iPhone OS 4 versus Windows Phone 7: the tale of the tape

So now that Apple's finally addressed (well, sort of addressed) the 800-pound gorilla known as multitasking, it's time to take a good, hard look at how iPhone OS 4 stacks up against Redmond's completely redesigned mobile monster that's destined to hit handsets toward the end of the year. Though the two companies have taken vastly different paths to get to where they are with their mobile strategies today, there are some striking similarities between the platforms; take that multitasking we already mentioned, for example -- both iPhone OS and Windows Phone are looking to keep processor and battery utilization to a minimum by putting the emphasis on managed services for background apps rather than just letting them run roughshod over your fragile hardware. Of course, there are some striking differences, too -- so let's have a look, shall we?

iPhone OS 4

iPhone OS 3.1.3

Windows Phone 7

Windows Mobile 6.5.3

Kernel Type	OS X	OS X	Windows CE 6	Windows CE 5
Platform Adaptability	Good	Good	Good	Excellent
Platform Age	Adolescent	Adolescent	Young	Mature
First-party Enterprise Support	Exchange	Exchange	Exchange	Exchange
Wireless Tech	GSM, WiFi	GSM, WiFi	GSM, CDMA, WiFi	GSM, CDMA, WiFi
Screen Gestures	Yes	Yes	Yes	Limited
Screen Tech	Capacitive	Capacitive	Capacitive	Capacitive / Resistive
Multitouch	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
UI skinning	Limited	No	No	Yes
Input methods	Virtual / external keyboards	Virtual keyboard only	Virtual / physical keyboards	Virtual / physical keyboards, T9 / triple tap, character recognition
Notification style	Modal pop-up, icon badge	Modal pop-up, icon badge	Unobtrusive banner / pop-up	Modal pop-up
Contact integration / management	Exchange ActiveSync, Mac OS Address Book, Google Sync	Exchange ActiveSync, Mac OS Address Book, Google Sync	Exchange ActiveSync, Google Sync	Exchange ActiveSync, Google Sync, Domino, BlackBerry
Multitasking	Limited / managed	No	Limited / managed	Yes
Copy / paste	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Media support / ecosystem	iTunes	iTunes	Zune	None
Global search	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Firmware updates	Tethered	Tethered	Tethered, OTA	Tethered, limited OTA
Browser Engine	WebKit	WebKit	Trident (IE)	Trident (IE)
Tethering	Yes (varies by carrier)	Yes (varies by carrier)	Unknown	Yes
Stereo Blutooth	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
SDK Availability / Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Official App Store	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
App Availability	High	High	Low (unreleased)	Medium
Native Applications	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Unsigned Applications	No	No	No	Yes
On-Device App Management	Excellent	Good (no folders)	Good (no folders)	Good

[hvakrg Posted Apr 9th 2010 3:12AM]

I mostly agree with this table, but the "Good
(no folders)" on WP7 app management I don't agree with. They're doing something completely new here, and I don't see how "no folders" is a drawback on their way of doing it.

[Newwales Posted Apr 9th 2010 4:39AM]

What is this all about windows 7 is rubbish you NEED to do a comparison with Android, is it you know Android will win hands down so you do a comparison with a lesser competitor.

Win mobile 7 sucks.

[falz3tta Posted Apr 9th 2010 4:52AM]

Why are some boxes red, green, and yellow? Am I too stupid to decide which is better? Also, as WinPho7 has the most greens is it the best?

[5D Posted Apr 9th 2010 5:01AM]

Damn... Very informative.. ive got a feeling that the lack of silver light and flash will not bother the iphone people so much now with multi tasking enabled. I expect that soon the iPhone web browser will become an un-used app to some as every website maker with flash or silverlight will have to code an app for the iPhone to give their followers a good interactive experience. Thank god they put folders.

I see why people are freaking out. Like it or not and im sure somewhat frustratingly for other phone manufacturers, people have so many hopes pegged on the iPhone. It should have had multi tasking ages ago, but why show all your cards at once. They have people so hooked on the marketing, even myself, that copy and paste will actually sell them more phones. They are constantly holding back potential because they can, we forgive them and thank them for the slivers of the "iPhone version of something" because for whatever reason so many people want to love it and want it to be the solution to everything. Sorry for the slight rant but I think that Windows Phone 7 really shook them up and with all the press it garnered apple had to get the Ipad out quick. And i hope that microsoft tries to out do apple at every corner to shake up Apples *hold back the tech till the next upgrade opportunity* attitude.

I don't dislike apple and am typing on a macbook pro 17inch unibody but Damn I'm tired of of feeling like i owe apple something.

Am I the only one who feels this apple control seeping into the way I look at technology? Is anyone else tired of that?

[jellotime91 Posted Apr 12th 2010 2:19AM]

@5D
I actually think Apple doesn't give two shits about Windows Phone 7. Look at the real brass tacks of Windows Phone 7.. Remember the things people complained about on iPhone 1.0? Windows Phone 7 will hold many of those same complaints, and it's sad because they've 3 years since the introduction of iPhone OS to improve upon it, instead they've chosen to copy iPhone 1.0 and add "live tiles" and their own copy of push notifications, and they've even stripped their OS of multitasking just to be like the iPhone.

Apple is laughing in their face, because I believe they knowingly led MS in the wrong direction so that a few months later they could reveal an OS that does a complete U-Turn. iPhone OS 4.0 is much more capable than Windows Phone 7 in terms of multitasking..

Oh and nobody will be complaining about Flash anymore, Adobe just seriously shot themselves in the foot, Adobe Flash CS5 will be able to export to HTML5 canvas... I loved flash, but Apple has officially killed it, and Adobe is just trying to keep the program alive.

