i was genuinely happy when they announced wp7 as successor for wm6. while wm6 was powerful, it was freaking unstable as heck, and although iphone is nice, you cant use the ide in windows nor linux (if you want a computer thats usable use windows, if you want a secure pc use linux, if you want the headache of linux and bugs of windows use osx).
when i learned that wm6 programs will no longer works in wp7, i was fine with it, since it is gonna be with c#, and i dont mind picking up another language. when the dev detail came out, i was surpised that i cannot i dev unlock it without getting an app approved and published on the marketplace with a dreamspark account, although it was a bit counterintuitive, so i remade my float point calculator and tested on the emulator (crappy, but workable).
the real headache is the approval process. i submitted the app, rejected because the color scheme does not work well with the white theme, good on microsoft for making sure the app works for all flavor; second time, the large icon is not up to the standard, sure why not, mspaint will do, simple fix; third time, the back-key brings the app back to the menu rather than home screen (isnt that the job of the WINDOWS key?); fourth time, the textbox only takes numbers and A-F (ITS A FREAKING FLOAT POINT CALCULATOR!), resubmit with explanation; fourth time take-two, 2 weeks no respond, stuck in "reviewing". By this time i gave up and use chevron and unlocked my phone, toss my app on my shiny hd7, and went happily away in my ee class and labs with my float point calculator (because i lost my ti-89 ). my friends, who also owned hd7 and omnia 7, were interested in my app, but since their phones were not unlocked, and my app is not in the marketplace thanks to microsoft approving fart apps and not my remotely useful to only a handful of people app, and chevron was shutdown, theres no way for them to get it.
Fast forward another week, my app is REJECTED again because my BACK key behavior is not properly used to bring back to the menu (see rejection #3). by this time, i gave up. i returned my wp7, hope microsoft their best, and returned to my old faithful nexus one, downloaded java and eclipse, load up android dev tools, made my float point calc again in java, load it on my phone. so happen one of my friend who wanted my program also returned his hd7 for a samsung vibrant, so i loaded my app on his phone too, simple as that. the funny thing is, i resubmitted my 3rd version of the app to marketplace, and it was published 2 weeks later.
other people might have different experience with wp7 than me, but this is frustration beyond belief for me. i like wp7, i really do, but i wish i can do a bit more with their api calls (at least the public ones), and for the love of god, if i have a dreamspark account, that means im a college student with fixed income and cannot pay you $99 a year to make an app just for myself and/or at most a couple of other people i know, just give me the ability to side load 3, maybe 4 apps, without going through your painful approval process.
