Todd Bishop has an interesting angle on Windows Phone on Geek Wire today. He's in the process of choosing a new smartphone, and possibly a new platform, now that his old iPhone has given up the ghost. Thanks to having a review Windows Phone handset, he's been able to put his main SIM and find out if Windows Phone is for him.

Right now, it falls a little short for two reasons, both based around third party applications. His first stumbling block of two, that a number of apps critical to him aren't yet on Windows Phone, is a fair one:

First, when you get beyond the core apps, into what might be called the long tail, the lineup on Windows Phone still feels spotty to me. For example, when I wanted to send a postcard this weekend, I found myself switching the SIM back to my iPhone to use the Postagram app.

Yes, there are Postagram alternatives on Windows Phone, but after trying them out this afternoon, I found myself agreeing with some of my Twitter friends that they just don’t measure up in terms of quality. Feel free to let me know if I’m missing a particularly good one. But what I really want is Postagram on Windows Phone, not a watered-down alternative.

The second though, is one that is worthy of discussion. Bishop's view on the Metro style in third party apps:

...This a smaller complaint, and I know that fans of Microsoft’s elegant Metro design will take me to task, but I don’t like the fact that the Windows Phone apps follow the same design characteristics. Yes, consistency is good, but it can also be really boring.

There’s something to be said for individuality, variety, and letting designers do their thing, for better or worse. I like the feeling of opening an app and feeling like I’ve entered a different world — knowing which app I’ve opened just based on how it looks and feels.

Take me to task is perhaps too strong a word, but I think that Metro offers a huge amount of potential to a developer. Take two popular and well received Foursquare applications... the official Foursquare client, and the leading indie client, 4th and Mayor.

 
Official client on the left, 4th and Mayor on the right.

Both of these follow the Metro style, but the designers have been "let go" to do their thing and they both feel like a different world. Bishop is still deciding between a Windows Phone or an iPhone 4S, and he's asking for advice. You can contribute over on his Geek Wire post.