Head to head: BlackBerry OS 7 vs. Windows Phone 7.5 Mango

In the last few months we saw both Research In Motion and Microsoft updating their mobile operating systems. Research In Motion updated BlackBerry operating system to BlackBerry 7 and Microsoft updated Windows Phone operating system to Windows Phone 7.5 ‘Mango’. Both the updates are in time for the holidays with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year with which comes major spending too. Both the operating systems have been upgraded with lots of improvements and new features. Both Windows Phone 7.5 and BlackBerry OS 7 would empower various devices which would be available these holidays. Both BlackBerry 7 and Windows Phone 7.5 ‘Mango’ have many new functionalities and features which would make it difficult for people to choose between them. Below is a comparison of both the mobile operating systems.

BlackBerry OS 7 vs. Windows Phone 7.5 Mango

User Interface

Microsoft re-imagined and reinvented mobile operating system with Windows Phone 7. Their Metro user interface has earned rave reviews and is very popular. It provides a user interface which is different from those of Apple iOS, Google Android and RIM BlackBerry. There are no more icons sitting on the screen doing nothing, Windows Phone has tiles which are live and animated giving you latest information at a glance. The Metro user interface has gained so much popularity that Microsoft is using the same in their upcoming operating system.

Research In Motion also made some user interface changes to BlackBerry OS 7. They have put in a lot of new features and functionalities. Graphics are more fluid and visuals have improved. BlackBerry OS 7 is very good which compared to BlackBerry OS6 but it does not have much to compete with Windows Phone 7.5 ‘Mango’.

Winner: Microsoft Windows Phone.

App Store

A unique place to get all apps and games from is what is called an App Store. Apple brought the concept of app store with the revolutionary iPhone. All the major companies have tried to integrate the idea into their own operating system with varying results. The only player who has successfully integrated the app store into their operating system is Google with Android. Windows Phone’s App Store is called Marketplace, which is very new to the market but still has plenty of apps, and Microsoft is heavily promoting and pulling in developers to make applications for Windows Phone 7. So, currently you will find most of the important apps in the Marketplace and as Microsoft is pulling the strings, we are quite sure that you will soon get all the apps and games you need.

BlackBerry calls its App Store as App World. App World is not as heavily populated as Marketplace. It has some of the important and useful apps missing too. Research In Motion is not promoting App World as well as Microsoft is promoting Marketplace.

Winner: Microsoft’s Windows Phone.

Multitasking

Multitasking means you can run many applications and games simultaneously. For example, you would be running calculator, web browser and also listening to music. Windows Phone 7 did not have multitasking feature and Microsoft received criticism for that. So in Windows Phone 7.5 ‘Mango’, Microsoft made sure that the multitasking feature was up and working well. BlackBerry also improved the multitasking in Blackberry but sadly it is not as smooth as Windows Phone 7.5.

Winner: Windows Phone 7.5 with its smooth and functional multitasking feature.

Web Browsing

People are increasingly using mobile browsers to surf the internet and the mobile browsers are getting more functional and faster to correspond to that. In Windows Phone 7.5 Microsoft has put in the desktop web browser into the mobile operating system. Internet Explorer 9 is the browser in Windows Phone 7.5 ‘Mango’. It is fast and offers great performance. It does not support Adobe Flash but offers HTML5.

BlackBerry OS 7 has also received an improved web browser which has good JavaScript speeds but is nowhere as good as Internet Explorer 9. The browser in BlackBerry is slow in comparison too.

Winner: Microsoft Windows Phone.

Device Distribution

BlackBerry OS 7 which is made by Research In Motion would only run in devices manufactured by BlackBerry. Research In Motion has various devices like BlackBerry Bold, Torch and Curve. They are also manufacturing new devices. But, still the choice is pretty limited.

With Windows Phone 7.5 ‘Mango’, that is not the case. Microsoft has partnered with various third party hardware manufacturers Nokia, Acer, HTC, Samsung, Fujitsu and ZTE to make device powered by Windows Phone 7.5 ‘Mango’. Because of this partnership, lots of Windows Phones would be available for customers to choose from.

Winner: Windows Phone 7.5 ‘Mango’ because various mobile manufactures are making device for it.

Verdict

Microsoft Windows Phone does top the entire category that we have compared it with. Window Phone 7.5 is also available on lots of different types of devices by different hardware manufacturers. But, it all comes down to choice really. Some people who have been using BlackBerry throughout their life would obviously go for a BlackBerry device.