Monday 28 March 2016

Windows 10 System Apps Review: Conclusion

Note: This page forms part of the post Windows 10 System Apps Review

And so my review of all 29 system apps available in Windows 10 v1511 comes to an end. This means it’s time for some conclusions.

When one tots up the ratings I gave for each app we end up with:

HIT         13
MAYBE 12
MISS      4

This at first appears as if the vast majority of the apps performed excellently, although it’s worth remembering that “Do they do the job they were primarily designed for?” was the main criteria, which for a lot of the apps was fulfilled either because they couldn’t fail (e.g. ‘Get Skype’ app is just a link) or because, love them or loath them, they do actually do a basic job (e.g. People app).
Being a ‘Hit’ doesn’t mean they are the pinnacle of their genre, or that there isn’t room for some improvement, or lots of improvement. But when an app does do a decent job on its basic functionality, it’ll be all too easy to knock them down. I tried to come at the reviews from the angle where I imagined the vast majority of desktop users looking at each app to deliver on their own basic expectations in terms of functionality and usability.

Sure, most UWP apps look bland and lack sophistication but does that make them useless? As I found, most of the apps deliver something to the user, although whether anyone would actually notice the apps in the first place, or use them as a first choice to do a specific function … well, that’s another story altogether. Easily you can get better functionality and usability elsewhere for all but a few of the apps Microsoft offers for free. If you look at alternatives you can use on Windows 10 to any of the 29 system apps, it’s most likely only perhaps Alarms and Clocks, Calculator, Contact Support, OneNote, Store, Sway & Voice Recorder would be those you would be highly tempted to use in the first instance rather than going elsewhere. On the desktop the alternatives are vast and thus the system apps for most people are not the first choice. On Windows 10 mobile it’s most likely a totally different issue because there aren’t a lot of high quality alternatives.

From a Windows 10 desktop perspective the end conclusion is:
  • Could the offering of system apps be better? Hell yeah. They could be considerably better.
  • Are the offerings of system apps poor? No. There’s some usefulness in most apps and a decent ‘stab’ at basic functionality.
  • Could you do without most of the system apps? Yes. Easily. And therein lies the problem at this juncture for Microsoft and their crusade to promote UWP as a big deal



MY RATING
ARE THERE BETTER ALTERNATIVES?
3D Builder
MISS
MAYBE
Alarms and Clocks
HIT
NO
Calculator
HIT
NO
Calendar
MAYBE
YES
Camera
MAYBE
MAYBE
Contact Support
HIT
NO
Films & TV
MAYBE
YES
Get Skype
HIT
NA
Get Office
HIT
NA
Get Started
HIT
MAYBE
Groove Music
MAYBE
YES
Mail
MAYBE
YES
Maps
MAYBE
YES
Messaging
MISS
YES
Microsoft Solitaire Collection
HIT
MAYBE
Microsoft Wi-Fi
HIT
MAYBE
Money
HIT
MAYBE
News
MAYBE
YES
OneNote
HIT
NO
People
HIT
YES
Phone
MISS
NA
Phone Companion
HIT
YES
Photos
MAYBE
YES
Sport
MISS
YES
Store
HIT
NA
Sway
MAYBE
NO
Voice Recorder
MAYBE
NO
Weather
MAYBE
YES
Xbox
MAYBE
NA

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