Right now sales and market share for Windows Phone devices are a tiny, need a microscope to see it, sliver of the smartphone arena.

Right now Windows Phone 7 has far fewer apps and far, far fewer quality and killer apps than iOS and Android.

Right now Windows Phone 7 doesn’t do multitasking at all, and when Mango rolls out that will add it – long after iOS and Android.

Right now Google has testified to Congress (last week) that over 80% of all mobile search browsing is done on iOS devices. I didn’t see a figure for Windows Phone 7 but I can tell you from numerous other recent reports from Net Applications and other top sources that Windows Phone 7’s share is so small it is generally not even mentioned.

Right now, Mango is the Great White Hope for Windows Phone 7 – but that’s all it is, hope. Because right now Microsoft’s track record in mobile is one of complete failure. Failure to see the importance of mobile years ago, Failure in their handling of Windows Mobile. Failure in their inability to ever properly market mobile apps. Failure to take the iPhone seriously when it first came out. Failure to make any impact whatsover on the tablet market 18 months after the launch of the iPad.

Right now you could sum up Microsoft’s position in mobile in very few words – something along the lines of clueless for years and too little, too late.

Look at the gui alone, dont you think iOS and Android are look alike? WP7 is what I would say, INNOVATION.

Apps, agree iOS and Android has more apps but how many of them are of real use.

Hardware, iOS only one phone. Android and WP has so many choices.

I think right now WP is the ultimate smartphone OS in the market. iOS and Android are for those who are afraid of change.

Lets talk present and future.

I feel sure the Apple iOS team are quaking in their boots about Microsoft’s next six revisions.

The only reason why people buy Apple because they think it’s ‘cool’ and metallic phone. I say when we get to about the 6th to 7th revision, it’s all going downhill for apple. I see Android and WP picking it up.

Anyway, try the Attentive Phone app for the HTC.

I do agree with you that a committed competitor CAN make an impact. I just want more proof from MS that they will stay committed for the long term. If they do, I will actually be very happy. I believe that we need at least three strong and healthy platforms in mobile to drive competition and innovation, and WP7 is poised to be that solid third if they hold course. If RIM doesn’t get their situation under control soon, they will be lucky to stay alive and hold onto 4th.

Despite my earlier griping, the geek in me will be very disappointed if Apple holds off on releasing the full on iPhone 5. I have already tried 3 different Android devices running the last three OSs, and while I respect what it can do, it wasn’t for me. WP7 is more intriguing to me at this point, and if there isn’t a new iPhone 5 announced in two weeks, I might just pick up a WP7 device on Craigslist to try out as a secondary phone until Apple gets it in gear. I’m still crossing my fingers for an amazing iPhone 5, though.

History has shown that it’s never too late IF you want to compete and have the means to do so. Afterall, Apple came from nowhere to become the top banana in the phone game. That’s my point – never underestimate the competition. It’s a constantly evolving industry, so one decade could be dominated by one company/product, then the next decade by something else.

I totally agree with you that MS had a period of making crap. I was fortunate enough not to have these crap efforts installed on my machines! I only recently bought an Xbox, purely because of the Kinect, which is great. And I went from XP to Windows 7 which is also great, missing out the diabolical Vista. 🙂 My earliest experience of Windows Mobile was version 6.5 on the HTC HD2 with Sense UI (my first smart phone) so I don’t have the gastly experiences of Microsoft which you had.

Here is the problem for MS. The PR damage is already done. It takes a hell of a lot more energy and effort to undo a bad reputation than it does to forge a new one. Between the slow death of Windows Mobile, Vista, and the Xbox’s Red Rings of Death, MS spent the last 5 years mired in a sea of negativity in the minds of the average comsumer. Even wih a big splash, WP will be able to get some new smartphone adopters or some people looking for something new, but will struggle to pluck people who are longtime users of iOS and Android and keep them. Again, Mango looks great, but until MS can grow a full ecosystem that can stand toe to toe with iOS and Android (which they haven’t been able to effectively do in 15 years of mobile OSs and devices), users will be unlikely to switch. I’ve spent a lot of money on apps and accessories, and there is no way I would switch to a platform where those instantly become useless. A lot of current smartphone users are going to fall in this category, especially when it will take 2-3 years for the WP app catalog to get anywhere close to as big as iOS and Android.

And for anyone who thinks this doesn’t matter, I would point you to webOS. I have spent a lot of time paying with a TouchPad that I picked up in the firesale, and with a little tweaking, it is a great OS in passable hardware. The problem- no ecosystem. No apps. I know that WP already has more apps, and that MS has actually gotten off its large collective backside and gotten involved this time around, but again- two years too late. Being bigger than the cautionary tale OS is not an accomplishment.

Again, this is where the 2 years too late argument takes hold. If MS had come out with a feature parity OS 2 years ago, they would have been able to capture market share as smartphones were really going mainstream. If you remember, that is when Android really went nuclear. Now MS is left fighting for the “final third” of users who have yet to leave feature phones (accoriding to analyst numbers, if you put stock in those). I’m sure you will say that many will be willing to switch, but I would point you to the study making the rounds today showing a staggering 85% of iOS users who are loyal to Apple devices. That, coupled with ecosystem is a tough nut to crack this late in the game.

