14 DAY TRIAL // Tomorrow is a big day for all those Windows Phone enthusiasts out there, as the first handsets running under the new mobile platform are set to become available for purchase around the world.
Only users living in some European countries, as well as some in the Asia-Pacific region would get the handsets tomorrow, while those in North America should have Windows Phone 7 devices available for them starting with November 8th.
Compared to the previous iterations of Microsoft's mobile platform, the new Windows Phone 7 OS comes with a brand new look, being much more appealing, and being able to offer faster access to services and applications that interest users the most.
The platform has all content organized in Hubs and Live Tiles, so that users would find what interests them much faster than before, while receiving social networking updates and more straight to the phone's homescreen.
Moreover, starting with Windows Phone 7, Microsoft set a minimum set of hardware requirements for the handsets that would be launched on shelves with the platform on board.
All handsets would have to come with large, touchscreen displays on board, not to mention that all of them pack fast processors (Snapdragon chips in the first series of devices), and pre-set amounts of internal memory.
The software solutions that would become available for purchase and download for the new mobile operating system should also get improved. These apps would be based on Silverlight and XNA Studio, and Microsoft already made available all the necessary development tools for app building.
Not to mention that handsets would come with support for a wide range of services from the software giant, including Zune, Xbox LIVE, Bing, and more.
Basically, what Windows Phone 7 promises can be resumed to simple words: better services, better applications and better devices than before.
Of course, not all things are bright with the new OS, as there is no copy/paste, no support for interchangeable microSD cards, no file manager, and a few other features missing from the first release, but Microsoft did confirm plans to upgrade the platform's functionality in the near future.
However, while the Windows Phone 7 mobile platform in itself would impress users to a certain degree, the handsets that would arrive on shelves with it are expected to make things even more appealing.
A number of no less than 9 devices were announced as headed for the market with Windows Phone 7 on board during the ongoing year, and most of them are expected to be put on sale as soon as tomorrow.
Taiwanese mobile phone maker HTC Corporation is the one to have the largest number of such handsets on sale starting with tomorrow, including the HTC HD7, 7 Trophy, and 7 Mozart.
Other mobile phones that can be added to this list include the Samsung OMNIA 7, along with the LG Optimus 7 (and its LG Optimus 7Q version, headed for Australia's Telstra).
However, tomorrow does not mark the end of the journey, but merely the completion of a phase in Windows Phone 7's evolution.
It still remains to be seen how well would end-users receive the new mobile OS, and whether it would indeed have the strength to enable Microsoft regain its foothold on the smartphone area.
More importantly, Microsoft has to prove that it managed to completely change its approach to the mobile space, and that OS enhancements, updates and new features would come at a better rate than before.
Of course, we'll have to wait for a long time to pass before we can say for sure that Microsoft made the right move with the transition to Windows Phone 7. However, since Windows Mobile 6.x was already going down fast, things can considered to be worse, one should agree.