First Windows Phone 7 review.. of sorts

Windows Phone 7 has received its first review, or at least a first overview of what it does well and what it does badly. Which will do for now.

We know that Windows Phone 7 is pretty much make or break for Microsoft in the mobile sector. If it bombs then you have to assume it’s game over for Redmond, with Apple, Google, and the like sharing the spoils instead. But if it succeeds, managing to make its mark and build a following then Microsoft is back in the game in a big way.

Ina Fried over at CNET has been using Microsoft’s new mobile operating system for the last month. It’s not the finished product, and it’s only working on a prototype of the Samsung Taylor, but it’s as near as anyone has got so far to using Windows Phone 7 in a normal environment and in an everyday capacity.

Fried is generally happy and positive with Windows Phone 7, explaining that it has grown on her since she started using it. We already know Windows Phone 7 looks good, but is the beauty only skin deep?

Fried is still finding new features and new hidden delights weeks into using the OS. Things such as voice recognition, cursor controls, and camera trickery passed her by at first. She makes the point that these should be more obvious but that it’s good to find them organically as you use the phone more.

The really good news, as far as I can see, is the lack of bugs, issues, and error messages Fried encountered. Microsoft hasn’t exactly got a sterling reputation for delivering fault-free software straight out of the box, but the company’s experience with Windows Vista seems to have nudged it into working harder on this particular score.

There are some noted problems at this stage – battery life, no copy-and-paste option – but these are outweighed by the good. Which suggests Microsoft has a winner on its hands. We won’t know for sure until the first Windows Phone 7 devices go on sale though. If no one buys them then all of this is meaningless.

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