I purchased a Lumia 900 from ebay(US) just for the sake of trying out WP7. Out of the box, I was impressed by the phone.Unfortunately, my enthusiasm was short-lived. I tried to ignore some of the short-comings of the phone and the OS at large (which i will talk about in detail,in a short while), but the list of my frustration with WP7 kept getting glaringly long after spending a couple of hours trying to set-up the phone to my personal liking.
One guy has done an awesome job of aggregating a rather large list of shortcomings of WP7 even after the mango update, and I will post it here. But above and beyond that list, what frustrated me the most was, there is absolutely no inbuilt feature in WP7 or any app which will let you hide your videos, pictures and other documents which you would want to keep away from prying eyes. After searching in the Windows Market place, all I could come across was a picture locker app.There is just no way to hide videos and other file types or folders, nor is there any 3rd party app to do it on WP7. Now you'd say, Big deal! YES IT IS! Even good old symbian had folder hiding apps. Its a shortcoming big enough to be a deal breaker for me and i guess to many others who want to carry all their personal pics and videos with them without worrying about anyone else getting to see them videos in full glory in big tiles in the Zune. WTF? This is 2012 for God's sake! Where are my privacy features?
=====================================================================================
And here are the 121 REASONS NOT TO BUY A WINDOWS PHONE 7.5
WP7.5 (Mango) is already in its second generation but it still has many restrictions, limitations and serious usability issues. This is a list of its shortcomings as compared with other smartphone OS in the market. We are not comparing special features or abilities but those which have become the norm for all smartphones and even dumb phones. An Android, Symbian or MeeGo phone would have very few of these shortcomings. An iphone share some restrictions with WP7.5 but is still miles ahead. Even the Nokia N9 running the first generation MeeGo OS is far better with none of the disastrous issues which impact on the sheer usability of the phone.
OS LIMITATIONS
1. No true multitasking - all apps are frozen in the background except for some built-in apps like Zune player.
2. No Divx/Xvid video codec support. Zune will convert with loss of quality.
3. No mass storage mode.
4. No micro-SD card support.
5. No filemanager. Directory system is totally opaque.
6. Need Zune to transfer files. Zune will only transfer photos, videos & music. All other files need to email/upload to yourself.
7. Your contact details are automatically uploaded to cloud service whether you like it or not.
8. Limited to 800x480 resolution.
9. Voice search is hardwired to Bing.
10. Need to edit an MP3 file with strict constraints to be used as a ringtone.
11. Cannot set static IP address so no connection to ad-hoc networks.
12. No VPN support for this “corporate enterprise†phone.
13. Cannot sync directly with Outlook without syncing to Cloud
14. Totally closed OS, cannot sideload apps outside MS Marketplace.
15. System font size cannot be changed.
16. Images and photos cannot be renamed in the phone.
17. Windows Live ID account cannot change country once set.
18. No centralized notification page.
19. Alarm clock cannot work when phone is turned off. All Nokia Symbian and Meego phones can do this.
20. The idle screen is completely black and cannot display time or notifications.
21. Only photos allowed as email attachments, documents not allowed.
22. No rSAP Bluetooth profile for car audio streaming. This excludes many popular makes of cars.
23. Cannot stream audio from video to Bluetooth devices (No A2DP profile).
24. Tiles are fixed size and for many functions is a waste of space.
25. Cannot use Bluetooth keyboard.
26. Very limited customization option.
27. 3rd party apps cannot put notifications on the lockscreen
28. No over the air (OTA) firmware upgrade. All upgrades must be via PC installed Zune.
29. Zune can only be installed if you have an internet connection
30. Wifi- hotspot and internet tethering not integral features in the OS but need to be provided by manufacturer on a case by case basis.
