Windows Phone Thoughts: WSJ Loves HD2 Hardware - Software Not So Much

Walt Mossberg at the Wall Street Journal reviewed the HD2 from T-Mobile and has mixed feelings about it. He likes the hardware, especially the screen. When it comes to the software, including HTC's UI customizations though, he was less than thrilled.

"However, I found the HD2 to be significantly inferior overall to touch-screen rivals from Apple and Google, mainly because of its software, based on the aging mobile Windows platform from Microsoft. While HTC has added its own software overlay to dress up the design, I still found using the HD2 to be too often a chore. It looks cluttered, a patchwork of different interfaces. And, in my tests, it was prone to error messages and even freezing. Also, despite a fast processor, the software responded sluggishly too much of the time."

I think that about sums up the Windows Mobile experience in recent years as Microsoft has allowed (encouraged?) OEM's to tweak the WinMo user interface, or replace it entirely. Here's hoping Windows Phone 7 changes all of that and Microsoft once again takes control of the screen with a consistent and smooth interface.