Redmond-based software giant Microsoft announced not too long ago that the latest version of its Windows Mobile operating system was to become available on handsets on the market as soon as October 6 arrived, yet the excitement around the launch of the platform and related services drove some carriers to step ahead of the masses, and we already saw AT&T making the HTC Pure available for its subscribers with Windows Mobile 6.5 on board.

Thus, AT&T's HTC Pure, which is known on other markets and with other carriers as the HTC Touch Diamond2, seems to be the first Windows phone to offer users access to the Windows Marketplace for Mobile, which is already up and running for all the handsets that will reach the shelves tomorrow with WM 6.5 pre-loaded on them. The bottom line, both Windows Mobile 6.5 and the Marketplace made an appearance on the market one day before they were supposed to.

However, it seems that there are not too many things that will attract users at the storefront, at least this is what WMPoweruser notes: “If you are running a Windows Mobile 6.5 ROM, clicking on the Marketplace icon will now download an app, which will install the official Marketplace app. Unfortunately the actual store is still very sparse, with no more than 34 apps available. The number of free apps are also very small, and the rest are pretty pricy.”

The software company announced a few days ago that it was making the final touches to the storefront, and one would have expected for it to be full of apps, yet it seems that things are to be finalized in the near future. For what it's worth, it might be possible for Microsoft to populate the app portal only tomorrow, just in time for the big launch.

In related news, we learn that AT&T is not the only carrier to have Windows Mobile 6.5 early on a handset, as HTC Touch Diamond2 will receive a new ROM with the OS from HTC and Vodafone Germany: “An updated ROM is now available for HTC Touch Diamond2 users to download. As always, HTC is committed to providing customers with the best possible mobile experience. [...] ROM version 2.16.162.1”