31. No HDMI output (Lumia specific)
32. No support for lossless audio format like FLAC and WMA lossless
33. Generally force users to use IE, Bing and SkyDrive by shutting out competitors or tying OS features to them.
34. Compass gives wrong reading in Southern hemisphere.
35. Cannot be upgraded to WP8 (Apollo)
USABILITY ISSUES
36. No always visible status bar for battery life, signal strength, carrier, 2G/3G wi-fi, Bluetooth status.
37. Taskmanager has no option to shut down apps you don’t want running in the background.
38. Search and Back button cannot be de-activated in apps or games and easily touched by accident.
39. Lockscreen need to be activated to show missed call/sms notification.
40. No way to close an app except pressing back button all the way to the first screen.
41. Tiny fonts in messages is very hard to read for those over 45.
42. Cannot create and save playlists on the phone.
43. Playlist can only be edited when you are playing it.
44. Cannot search your music collection on the phone, only in the Marketplace.
45. Cannot close music player, can only pause. Music player on lockscreen will stay until you reboot.
46. No draggable progress bar to set position for current track playing.
47. Cannot lock screen orientation.
48. Cannot save draft sms messages.
49. Cannot silence ringtone or alarm by flipping the phone.
50. Call history only show phone number type. If a contact has multiple phone nos. for a type the number used is unknown.
51. Cannot recognize phone numbers in sms or email to save or use as calling number.
52. Text messages can only be deleted one by one or the whole thread.
53. Cannot select multiple pictures for deleting, sending or uploading. They must be done one at a time.
54. No way to see photo details - dimensions, date/time taken, file size, etc
55. Apps are listed alphabetically with no way to group by category. Can be hard to find if you don’t remember the name.
56. Calendar scheduler has no weekly view and monthly view is non-zoomable.
57. No peak/off-peak scheduling for email downloads.
58. Forwarded emails cannot be edited
59. If both wi-fi and data connection are available which one it chooses to use is unpredictable.
60. Option to output FM radio to speaker is cleverly hidden.
61. Cannot add or update podcasts directly from the phone.
62. No global search button for phone content.
63. Hardware search button is of limited use as it is hardwired to Bing.
64. Unable to read long names in audio and video playlist as they get cut off.
65. Alarm does not revert to speaker if headphones are plugged in.
66. If the phone is set to vibrate for incoming calls it will only vibrate once and may lead to missed calls.
67. Silent option for ringer is buried in Settings.
FEATURE LIMITATIONS
68. No live wallpaper, no widgets, no themes
69. No haptic feedback for keyboard.
70. No Swype.
71. No flashplayer support.
72. No Silverlight support.
73. No support for Java apps.
74. No call recording or app to do it.
75. No call blocking or app to do it.
76. No screenshots or app to do it.
77. No data monitor and no app to do it.
78. No auto wallpaper changer and no app to do it.
79. Totally locked down os means apps which interact directly with hardware not allowed. This excludes a whole range of useful apps.
80. No equalizer for Zune music player.
81. IE browser has no text reflow, no offline reading and will not download any file it does not recognize.
82. No 3rd party browsers allowed except those based on IE.
83. Volume up/down buttons cannot be used to zoom in camera (sign of an immature os)
84. Cannot open zip or rar files received as email attachment.
85. Cannot send or receive video by MMS.
86. Office Mobile has much less features than 3rd party Office editors like SmartOffice, QuickOffice and Polaris. Shame on you, Microsoft!
87. Mobile Office cannot edit Office 97-2003 documents to force users to upgrade.
88. No native Google maps and Bing maps is useless for most countries outside U.S.
89. Email time stamp does not show the year.
90. Wide difference in apps availability in different markets and users locked to one market.
91. Not all Bing features available outside U.S. especially Local Scout.
92. Cannot reject a call with a sms – a downgrade from Symbian.
93. Cannot set all contacts offline (no calls) except for a designated list – a downgrade from Symbian.
DUMB AND DUMBER
94. One volume control for all functions including media playback, ringtones, alarms, notifications.
95. Wi-fi disconnects when screen sleeps.
96. Volume of text message alerts do not automatically reduce when using headphones or when talking on the phone which may cause your ears to be blasted.
