I have used Windows on desktops and laptops and have supported people using them for years. Although Windows has made strides in security and virus protection, the 95/98, Vista, XP days were awful. The software was buggy, crashed a lot and keeping viruses off these machines was almost a full time job. My home machines were all Linux. However, the Linux of old was not a walk in the park in the old days and you really had to have patience to set up these machines.
Then I got into the smartphone world. I naturally went with Android as it used the Linux kernel and I thought it was more flexible. The Gingerbread days were not that great though and the software seemed unpolished and clunky. I got the opportunity to try out a Windows phone 8. I reluctantly gave it a spin and didn't even know that they existed. I LOVED that phone! It was polished, fast and made use of live tiles that were much better than Android widgets in my opinion. Truly impressed, I got rid of the android and went Windows phone. Limited apps were not a problem as I was sure it would be popular and apps would come later on.
Windows phone 8.1 brought more features and polish and I was hopeful. I even got a Windows 8.1 laptop because of this. I was that happy about the phone experience. This is from a past Microsoft hater. Unfortunately, the love affair did not last. Hoping for even more strides, Windows 10 and Windows 10 mobile were announced and Universal apps that could be developed for both platforms using the same code. This would help the stagnant app situation. Windows phone 8.1 had more apps but it was still lacking. I decided to test the software like I did with the pre release of 8.1. I had no problems with 8.1 at all, even in early beta.
Boy oh boy was it buggy! My phone crashed. All the time. Parts of the phone software were completely broken. I assumed there was a lot of work to be done still and all of this would be fixed before release to market. Then I found out that is was to be released with this version of the software. I thought, well this must just be my phone model. The new phones would run Windows 10 mobile just fine. Surely they would test it and make sure it was stable? Nope. The new Lumia 950s had the same issues that my phone had. The old phones that were updated also had the problems. In fact, after a year of updates and bug fixes, Microsoft still hasn't fixed the stability issues and the app developers have been leaving in droves.
Microsoft had an amazing opportunity to be the number 3 spot in smartphones after Iphone and Android. They went from a growing ecosystem and stable platform to a buggy mess. And this converted Android user went to the platform that most resembled my fast and stable Windows phone 8 and 8.1, the Iphone. My laptop didnt do much better with Windows 10 and I've switched back to Ubuntu Linux.
Conclusion
Microsoft missed a real opportunity to compete in the smartphone market. They also really angered users with the Windows 10 upgrade nagware and privacy setting concerns. One thing is certain, it will take a pretty great product to get this nerd to try anything Microsoft again.