia 710, which has a 3.7-inch touchscreen with a 5-megapixel camera, LED flash, and HD video. (The Lumia 900 is all the rage right now, but my carrier, T-Mobile, doesn’t offer it yet.)

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My first day with the Windows Phone 7.5 device was tough because I’ve been working with an Android for several years, refusing to switch over to the iPhone. My hope was that the Android OS would eventually top the iPhone, but after using it through several versions, I’ve concluded that Android simply doesn’t offer the polish of an Apple product. The iPhone’s advantage isn’t just its iOS operating system and related software; the actual phone that Apple has created has incredible photo and video quality that I haven’t seen matched. Maybe the Samsung Galaxy S III will be the Android device that finally matches the iPhone, but it’s not available in the United States yet, so that wasn’t an option.

The Windows Phone 7.5 interface is quite intuitive, so the switch was easy. I find Metro’s UI somewhat confusing because I have no idea what all the little signs inside the little circles mean (I like that there are three little dots you can tap to find out what the signs mean), but overall, Metro is easy to navigate. Its settings are easy to change and configure as well. It’s not rocket science to operate, and it has a flow to it in terms of typography and navigation that is much more cohesive than Android’s UI.

I tested out several important apps for news, weather, and stocks. I also downloaded the Skype app and tested it with the Skype app on an iPad. It all worked great. Apple’s FaceTime videoconferencing (restricted to iOS and OS X devices) seems a bit clearer than what’s available for Wimdpws Phone 7.5’s Skype, but maybe I’ve had too much of the Apple Kool-Aid myself lately. I like the Zune application for my PC to sync with the smartphone, thanks to its intuitive approach. I strongly prefer it over iTunes, which has an awkward Mac feel. With Microsoft having killed its Zune media players last fall and now saying the Zune software will disappear soon too in favor of new Xbox-based software, my fingers are crossed it’ll stay intuitive.

I also like Windows Phone’s visual voicemail feature, which allows me to scan my voicemail and just select the ones I want to play. (Yes, I know the iPhone has had this since 2007, but not Android.) I can quickly delete voicemail or call that person back with a single click. Apparently this is a feature that is carrier-enabled, so I’m glad my carrier supports it.

Windows Phone and Office 365 are truly better together After playing with all the user elements, I needed to focus on the enterprise side. My first concern was how Windows Phone would connect with Exchange and Office 365, which is the platform I use for my corporate email. Fortunately, it connected faster and more easily than it ever did on Android, thanks to the support for Exchange Autodiscover connections. All I had to do was enter my email and password.

Because iOS and Android support Exchsange ActiveSync, I didn’t expect any real difference in using Windows Phone with Exchange. But the first thing it told me was that my SharePoint team site was set up and I could access it from the Office hub. Plus, the Lumia asked me to install Lync 2010, which is great for presence information and communication on the go (although the mobile flavor doesn’t provide videoconferencing like its desktop app counterpart does). Bingo! That’s an advantage of using a mobile OS built by the same company that created my hosted Exchange and SharePoint.

Compared to Android, the Windows Phone Outlook app was a definite improvement, with the conversation view enabled by default. My contacts were immediately brought in, and my calendar settings, tasks, and so on were also synchronized without any issues, just as you would expect.

I did like the fact that I could do a search on the server for emails older than my default settings, something I could not do on Android. Maybe you’ve been there before: You need an email, but it’s older than the three- or five-day sync range settings you have for your smartphone, so it’s not available. It’s not a problem on Windows Phone (I know iOS does this too).

Another interesting little setting is the ability to turn automatic replies on or off with a swipe. This is great for those out-of-office messages you have set up but perhaps have forgotten to turn on when you left for vacation. You can use Outlook Web App to connect in and flip the switch, but Windows Phone does it even faster (and neither Android nor the iPhone can set up out-of-office messages directly).

I give Windows Phone’s “better together” concept a thumbs-up.

Lack of policy support is the deal-breaker Why I am withhoding my love for Windows Phone? The reason is the limited enterprise support.

Windows Phone 7.5 lacks key security policy capabilities needed by many businesses, such as support for on-device encryption, camera disablement, and browser disablement, all of which iOS and many Android devices offer. For many companies, these omissions are deal-breakers. I’m hoping that the rumored forthcoming Windows Phone 8 “Apollo” will fix these omissions and let the great Windows Phone UI blossom in business.

This article, “Why I can’t love Windows Phone 7.5,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more of J. Peter Bruzzese’s Enterprise Windows blog and follow the latest developments in Windows at InfoWorld.com. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.