Windows Phone 7 released as technical preview

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It’s been a long time in coming, but finally Microsoft has seen fit to bestow a “technical preview” of its Windows Phone 7 operating system to the unwashed developer masses.
Although just a first step and still in Beta, the Redmond giant has big plans for the newly released software, not least of which is bunging it into a bunch of prototype handsets from Asus, LG and Samsung and sending out “thousands” to developers to get them producing apps for the new platform.

With the technical preview, “the Windows Phone engineering team has hit a very meaningful milestone,” said Microsoft’s Terry Meyerson in an official blog post.
“We are certainly not done yet – but the craftsmen (and women) of our team have signed off that our software is now ready for the hands-on everyday use of a broad set of consumers around the world – and we’re looking forward to their feedback in the coming weeks, so that we can finish the best Windows Phone release ever together,” he said.
Designed to run on a  one Ghz processor, WP7 is Microsoft’s attempt at a Zune HD like social hub interface with user configurable “tiles” for email, contacts, music, photos etc. which can re-arranged according to user preference.
According to Meyerson, Microsoft has already put its new software through the wringer, with over 1000 employees having already spent “several months” using it “as their only phone.”
“We’ve been testing usability, battery life, network connectivity, and many other metrics for a long time,” says Meyerson, neglecting to divulge the results of this testing except to say “as a result of that work, I hope you will find the experience to be of surprisingly high quality.”
Microsoft has also released a beta version of the Windows Phone developer tools with Meyerson gushing that he “can’t wait to see how our developer partners take advantage of our new approach to smart design and integrated mobile experiences.”
Certainly those who have managed to get their hands on a Phone 7 device seem to already be weighing in on it.
“The beta software clearly isn’t done and not everything worked as expected or really as it probably should, but there’s a lot to like and dig into here,” writes PCMag’s editor-in-chief  Lance Ulanoff.
ZDNet’s Matt Miller was also brimming with praise for the OS, writing “The current experience is amazingly stable and fluid and I am quite impressed with what [Microsoft has] done.”
Engadget noted that “Windows Phone 7 is easily the most unique UI in the smartphone race right now, and the real perk here is that it doesn’t just seem like an arbitrary decision to make things look different than other OSs — there is real purpose and utility to a lot of what Microsoft has come up with.”
Wired was rather a lot more critical, stating that while the Redmond giant had made some “Major, major improvements,” Microsoft had hardly reinvented the wheel and “the lack of any kind of real app store is a major hindrance.”
CNET found the OS a bit paradoxical with some aspects appearing “completely minimalistic,” while others felt “more sophisticated and elegant.” While this, in the reviewer’s opinion didn’t “hurt the navigation, per se,” it did have the unfortunate result of not making the phone “feel like a cohesive unit.”
Of course, Microsoft doesn’t deny that the OS still needs some spit and polish. “We’re almost there – but there is much work left to do,” declared Meyerson who added that by working with early adopter customers, developers, OEMs, and mobile operator partners over the coming months, Microsoft was “in the home stretch.”
That home stretch only has a couple more months to set itself on course if it is to prove a worthy competitor for the likes of Android and iOS, however, as Microsoft is still aiming for an October launch.
“We are on the path to do exactly what we set out to do – create a different take on mobile phone software, an experience we think many people will find fun and refreshing, with a quality bar that we’re proud of,” Meyerson concluded.
Hopefully proud enough that the OS won’t go the unfortunate Kin route to an early grave.
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