[Laura Knotek]

Yes. Why not?

I ditched Yahoo Mail since it had an awful spam filter. Stuff that hotmail/outlook.com and Gmail filtered as spam made it into my inbox in Yahoo.

[omniusovermind]

It's not bad if your Yahoo account is tied to your cable internet provider like mine is. No spam here, and I have 4 Rogers Yahoo emails along with my Gmail and Hotmail accounts

[Laura Knotek]

It's not bad if your Yahoo account is tied to your cable internet provider like mine is. No spam here, and I have 4 Rogers Yahoo emails along with my Gmail and Hotmail accounts

Mine was at one time. AT&T was my ISP; however, my Yahoo account reverted to a generic free account when I canceled AT&T Internet service.

[snowmutt]

Meh.

If I were to move to an Android, I would use Google supplied tools. I would most likely open a Gmail, use Google maps, and enjoy whatever their advantages are. Heck, I might go get a Chrome laptop and roll all the way. I would hope for a "Bing" application though, because I truly have decided I like it better then Google.

If I were to move to an iPhone, I would most likely follow suit. iPad, Mac, whatever.

But, I enjoy my Windows Phone. I will most likely upgrade to Windows 8. I use Bing, the artist formerly known as Zune for my music and podcasts, Bing maps (even on my computer), and wish I had an 360 instead of a PS3 (okay, it is my Sons. But, dang it, I paid for it!! I can play!!)

I am not worried about what is missing, because otherwise I wouldn't own a WP. As MS improves their services, this will become a smaller and smaller issue. Google will support WP at some point just like they support iOS: Because they are not stupid and they need the traffic to promote their advertisments which keeps the lights on at the HQ at 1 Google Plaza (or wherever). Then, this will go on the scrap heap of "much ado about nothing", which is a pretty big heap of things.

[snakebitten]

Good post!

[brmiller1976]

Not as good when I'm readiong things like this though (from this forum):

You don't pay a dime -- you simply provide all of your private data, including your location, email, phone details, phone conversations, etc.



I'd be inclined to have no real issues with all of that, were it not for the fact that I'm a heavy map and nav user on my phone (and don't have to pay a dime for it)

[Mosov]

Windows Phone needs dedicated Facebook, Youtube, Gmail, and Google Maps apps to survive. If I was microsoft, I would be working day and night to get native versions of these apps.

[tmotytn]

Kind of off topic, but in an effort to go "all in" on the MS ecosystem, I set up an outlook.com email, forwarded my Gmail, forwarded my Yahoo Plus, and IMAPed 3 addys from/related to my website/small business...I get a duplicate email every.single. time. Two of every email that goes to the inbox and two of each that goes into the junk folder...

Anyone else have this going on and figured out how to fix it? Forever I have had my Gmail forwarded to Yahoo, not really ever using Gmail for email purposes, I just kept the calendar and contacts current in gmail to access them on whatever device I was carrying at the moment...I have checked in the settings of Yahoo, and have changed it between just forwarding/forwarding and deleting/forwarding and storing--it makes no difference, I still get dupes of everything...

[Slai]

Engadget as a source of anything classed as "information" is insane to me...

Short answer; yes of course it can survive without Google.

Long answer; yes of course it can survive without Google, things always change. It could be a slow change or something that blows up overnight, but things always change.

[inteller]

no it doesn't. Metrotube is BETTER than Youtube and same goes for Nokia Maps. Nokia owns NAVTEQ and their maps are in 70% of car navigation systems around the world. NOT Google's.

[Mafiatounes]

I am not bothered by the article, i will move everything to outlook this is google's loss, my gmail account will only be of use on youtube and rss, i have to use gmail on my Nexus 7 however untill i find a new tablet on W8(maybe RT).

Verstuurd van mijn Nexus 7 met Tapatalk

[rdjward]

Bing<Google Search
Skydrive>DropBox>GDrive
Nokia Maps=GMaps
MSOffice>Google Apps

[Byzantium]

That article made my brain hurt. I hope I never meet the melodramatic hipster assgoblin who wrote that.

He even wrote that Windows Phone didn't have a proper Youtube client, despite the existence of MetroTube, and he dares call himself a tech writer.

[iamtim]

Hmm? Google is discontinuing EAS services? Oh. In other news... *yawn*

:D

[Luminatic]

I ditched Yahoo Mail since it had an awful spam filter. Stuff that hotmail/outlook.com and Gmail filtered as spam made it into my inbox in Yahoo.

Yeah?
Maybe true. I'm using my yahoo account for forum and site subscriptions only ... since I don't know how many years. So to me, my yahoo account is the one allowed to be spammed (which will happen sooner or later if you use it for any subscriptions). So, why change, why not keeping all subscriptions at one account, I thought, because getting rid of yahoo and move everything to some hotmail account would be quite an effort (as I said, my yahoo account is old ... very old ... it stems from end of the nineties). Maybe it's also because of the sentimental value I still have and use it, it's the first email account I evrer had, opened by me even before i started using the internet from home.

