I haven't tried a WM phone, but I've had several Nokia E and N S60 phones in the past. S60 is slow and crashes a lot! I cannot see how WM on a Nokia could be worse.
Symbian, like all other mobile OSes, has matured a lost the last few years. My Nokia N95-3 is loaded with just about every type of Symbian and Java application there is (some on autostart, like the Google Search standby applet, the Fring Skype/gTalk/yTalk/MSN client, WorldMate, and Nokia's "Location Tagger" application) - frequent use of Nokia Maps w/voice navigation, Google Maps w/GPS enabled, Internet Radio, etc, rarely crashes at all (much less frequently, for instance, than my previous Motorola v3xx non-smartphone).
Oh, and I frequently use it to tether my internet connection with my Nokia N800 or my laptop over bluetooth, and/or use the "ExtGPS" application to share the GPS module with them - again - no problem with crashes.
Sure the S60 UI can be improved (for instance, with Mouse and/or Touch-screen support - it already supports external bluetooth keyboards); sure, the CPU speed can be bumped up a little so long at it does not drain the battery too much; and sure, the home screen could allow a bit more customization. That said, the underlying Symbian OS is one of the most technically sophisticated pieces of software that exists on the planet today. Unlike "desktop" OSes like Linux, Darwin or Windows, it uses a layered micro-kernel (even nano-kernel inside it) architecture; event-based communication in nearly every aspect (e.g. to request system services), therefore "hard real-time" multitasking, making things like single-chip 3G/3.5G communication possible and efficient. (And I say this as a huge Linux/Debian fan/developer/user and also Mac OS X user).
Clearly, every OS has its flaws. In the case of Symbian, it was the choice of "FAT" as its internal filesystem. (Hence, you will see process/task names often ending with ".exe", as in DOS/Windows, but actually taken from VMS..)
I have not used UIQ (there are no good UIQ phones with U.S. GSM/WCDMA bands available..), but I would expect that this may be a "nicer" presentation layer than S60...
The Chromebooks are here, starting with Samsung's Series 5, a cute little number that promises instant-on access, 3G connectivity, and long enough battery life to web surf with the best of 'em.
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I haven't tried a WM phone, but I've had several Nokia E and N S60 phones in the past. S60 is slow and crashes a lot! I cannot see how WM on a Nokia could be worse.
Which E and N series phones?
Symbian, like all other mobile OSes, has matured a lost the last few years. My Nokia N95-3 is loaded with just about every type of Symbian and Java application there is (some on autostart, like the Google Search standby applet, the Fring Skype/gTalk/yTalk/MSN client, WorldMate, and Nokia's "Location Tagger" application) - frequent use of Nokia Maps w/voice navigation, Google Maps w/GPS enabled, Internet Radio, etc, rarely crashes at all (much less frequently, for instance, than my previous Motorola v3xx non-smartphone).
Oh, and I frequently use it to tether my internet connection with my Nokia N800 or my laptop over bluetooth, and/or use the "ExtGPS" application to share the GPS module with them - again - no problem with crashes.
Sure the S60 UI can be improved (for instance, with Mouse and/or Touch-screen support - it already supports external bluetooth keyboards); sure, the CPU speed can be bumped up a little so long at it does not drain the battery too much; and sure, the home screen could allow a bit more customization. That said, the underlying Symbian OS is one of the most technically sophisticated pieces of software that exists on the planet today. Unlike "desktop" OSes like Linux, Darwin or Windows, it uses a layered micro-kernel (even nano-kernel inside it) architecture; event-based communication in nearly every aspect (e.g. to request system services), therefore "hard real-time" multitasking, making things like single-chip 3G/3.5G communication possible and efficient. (And I say this as a huge Linux/Debian fan/developer/user and also Mac OS X user).
Clearly, every OS has its flaws. In the case of Symbian, it was the choice of "FAT" as its internal filesystem. (Hence, you will see process/task names often ending with ".exe", as in DOS/Windows, but actually taken from VMS..)
I have not used UIQ (there are no good UIQ phones with U.S. GSM/WCDMA bands available..), but I would expect that this may be a "nicer" presentation layer than S60...