Windows Phone is struggling. It's always been struggling, especially in the U.S., where its market share can't seem to breach 4 percent. While the OS itself has gotten generally good reviews, Microsoft has had unreliable, unenthusiastic partners in OEMs, wireless carriers, and app developers, most of whom seem to support Windows Phone as a kind of distasteful responsibility.

Could Windows 10 change that? Microsoft has said that the mobile version of Windows 10 will bring its successful desktop and laptop products much closer together with its tablets and phones. I've been using Windows phones on and off since 2003, and I'll be watching Microsoft's announcements closely. Here are some of the things I hope to see.

"Windows First" for Microsoft Experiences

When a full-fledged version of Microsoft Office came out for the iPhone, with features unavailable on Windows Phone, Microsoft users cried foul. And they should! Apple and Google know how to use their integrated ecosystems as weapons. Microsoft needs to step up. Unlike Google, Microsoft doesn't have the mobile market clout to hurt other platforms by withholding its apps, like Google does by keeping Google Maps off of Windows Phone. But Microsoft can make sure that the best Office and Skype experiences are always on its devices first.

An Industry-Leading Mobile Browser, With Plugins

Microsoft's Internet Explorer is holding Windows Phone back. In our tests, it's slower and less efficient than either Google's mobile Chrome or Apple's Safari. Web browsing isn't just one of the most used features on any smartphone, it's also a key element of many third-party apps. We've been hearing about the new "Spartan" browser for Windows 10 on the desktop; it should appear on mobile as well.

While Microsoft is at it, it should look at allowing the various plugins that work on desktop Internet Explorer to run on mobile devices. This is a stopgap move, but a necessary one. The iPhone has apps and customized Web experiences, which more than make up for not being able to access Flash and other plugins. With less feature-packed apps, Windows Phone needs a truly desktop-class browser experience. Which brings us to...

Breaking the App Logjam

As many people have reported, Windows Phone's problem isn't the number of apps anymore; it's the lack of features, like how the Instagram app still doesn't support uploading video. Paying developers to support the platform doesn't seem to have worked. Perhaps it's time for more radical solutions, like creating an Android-compatible VM the way BlackBerry did, finding a way (perhaps another VM) to cross the Intel-ARM boundary without developers having to recompile, or just hiring Rudy Huynh, king of the APIs, and giving him a staff within Microsoft. And, speaking of apps...

That Xbox Integration

I've been hammering on this since Windows Phone 7, but: Microsoft controls a very, very successful video game platform. Make Windows Phone a key element of the Xbox experience. That means not just the Smartglass app that all mobile platforms have or the occasional Halo spin-off (right) but games that really travel cross platform from Xbox to mobile, and the use of a Windows Phone as a second screen for not a few, but many critical Xbox games. Show some of them on stage. Maybe some of them can take Xbox games out into a real-life, augmented-reality landscape, which would require...

Far, Far Better GPS Search

Within the U.S., at least, Google Maps puts paid to Bing Maps for finding things. A lot of that is just that Google's free-text search is better; on Windows Phone, you often need to know the name of a business, while on Google Maps you can just put in some vague concepts and you'll probably find what you need. Google also seems to have more updated and current business listings in general.

One State, Multiple Devices

We know Microsoft is doing this—it was in the Windows 10 technical preview—but it's also essential to Windows Phone's success. If you're doing something on one Windows device, it should be available on all your Windows devices. This should extend as far as possible across the experience—not just to text messages, but to documents, saved games, and application states. Microsoft says that Windows 10 will run Windows Phone apps; there should be no reason to pick up your phone if you have a Windows laptop or tablet nearby, and there should never be a need to figure out how to transfer files from your laptop back to your phone.

Better Hardware Cadence and Distribution

Windows Phone's hardware problem hasn't been the phones itself; it's been the unpredictable release and distribution of those phones, especially at the high end. The Nokia Lumia 1020 created great buzz with its 41-megapixel camera, but never got a follow-up. Last year's Windows Phone flagship, the Lumia Icon, was buried by Verizon, and never made it to any other U.S. carrier. When AT&T launched the mid-range Lumia 830, it sabotaged sales by burning off its Lumia 1020 stock at a lower price, at the same time.

Basically, marketing and distribution for these phones are a mess. Apple, Samsung, HTC and everyone else in the industry know how to build expectation for new devices, release them on a basically regular schedule, and get them out to all of the U.S. carriers. Microsoft needs to achieve that basic level of competence for itself and respect from its primary U.S. distributors. What it needs in India is something different, like ...

Mediatek Support

Windows Phone's major success has been at the low end, with the Lumia 520 (above) and 530 models. Low-end Windows Phones tend to have smoother, more consistent experiences than cheap Android phones. But Google has recently raised the bar with its Android One program, rolling out in Asia. Microsoft can fight back by finally bringing Mediatek into the fold. The low-cost chipmaker's processors don't lead on speed and performance. But they can help Microsoft shave $10 off of phone costs in developing markets, where every penny counts.

For more, check out 10 Things We Want in Windows 10 in the slideshow above.

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