What I don't want is all so link all subscriptions to my main mail account (which is the one provided by my internet service provider).

[howie]

...If people are that reliant on Google, they would likely be better served by staying with Android.

It's not just about the Google apps they offer. I do not use Google Docs, Google Maps, Google Drive, etc. I use Gmail and have since it was a private invite. I just don't care to use another email address. It's not Google's fault, but Microsoft's for not supporting open platforms (CardDAV / CalDAV - the email is easy and will still work via pop/imap with polling not push).

Sure. I still have yet to have a Google fan explain to me why Google services aren't completely replaceable with Microsoft services.
The die-hards say "I'll never leave," but they weren't who was being targeted. Moving from Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Search to Outlook.com, SkyDrive and Bing couldn't be easier.

Ask a Google fan "what about Google is so irreplaceable?"
Enjoy the stammering. :)

The services are easy to replace, just a hassle to tell everyone over the last 8 years your new contact info.
I enjoy Windows Phone 8, but it will not make me switch email/contacts/calendar providers. If Apple (being super controlling) can support open standards, Microsoft can too.

[JussiRM]

Well, yes?
The only google services I use are google search (on desktop) and gmail, and the latter works - at least now - perfectly well. I hope MS resolves the upcoming issue with google removing support for exchange or something like that.
And okay, I do use google+ with some of my very core friends, but there's an app for that too.
Edit: Almost forgot: Google Maps (again, on desktop). Seems like Nokia Maps are good enough for me (that is, show me where I am and the map - simple things).

[rabit1]

To be fair, I still find google.com search better than bing. And google map and Youtube is just great. Must have. As for gmail, calendar, and contact. I can live without them. I Dont use google+ and google Docs at all. Skydrive is much better here.

[brmiller1976]

I hope I never meet the melodramatic hipster assgoblin who wrote that.

You made me snort hot tea out of my nose. I hope you are happy!

[GoodThings2Life]

The simple reality here is that Microsoft WILL, of course, update both Windows 8/RT and Windows Phone 8/7.8 to support IMAP/calDAV/cardDAV with Google... or they will somehow pressure Google into changing their mind. Either way, consumers won't REALLY be affected by this... at least, not in the long term. How quickly this all happens is the real concern. It's really no skin off Microsoft's teeth if Google drops EAS... all it really does is inconvenience and tick off users, who are more likely to look elsewhere for options. The licensing revenue for Google's use of EAS is probably negligible in the grand scheme of things.

Google refusal to release native apps isn't really a big deal either when you consider that already on WP third-party developers are filling the void EXCELLENTLY with apps like gMaps, Nextgen Reader, MetroTalk, and Metrotube. Not like Google would actually do much better than those apps. So even if Microsoft says, "Nope, IMAP for email is the best you'll get from us" (unlikely response), there will be a third party solution to fill the void in a MetroMail app or something like that.

[ammarmalik2011]

If you guys really hate Google then you need to stop using YouTube as well. Go ahead, stop being a hypocrite. If you really hate Google and want to abandon, then do it properly.

[Slai]

Yeah, Ammarmalik is right! Also, stop ever using the internet EVER, because you might see some sites with ads, and those companies might also pay Google for ad services, which means that when you see an ad that subconsciously adds some potential that you might buy a product from the ever again, you might be supporting Google.

So basically just find a list of all companies that pay Google money for ANY service, and NEVER use them again.

Get real, Ammarmalik :P .

Its like demanding all Christians get as many jobs as they can physically do, only keep enough money for the bare minimum of survival, and give everything else away, because Christians are supposed to be selfsacrificing and helpful people. While in theory its probably right, its just not a reasonable request.

[z33dev33l]

I've been avoiding google services for 3 years and I function quite nicely.

[masterchief1984]

If you guys really hate Google then you need to stop using YouTube as well. Go ahead, stop being a hypocrite. If you really hate Google and want to abandon, then do it properly.

wasn't YouTube a standalone like instagram before google bought it.

[ammarmalik2011]

Yeah, Ammarmalik is right! Also, stop ever using the internet EVER, because you might see some sites with ads, and those companies might also pay Google for ad services, which means that when you see an ad that subconsciously adds some potential that you might buy a product from the ever again, you might be supporting Google.

So basically just find a list of all companies that pay Google money for ANY service, and NEVER use them again.

Get real, Ammarmalik :P .

Its like demanding all Christians get as many jobs as they can physically do, only keep enough money for the bare minimum of survival, and give everything else away, because Christians are supposed to be selfsacrificing and helpful people. While in theory its probably right, its just not a reasonable request.

Some things are unavoidable. YouTube is perfectly avoidable. Surely if you hate Google as much as some people here do, letting go of youtube shouldn't be a problem. In fact WPCentral should start uploading videos to vimeo/dailymotion