It’s true. I did it. For reals!!

Just a couple of months ago I would have told you that this day would never come. In fact… I nearly had a panic attack at the mere thought of swapping out my iPhone for a trial run with the new Nokia Lumia 920 Windows 8 Phone!!

When Christmas Day came around, it became very clear to me, I was in love with my new Windows Phone. I didn’t want to give it back to Microsoft so I wrapped up my old phone and gave it to my daughter for her Christmas present. Surely the #HolidaySwap people wouldn’t leave me phoneless….

She squealed for joy. A twelve year old with access to Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest 24/7… I made her day year.

Truth be told, it wasn’t too difficult to give up in the end… 

I didn’t want to go back to the little screen.

I love my much larger, 4.5″ screen!! 

I didn’t want to go back to the boring, one size only, fixed icons.

I love my customizable and personalized to me and me alone tiles on the home screen!! I actually spend less time on my phone because I can see all my email accounts, all my social media channels from the home page. One quick glance and I can see if I have anything new in my inbox or tweets etc. This has meant, more time in the REAL world for my family.

I didn’t want to go back to having to say while on speaker… What did you say again? Can you speak up? Did you hear me??

I love how clear — like crystal clear — the phone’s speakers are, even when on speaker-phone!!

I didn’t want to go back to having to take off my gloves in -20C weather in order to use the touch screen.

I love that my phone works no matter what is on my fingers. No special gloves required either!!

I didn’t want to go back to blurry, fuzzy, out of focus photos that I HAD to use Instagram in order to make them look half-decent.

I love that even in a darker location, I can zoom in and take a CLEAR picture from across the room!! The following picture was taken during a concert, the only lights on were the stage lights. I was across the room. Seriously clear!! The Carl Zeiss camera lens is AWESOME!!!

I didn’t want to go back to not being able to do any work on my old phone.

I love Microsoft Office being on my phone, Excel spreadsheets, Word, Powerpoint…  I can do it all on my phone!!

It’s true that the apps available for the Windows Phone need to increase and mature. I’m sure the same could have been said for apps on the other phones when they first came out!! All in good time…I trust that as the popularity grows, the app developers will develop more 3rd party apps.

The other night I was out with 7 other local online community managers, 6 of whom I met for the very first time. Three people over I overheard the conversation, “I don’t know anyone who has a Windows Phone who isn’t a Xbox gamer or Windows fan.” I quickly jumped up, ran to the end of the table and showed him my phone. After about 3 minutes of me demonstrating my phone, I caught myself, “Oops, sorry for the commercial!” I said with a laugh.

Hey, when I like something… I let everyone around me know it!