[dpdoughty Posted May 26th 2010 5:41PM]

@jellotime91 Flash is far from dead. Probably a good 2-3 years out if you really think about it. HTML5 is all software rendering which eats a huge amount of resources and kills battery life. It isnt practical - yet. Flash takes advantage of hardware rendering and has a much better control structure. Im not one to dwell on old technology, but until HTML5 matures a little more I dont see any reason why you would say Flash is dead. Besides, how in the world did Apple kill Flash, what just because they didnt include it in their OS. If that logic holds true than Apple would have killed Multitasking or user customized wallpapers in iPhone OS 1, 2, and 3. Oh but now its included in 4 because its actually useful and people requested it? Yeah. Your logic is flawed

[l3it3r Posted Apr 9th 2010 6:25AM]

If by "Global Search" you mean "company directory" search, then WinMob 6.5.3 does that. If you mean global search like searching files, it does that too.. If you're talking about the left most screen 'search panel' on an iphone... well, ok, it diesn't do that.

[l3it3r Posted Apr 9th 2010 6:26AM]

also, winmob 6.5.3 supports external keyboards too.

[mmoylan Posted Apr 9th 2010 8:24AM]

I count 5 green boxes for windows mobile classic I deem it the winner

[jellotime91 Posted Apr 12th 2010 2:09AM]

@mmoylan you can't count.

[jfortun Posted Apr 9th 2010 8:56AM]

All of these comparisons between WinPho 7 and iPhone 4.0 miss the major differentiator between these operating system: iPhone sticks to the old application-centric paradigm while Windows Phone shifts to a content-centric one. Live Tiles and the Hubs are a huge change from what the iPhone offers- it puts your data up front and center rather than a field of unrelated icons. It makes your content what you interact with, rather that a multitude of individual apps.

You might love or hate that approach- but it is that what really separates these mobile operating systems.

What drew me to Android (I have a moto Droid) was the ability to have widgets on my homescreen. Instant access to the kinds of information I most frequently use my phone to puruse. iPhone 4.0 still won't do that- WinPho 7 is built entirely around that very idea.

Things like multitasking are important to me (though thus far I don't seen how iPhone 4.0 has a leg up on WinPho 7), but they are secondary to how I interact with the phone. Launching apps in succession and switching though them seems kind of old fashioned after seeing WinPho 7.

I can understand not liking that approach, but it is disingenuous to highlight copy and paste, multitasking, et al when the real difference between these phones is applications vs content.

[DonBurnett Posted Apr 9th 2010 11:58AM]

I agree with jfortun's comments: WinPhone7's display screen is all about content (and live content at that, whether it be from your social networks (facebook, etc.) or your Xbox live content, etc.

What I see Apple doing with folders in iPhoneOS 4.0 is re-inventing the Windows 3.1 Program Manager with icons and folders to manage those icons (we used to call these program groups). I don't really see any content of my own on those screens just too many icons for programs I have to flip through to find the one I want, and now folder to try to organize that mess of icons..

Folders should manage content files that you save yourself (oh wait can you do that on iphone?)..

I can't see what's going on with my apps, my networks, photos things around me without having to take time to navigate that. I can decide what hubs and what content is there.. It's a nice replacement for Microsoft's "Today Screen" idea..

[bangoker Posted Apr 9th 2010 12:23PM]

About the App management... well WP7 does not have app folders... but it can organize them via hubs.. you know, netflix inside the video hub and stuff like that, game apps in the game hub, social apps in the people hub etc

[Dutchyguy Posted Apr 9th 2010 6:11PM]

I don't get why winmob 6.5.3 is marked better in multitasking than iPhone os 4. Who needs
UI skinning and unsigned apps?
It doesn't say anything about UI itself.

[jellotime91 Posted Apr 12th 2010 2:07AM]

@Dutchyguy
Exactly.. It's kind of ridiculous. Apple's multitasking implementation is everything you could possibly want, but because it doesn't mindlessly keep every app running and drain your battery, it's not full multitasking?

If someone handed you a 4.0 iPhone, you would not be able to tell the difference between multitasking on the iPhone and on WinMo 6.5, except that the iPhone's implementation would use less CPU and not drain your battery.

/rant.

[dpdoughty Posted May 26th 2010 5:52PM]

@jellotime91 Again with the mindless comments. No the iPhone implementation doesnt even compare to WinMo 6.5 or Android for that matter. If i get interrupted and need to do something else for a second I do not want to lose my place. Sure in OS 4 you can stream your music at the same time as surfing the web now but that doesnt solve the issue of returning to apps and expecting to see your data there. Since WP7 centers around live data I have a feeling its Multitasking will be even more efficient than Androids. OS 4 is lacking in features and is just proving Apple history - Surprise then let down...

[jellotime91 Posted Apr 12th 2010 2:05AM]

Um... I don't see how iPhone 4.0's multitasking is to be compared to Windows Phone 7 multitasking and has the same result...

Microsoft has explicitly said that you will not be able to listen to music from a third party app in the background, and one can only assume you will also not be able to receive skype calls, not to mention it does not have task completion or any kind of app switcher that cycles between opened apps.

Honestly, Apple's implementation IS multitasking, there is not a single thing you need other that what Apple is giving, and what limitations they have implemented do not effect you AT ALL, except for increasing your battery life and CPU power.

So, I believe you should've just checked "YES" for multitasking in iPhone 4.0.... Because if Apple handed you a 4.0 iPhone with multitasking-enabled applications, you would never know it wasn't the exact same multitasking scheme as the Pre, Android, or WinMo without getting into coding.

[Painkillaz23 Posted Apr 13th 2010 8:13PM]

is it me or does winmo7 look really crappy visually compared to everything else out there?

[SteveyAyo Posted Jun 8th 2010 4:04PM]

This needs an update BAD