None of this argument even takes account of tablets. The fact that MS has decided to sit out, again, two years, is so very disappointing. That, and the fact that while Windows 8 and Metro looks to have some really cool ideas, MS can’t stay on message and market anything worth a damn. It’s a joke. Every media person who’s reviews of the big reveal I read or listened to sounded confused as hell as to what MS was trying to do with it. It was like they had to dig to find the awesome features (like Contracts, which sounds very useful) because MS wasn’t smart enough to push them out front and hammer them during their keynotes. I just shook my head when I heard that there are two Control Panels. Really? Because one doesn’t suck enough? (For the record, I am a lifetime DOS/Windows user. I have never owned an Apple computer).

Again, it will be hard to get anyone who owns an iPhone and iPad and likes them to switch to a platform that doesn’t have a clear connection between tablets and phones today. You can buy these two Apple devices today at hundreds of stores, and they instantly use the same apps, content, and delivery systems. MS needs to get out in front of this with a clear message of exactly how tablets will fit in if they want to even have a hope of deterring potential buyers from picking up Apple products now, rather than waiting for them.

I am a 4 year iOS user, who initially laughed at the iPhone while using my increasingly furstrating WM devices. That is a big reason why I am soooo critical. MS made a big push from 2000-2005 to get even with and then pass Palm. Then they took their foot off the gas and just sat there. For 4 years! Getting three solid updates out in a year isn’t enough for me to trust that they will continue to follow through when the going gets tough. They still have a LOT to prove to former WM users who had to give up because there no choice left. Again, a bad reputation is hard to undo.

One last item. For those who are throwing stones (and this is not directed at those who have made some helpful comments) about people here not knowing every little detail about an unreleased OS, let’s climb down off the fanboy high horse a bit. We wouldn’t expect you to know every feature and detail of iOS 5 and iCloud the way we all do, because we have all been using them on one or more devices for months now. Remember that this is an iOS site, and a review of a WP7 device from that perspective. With that comes a learning curve about a new platform.

So of course now I just really want to see Mango, like yesterday. 🙂

I’m not saying that people should or shouldn’t cut MS some slack. It’s not about that. What I am saying is that WP7 Mango is a great OS, period. MS have got it right and customers will now have another good OS to choose from. This is always a good thing since competition benefits all consumers, whichever product you choose.

It’s a beautiful OS, I love so much of it, but I am embarassed to show it off since I feel like I’m giving the “wait for Mango excuse” for far too many questions regarding missing features. I find that the features missing do not hamper my usage at all, nor do I find any real difference in functionality between WP7, Android or iPhone.

I just want to be able to show it off without answering a feature-related question with an excuse.

On the points about MS being quick on this, I still disagree. Lets keep in mind that MS does not have a one year history in this mobile space. Windows Mobile dates back over 10 years and Windows Phone 7 is just a a descendant of it. So I don’t buy the idea of lets cut them some slack because it’s just a year. No, it’s over 10 years.

@Martin – Twitter and FB *content* shows up in the Me tile, but there are no notifications – and there are no settings at all to say what I would even like to be notified about and what I don’t want. I nkow Skydrive is there but honestly Dropbox kicks ass and is already in use on my Mac, my iPad, and integrated into tons of apps. I need to look around on XDA and find a Mango build I can try.

@Brian – thanks – will look at trying that on the FB app.

@kpolo – The default payment method most definitely was the carrier on my device. I was not buying any carrier apps, but general apps from Marketplace and that was the default. I know it’s relatively easy to change and have done so, just find it stupid that it was set that way.

@JM – yes I know about the OneNote iPhone app, and have it running on my iPad. Sadly, sync does not seem to work much. Notes sync from the HD7S to the Personal Web area in Live, but don’t make their way down to the iPad app, even after doing a manual sync.

That was then. This is now. There is no denying that Microsoft of past was slow etc. But Microsoft as of 2010-2011 is a totally different company.

If you think that Mango is still 2 years behind, then I reckon you haven’t used it, because it’s far from behind. In fact, in many areas it is in front. But this race is always going to be about competitors edging in front, then behind, then in front etc. That’s just how it is. The difference now is that Microsoft have finally got the innovation and pace of development to compete in this race.

Twitter / FB notifications- they show up in your “Me” title. So does your consoldated feed of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Windows Live, etc. messages.

Crappy carrier apps- I have Sprint so not the same as you but all I had was a Sprint Hub and HTC Hub. Simply unpinning them from start took all of 5 seconds and uninstalling them is just as easy. That was from day one though, not just Mango.

Apps- Skype is coming soon, they’ve already been hiring the developers and made announcements. It will be integrated into the OS just like Messenger and all the others. For things like Dropbox or Evernote, I just use the Skydrive since they give you 25GB of storage with the phone already tied to your Live account.

Default payment- I have my default payment method set up to my credit card. It was configured prior to getting a Windows Phone in the Live account. You can configure that pretty easily.

Toggling Services- I do this, a lot, so I pinned “Settings” to my start screen. 1 tap access.

OneNote pinning- The Office Hub is where all of the office applications live. In NoDo, it opens to OneNote by default. For this you won’t like Mango because you’ll have to swipe once to get to the list of notes.

-No multitasking or rapid app switching- Mango.

If you’re brave, you can get a prerelease build of Mango from the AppHub (register as a developer). You can also get a copy from XDA Developers which many of us are running right now. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait a couple of weeks. MS just released statements yesterday saying that in 1 to 2 weeks it should start rolling and they’ve been saying the whole time that it would be “this fall”. Fall doesn’t start until tomorrow.