A little while ago Tom Warren created a post on The Verge claiming the end of Windows Phone. The article in question is debatable, at least, the reasons leading to the conclusion are. I used to be an avid Windows Phone user ever since 2012 which, at the time, was a very promising OS for developers and users altogether. Coming from Android the user experience was slimmed down, more straightforward and clean. Each iteration brought new possibilities and a better experience.

But that stopped. I can’t say my experiences with 10 on mobile, I love the desktop counterpart, have been up to par with what was before. It’s not that I can’t see a bright future if it would all work as expected but that’s exactly what’s blocking my experience right now. It doesn’t work. I bought the Lumia 950 because I believed in what I saw. Unfortunately, 3 replacement devices later (not kidding) it became undeniable something was wrong. Apart from having serious Bluetooth issues, the OS is not production ready either. Too many system apps are not yet working as they should. You get crashing, slow and unresponsive apps pre-installed on your device. Great UX. And I’m not alone either, just check this Twitter query as a reference.

But I can live with those things being a Windows developer. Not that I consider this to be normal, mind you. I know it will get fixed one day. So what did push me over the edge? Why did I buy an iPhone and enjoy that device so much more than my late Lumia 950? Is it the lack of apps? No, I had very good third party apps which provided me with everything I needed, sometimes even better than the original ones on other platforms. But when Microsoft itself makes you feel like an idiot for choosing their own platform while they continue to make better apps on other platforms, that’s what pushes me over the edge. Call it the final straw. On my iPhone 6s I now have a working Outlook app, something Windows 10 Mobile is still not able to provide me with after 6 months of (open) development. The fact that I can get a better Microsoft product experience somewhere else rather than their own platform is proof that Windows Phone is dead for now. I couldn’t care less about the other arguments, this is the one that matters to me.

Will they be able to win me back after this is all sorted out? I doubt it. I’ll continue to work on Windows apps as I still love that. But you won’t catch me rocking a Windows Phone anytime soon. And yes, if anyone asks I’ll advice them to buy an iPhone. Not because it’s perfect but because it annoys me the least of all 3 choices. Rest in peace, Windows Phone.

Before assuming I’m enjoying my new toy because it’s new, know that I’ve used an iPhone 6 for about 7 months in 2015. I had the chance to get one from my employer but due to Windows 10 coming up I switched back. You can’t get to know an OS without using it properly. And I did not plan to return to iOS either, if my experience with Windows 10 mobile would have been better I wouldn’t have gone down this road at all.