This post continues my series on moving from iPhone to Windows Phone.  Last time I told you why I switched and gave you my first impressions.  In this post I’m going to talk about apps, because, after the phone was configured, then next thing I did was start loading apps.  My friends gave me a list of apps they recommended, and I went through my iPhone and made list of the apps that I used and wanted to have on my new phone. Before I get too far, let me talk about Zune.  Zune is the PC application that interfaces with a Windows Phone, like iTunes interfaces with an iPhone.  It’s worth mentioning, that I didn’t install Zune for two days after I got my Windows Phone.  I installed all my apps from my phone without issue.  I only installed Zune to transfer in my custom ringtones, but more on that in a later post. The Microsoft Marketplace is a little different that the Apple App store.  There are, as you likely know, far fewer apps available (80,000 at last count compared to over one Million for iPhone), but most of the big apps are there.  At the end of this post I’ll tell you the apps I recommend and where I see gaps in the Microsoft Marketplace.  Navigating the Marketplace on the phone is a little different than the Apple App Store.  Windows Phone uses side scrolling much more, which is cool once you’re used to it.  You side-scroll to get categories like apps, games, music, and swipe up and down to see the list of apps. There are also collections available to you based on the maker of your phone and carrier (in my case AT&T and Nokia).  The first app I installed was Spotify, and I was off and running.  I spent the next four hours or so finding apps, installing them, playing with them, and then finding more apps. The must have apps that we all love and user are mostly all there.  Apps like Spotify, Facebook, Break.com, You Tube, Yelp, The Weather Channel, Groupon, Google (no you can’t make it the default search engine for the phone), Open Table, TED, Twitter, Wikipedia are all there and are by-in-large excellent.  For those of you considering a Windows Phone, here are some lesser known apps that I recommend: Nokia Drive – Map and GPS based, voice guided turn-by-turn directions.  Free and every bit as good as Garmin or other $30 turn-by-turn navigators.  Free for Nokia users, a real plus!  It also has a personality which I will post about later. Pulse – Let’s you pull in content from news and magazine feeds and organize it. Official CNN App – This is a beautifully put together news app Last FM – Internet Radio (no Pandora  - see the list at the bottom of this post) SkyDrive - Microsoft’s backup and cloud storage – think iCloud for Windows Phone IN+ Networking – Access to LinkedIn for Windows Phone GasBuddy – Same as on iPhone Stopwatch – The native alarm app doesn’t have a timer or a stopwatch, this is an excellent one! Flashlight-X – Flashlight app So, most of my apps were there, but I’m pretty easy.  If you’re moving from iPhone and have some individual apps you love, like a particular todo list app, or note taking app, it may not be available and you might need to find a new one. There are some big gaps in the Microsoft Marketplace from my perspective.  Some specific apps like Pandora Internet Radio aren’t there.  I have two banks I deal with, one bank had an app, the other did not.  That will make things a little less convenient until their app is done.   Angry Birds is there, Angry Birds Space is not (but it’s coming), Cut the Rope is not there, etc.. Also, a little disappointing to me, there are significantly fewer apps for children in the Microsoft Marketplace.  Microsoft has to address this.  Firing up PBS Kids, and giving my iPhone to my daughter and son is how my wife and I make it through dinner out sometimes.  PBS Kids isn’t there.  Neither are Bob Books.  That said, there are many apps, both educational, and entertainment, for children of all ages.  There are some Sesame Street apps, but some of the big players simply aren’t represented.  In the case of Sesame Street, they are poorly represented compared to iPhone.  I’m sure that will change as Windows Phone becomes more popular, but Microsoft, in my opinion, should try to drive more of those apps to their Marketplace. In my next post I’ll talk about configuring and personalizing my Windows Phone.