97. Can only enter one mobile phone no. for each contact. Mobile nos. entered in other fields will not accept sms.
98. Cannot send/receive MMS without enabling 3G data connection. MMS does not use 3G data.
99. Phone cannot be charged when off.
100. Need to be plugged in to wall charger to sync wirelessly with Zune (a funny definition of wireless).
101. Oversized fonts for headings waste screen space and result in low information density
102. Phone will wake up and display sms content on lockscreen when locked – a privacy violation.
103. Phone can be rebooted without entering security code
104. Internet Explorer has no Forward button for page views
105. Cannot be charged up when battery is flat. (Lumia specific)
106. Bing maps need to tap to get voice direction for next turn.
FEATURES EVEN DUMB PHONES HAVE BUT WP7.5 DOESN’T
107. No bluetooth file transfer.
108. Cannot handle USSD codes necessary for prepaid users to obtain services.
109. Cannot filter call history into Missed Calls, Received Calls, Dialled Calls, Recent Calls, etc
110. No way to backup or export call history
111. Does not show call duration in call history.
112. No way to edit MMS profile for Operators in the OS. Need an app which is not available in all markets
113. Call history does not group calls by contact.
114. Call history does not show the time of call for calls older than current day.
115. Cannot set custom sounds for different types of notifications.
116. No ringer profiles.
117. Cannot send/receive contact as a csv file.
118. Cannot backup contacts to PC, only to SkyDrive
119. Cannot backup sms at all, not even to SkyDrive
120. Cannot save contact to SIM card.
121. Cannot change alarm ring tone or use a MP3 file.
122. Cannot set alarm snooze interval.
==========================================================================
Source : 101 Reasons Not to Buy A Windows Phone 7.5 :: My-Symbian ~ My-Maemo ~ My-MeeGo Forum
P.S. The author permits free distribution of the information.
==========================================================================
I wonder what use is the fluidity of the OS that many WP7 users seem to highlight when it has such a long list of shortcomings compared to other competing mobile operating systems. It is a shame that WP7 is lacking some features even seen in legacy feature phones.
I tried my best to be accommodating to the shortcomings of this 'promising' OS from Microsoft, but beyond the 121 reasons mentioned above, somethings like the lack of privacy features are downright unforgivable.
I'm back to my Galaxy S2 and Android at large. I can sleep easy even after handing my phone to a friend, because my private files are securely encrypted and under lock and key right inside the phone, thanks to a plethora of apps made just for that purpose.
Android haters tend to publicize the lag in Android phones a bit too much. But I ask you.. What would you rather have? A smart mobile OS which takes maybe a second longer, but does everything you expect it to do, OR an immature wannabe smart OS which is very fluid but lacks features even dumb phones of yesteryears had?
One guy has done an awesome job of aggregating a rather large list of shortcomings of WP7 even after the mango update, and I will post it here. But above and beyond that list, what frustrated me the most was, there is absolutely no inbuilt feature in WP7 or any app which will let you hide your videos, pictures and other documents which you would want to keep away from prying eyes. After searching in the Windows Market place, all I could come across was a picture locker app.There is just no way to hide videos and other file types or folders, nor is there any 3rd party app to do it on WP7. Now you'd say, Big deal! YES IT IS! Even good old symbian had folder hiding apps. Its a shortcoming big enough to be a deal breaker for me and i guess to many others who want to carry all their personal pics and videos with them without worrying about anyone else getting to see them videos in full glory in big tiles in the Zune. WTF? This is 2012 for God's sake! Where are my privacy features?
=====================================================================================
And here are the 121 REASONS NOT TO BUY A WINDOWS PHONE 7.5
WP7.5 (Mango) is already in its second generation but it still has many restrictions, limitations and serious usability issues. This is a list of its shortcomings as compared with other smartphone OS in the market. We are not comparing special features or abilities but those which have become the norm for all smartphones and even dumb phones. An Android, Symbian or MeeGo phone would have very few of these shortcomings. An iphone share some restrictions with WP7.5 but is still miles ahead. Even the Nokia N9 running the first generation MeeGo OS is far better with none of the disastrous issues which impact on the sheer usability of the phone.
OS LIMITATIONS
1. No true multitasking - all apps are frozen in the background except for some built-in apps like Zune player.
2. No Divx/Xvid video codec support. Zune will convert with loss of quality.
3. No mass storage mode.
4. No micro-SD card support.
5. No filemanager. Directory system is totally opaque.
6. Need Zune to transfer files. Zune will only transfer photos, videos & music. All other files need to email/upload to yourself.
