Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Pro Reviews

Steve Ballmer said it himself -- Windows Phones sales haven't exactly been stellar. And it's not exactly the biggest surprise, considering the type of rebuilding phase Microsoft's mobile OS has gone through over the last few years. Swapping a platform used by millions with something more "youthful and fresh" isn't going to earn customers and praise overnight, especially when it's a brand new ecosystem that has to start from scratch. We've said before that Mango is the OS that should've come out last year to give Windows Phone relevance in the market, and it's true -- but it's understandable that the company was nowhere near ready to push such a sophisticated platform out. There just wasn't enough time. But it's a much different landscape now for Windows Phone, and Mango is a better fit than its predecessor. The major update took less than a year to make it out, an impressive feat for the overhaul that was involved. Additionally, the Marketplace now supports 30,000 apps and is growing at an explosive pace which will likely speed up as the platform becomes more popular and developer-friendly.

Windows Phone 7 failed to wow consumers, but it's part of Microsoft's long-term plan and they are not rushing anything. It will soon be joined by Windows 8, which shares the Metro UI, the live tiles, the ARM CPU support and will be sprawling across PCs and tablets in no time. When that's done, Microsoft will be offering a complete ecosystem - from your phone, through your tablet, to your computer at home or at work. That's exactly what Apple have had going on for quite a while and this way of doing things has had a lot of vocal proponents. Still, WP7 lacked key functionality, which deterred potential consumers. Version 7.5 however brings things that will appeal to businesspeople, social networking buffs and people who like a novel software experience. If you're using Microsoft software (chances are you're using at least Office at work), WP7.5 offers the smoothest, most well-rounded experience. The rich bundle of several social networks and IM clients and emails and texts is beautifully organized too. And let's face it, the Windows Phone interface is the only UI around that's truly different - iOS, Android, even Symbian are becoming harder and harder to tell apart. The only thing that held it back was the lack of multitasking and now that's been sorted out. Speaking of apps, two tech giants (Microsoft and Nokia) are hard at work to attract new developers to build even more apps and introduce even more services to the platform. Second generation Windows Phone handsets are already on the way and they stand a good chance of stopping the market-share downward spiral. It will take years to catch up to Android and iOS, but Windows Phone 7.5 is a big step forward.

Holy cow there are a ton of new features in Windows Phone Mango/Many of these new features are mainly bringing Windows Phone up to speed with the competition, yet there are a number that are quite innovative and sure to make Windows Phone stand out above the crowd. All the analysts are predicting Windows Phone's imminent success for a reason, and this is probably just the beginning.

If we've sounded gushing, that’s because we are. Windows Phone 7 is a mobile operating system that offers something very different to Android and Apple's iOS, while still giving them a good run for their money. Everything bounces, swishes, swirls, and dances on the page making this a spritely, jovial, experience. Windows Phone 7 versus Windows Phone 7 Mango: there is no contest. The operating system is light years ahead of what it was will be very much welcomed by all those that upgrade. It is a considerable jump forward in what it offers, more so than just another Android update, and on par with Apple's "hundreds" of new feature updates every year.

Windows Phone 7.5 is supremely usable, surprisingly powerful and delivers the experience Microsoft has been promising, with only a few rough edges left.

In all, the Windows Phone platform has been improved in a set of ways that will certainly be appreciated by those that already use Windows Phone devices. I’m not sure that these changes will be enough to attract new customers on their own, but tied in with the rest of the relatively easy to use system, Windows Phone should, by most means, continue to grow throughout the future. Without getting too analytical on the future of the platform, it is, as we’ve said before, dependent on the developer ecosystem that this platform will succeed in the near and distant future. The more we find developers attaching themselves to the Windows Phone platform, the more users will come with them.

With Windows Phone 7.5, Microsoft has taken a platform with promise and made it compelling enough for the masses. The OS was already more engaging in many ways than Android and iOS, but Mango matches Windows Phone's elegance with more power and versatility. In some instances, Windows Phone 7.5 requires more work than we'd like to get stuff done--a trade-off Microsoft seems willing to make to keep the interface streamlined. But overall the software has improved to the point where all it needs is great new hardware to really make it sing.