...(CUT)
I was just evaluating the possibility of moving off my Galaxy S3 phone to a Windows phone (HTC 8X) to try and standardize on the windows platform. I almost pulled the trigger on that last weekend but I don't see how I can consider that now if I cant get good integration with my work calendar any longer.
We can only hope (and I'm sure I saw somewhere that this might be coming but I can't recall where) that Microsoft will implement the new protocols that Google has deployed to support their services.
All the vendors offer better experiences when you use their services
together. It shouldn't have to be the case, but it is. However it's not that big a leap to consider that maybe, just maybe, you could get the same quality services from Microsoft that you do today from Google .. in some cases, maybe even get a better service. Personal preferences and requirements still apply of course, and I'm sure plenty of people can think of various ways that only Google can fulfil their needs - my experiences differ. I moved back to Microsoft, Hotmail (now Outlook.com), and their other services when I first switched to Windows Phone in late 2011 ... couldn't be happier, yes it was a pain getting all my stuff out of Google, but it was worth it to ensure I would have a fully integrated end to end setup. I'd do the same thing if I was about to jump to Android or iOS ... using their stuff throughout would just give better results.
Does it stink? Sure ... but I guess life's just unfair like that(!)