7. Your contact details are automatically uploaded to cloud service whether you like it or not.
8. Limited to 800x480 resolution.
9. Voice search is hardwired to Bing.
10. Need to edit an MP3 file with strict constraints to be used as a ringtone.
11. Cannot set static IP address so no connection to ad-hoc networks.
12. No VPN support for this “corporate enterprise†phone.
13. Cannot sync directly with Outlook without syncing to Cloud
14. Totally closed OS, cannot sideload apps outside MS Marketplace.
15. System font size cannot be changed.
16. Images and photos cannot be renamed in the phone.
17. Windows Live ID account cannot change country once set.
18. No centralized notification page.
19. Alarm clock cannot work when phone is turned off. All Nokia Symbian and Meego phones can do this.
20. The idle screen is completely black and cannot display time or notifications.
21. Only photos allowed as email attachments, documents not allowed.
22. No rSAP Bluetooth profile for car audio streaming. This excludes many popular makes of cars.
23. Cannot stream audio from video to Bluetooth devices (No A2DP profile).
24. Tiles are fixed size and for many functions is a waste of space.
25. Cannot use Bluetooth keyboard.
26. Very limited customization option.
27. 3rd party apps cannot put notifications on the lockscreen
28. No over the air (OTA) firmware upgrade. All upgrades must be via PC installed Zune.
29. Zune can only be installed if you have an internet connection
30. Wifi- hotspot and internet tethering not integral features in the OS but need to be provided by manufacturer on a case by case basis.
31. No HDMI output (Lumia specific)
32. No support for lossless audio format like FLAC and WMA lossless
33. Generally force users to use IE, Bing and SkyDrive by shutting out competitors or tying OS features to them.
34. Compass gives wrong reading in Southern hemisphere.
35. Cannot be upgraded to WP8 (Apollo)
USABILITY ISSUES
36. No always visible status bar for battery life, signal strength, carrier, 2G/3G wi-fi, Bluetooth status.
37. Taskmanager has no option to shut down apps you don’t want running in the background.
38. Search and Back button cannot be de-activated in apps or games and easily touched by accident.
39. Lockscreen need to be activated to show missed call/sms notification.
40. No way to close an app except pressing back button all the way to the first screen.
41. Tiny fonts in messages is very hard to read for those over 45.
42. Cannot create and save playlists on the phone.
43. Playlist can only be edited when you are playing it.
44. Cannot search your music collection on the phone, only in the Marketplace.
45. Cannot close music player, can only pause. Music player on lockscreen will stay until you reboot.
46. No draggable progress bar to set position for current track playing.
47. Cannot lock screen orientation.
48. Cannot save draft sms messages.
49. Cannot silence ringtone or alarm by flipping the phone.
50. Call history only show phone number type. If a contact has multiple phone nos. for a type the number used is unknown.
51. Cannot recognize phone numbers in sms or email to save or use as calling number.
52. Text messages can only be deleted one by one or the whole thread.
53. Cannot select multiple pictures for deleting, sending or uploading. They must be done one at a time.
54. No way to see photo details - dimensions, date/time taken, file size, etc
55. Apps are listed alphabetically with no way to group by category. Can be hard to find if you don’t remember the name.
56. Calendar scheduler has no weekly view and monthly view is non-zoomable.
57. No peak/off-peak scheduling for email downloads.
58. Forwarded emails cannot be edited
59. If both wi-fi and data connection are available which one it chooses to use is unpredictable.
60. Option to output FM radio to speaker is cleverly hidden.
61. Cannot add or update podcasts directly from the phone.
62. No global search button for phone content.
63. Hardware search button is of limited use as it is hardwired to Bing.
64. Unable to read long names in audio and video playlist as they get cut off.
65. Alarm does not revert to speaker if headphones are plugged in.
66. If the phone is set to vibrate for incoming calls it will only vibrate once and may lead to missed calls.
67. Silent option for ringer is buried in Settings.
FEATURE LIMITATIONS
68. No live wallpaper, no widgets, no themes
69. No haptic feedback for keyboard.
70. No Swype.
71. No flashplayer support.
72. No Silverlight support.
73. No support for Java apps.
74. No call recording or app to do it.
75. No call blocking or app to do it.
76. No screenshots or app to do it.
77. No data monitor and no app to do it.
78. No auto wallpaper changer and no app to do it.
79. Totally locked down os means apps which interact directly with hardware not allowed. This excludes a whole range of useful apps.
80. No equalizer for Zune music player.
81. IE browser has no text reflow, no offline reading and will not download any file it does not recognize.
82. No 3rd party browsers allowed except those based on IE.
83. Volume up/down buttons cannot be used to zoom in camera (sign of an immature os)
84. Cannot open zip or rar files received as email attachment.
85. Cannot send or receive video by MMS.
86. Office Mobile has much less features than 3rd party Office editors like SmartOffice, QuickOffice and Polaris. Shame on you, Microsoft!
87. Mobile Office cannot edit Office 97-2003 documents to force users to upgrade.
88. No native Google maps and Bing maps is useless for most countries outside U.S.
89. Email time stamp does not show the year.
90. Wide difference in apps availability in different markets and users locked to one market.
91. Not all Bing features available outside U.S. especially Local Scout.
92. Cannot reject a call with a sms – a downgrade from Symbian.
93. Cannot set all contacts offline (no calls) except for a designated list – a downgrade from Symbian.
DUMB AND DUMBER
94. One volume control for all functions including media playback, ringtones, alarms, notifications.
95. Wi-fi disconnects when screen sleeps.
96. Volume of text message alerts do not automatically reduce when using headphones or when talking on the phone which may cause your ears to be blasted.
97. Can only enter one mobile phone no. for each contact. Mobile nos. entered in other fields will not accept sms.
98. Cannot send/receive MMS without enabling 3G data connection. MMS does not use 3G data.
99. Phone cannot be charged when off.
100. Need to be plugged in to wall charger to sync wirelessly with Zune (a funny definition of wireless).
101. Oversized fonts for headings waste screen space and result in low information density
102. Phone will wake up and display sms content on lockscreen when locked – a privacy violation.
103. Phone can be rebooted without entering security code
104. Internet Explorer has no Forward button for page views
105. Cannot be charged up when battery is flat. (Lumia specific)
106. Bing maps need to tap to get voice direction for next turn.
FEATURES EVEN DUMB PHONES HAVE BUT WP7.5 DOESN’T
107. No bluetooth file transfer.
108. Cannot handle USSD codes necessary for prepaid users to obtain services.
109. Cannot filter call history into Missed Calls, Received Calls, Dialled Calls, Recent Calls, etc
110. No way to backup or export call history
111. Does not show call duration in call history.
112. No way to edit MMS profile for Operators in the OS. Need an app which is not available in all markets
113. Call history does not group calls by contact.
114. Call history does not show the time of call for calls older than current day.
115. Cannot set custom sounds for different types of notifications.
116. No ringer profiles.
117. Cannot send/receive contact as a csv file.
118. Cannot backup contacts to PC, only to SkyDrive
119. Cannot backup sms at all, not even to SkyDrive
120. Cannot save contact to SIM card.
121. Cannot change alarm ring tone or use a MP3 file.
122. Cannot set alarm snooze interval.
==========================================================================
Source : 101 Reasons Not to Buy A Windows Phone 7.5 :: My-Symbian ~ My-Maemo ~ My-MeeGo Forum
P.S. The author permits free distribution of the information.
==========================================================================
I wonder what use is the fluidity of the OS that many WP7 users seem to highlight when it has such a long list of shortcomings compared to other competing mobile operating systems. It is a shame that WP7 is lacking some features even seen in legacy feature phones.
I tried my best to be accommodating to the shortcomings of this 'promising' OS from Microsoft, but beyond the 121 reasons mentioned above, somethings like the lack of privacy features are downright unforgivable.
I'm back to my Galaxy S2 and Android at large. I can sleep easy even after handing my phone to a friend, because my private files are securely encrypted and under lock and key right inside the phone, thanks to a plethora of apps made just for that purpose.
Android haters tend to publicize the lag in Android phones a bit too much. But I ask you.. What would you rather have? A smart mobile OS which takes maybe a second longer, but does everything you expect it to do, OR an immature wannabe smart OS which is very fluid but lacks features even dumb phones of yesteryears had?
), I can only say - to each his own. 
