Windows Phone 7 SeriesMicrosoft will be shipping a new phone operating system this year. After the Windows Mobile brand, they're switching to an alternate name; Windows Phone 7 Series. And obviously, with a new name comes a new website; http://www.windowsphone7series.com.

I can't really see why they keep bothering trying to access the phone market. Every single Windows Mobile (or Windows CE as it was called in the old days) device I've owned crashed more frequently than the 'good old' Windows Millennium Edition on an average Sunday. I can't count the number of times that I received a phonecall while doing something else (e.g. playing solitaire, or reading e-mail) and that the call finally went to voicemail. Why? because the phone froze, crashed, or answer button was unresponsive.

There are a couple of reasons why this 'phone' (it's only the operating system) won't come close to the popularity of the iPhone, Blackberry or even a decent Nokia smartphone (E or even the N-series);

They don't make the hardware themselves.
They have no real control over the hardware with nearly a dozen manufacturers (HTC, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, HP and Dell).
and they never had any success with an excellent user interface/experience.

Having control over the Operating System AND the hardware means that you're in charge of the drivers and other stuff that are necessary to operate a piece of hardware.
Windows on the average computer needs drivers from all over the place to function properly. Linux... Well don't get me started on driver support on that platform. Especially if the hardware is not supported by the installation disc.......
A badly written video driver could wreak havoc with a soundcard driver. Ending up in an unstable computer (been there, cursed it, done that).
Having control over the hardware and software (drivers) doesn't mean that there won't be any bugs (even my iMac has had some undocumented features). The advantage is that the developers are working within the same company, and that problems are resolved a lot faster (no need to point the finger at another company/vendor).

In my experience the additional applications you install make the device less stable. The more crap applications you install the higher the chance of crashes. Much the same like it's bigger brother Windows.

A smartphone is a phone on which you can do other things. So in all circumstances should you be able to make or receive a phonecall. This is something I witnessed only on Nokia phones, Blackberries and iPhones. I haven't spoken to anyone yet (with a Windows Mobile Phone) who doesn't have to reset the phone every now and then.

Sure, people may complain about the iPhone. It doesn't;

allow multitasking.
allow you to install every bit of software there is (you have to get things through the App Store)
have a gazillion megapixel camera
run two weeks on a single battery charge
No flash support.
etc.

but it gives ME the best user experience I've ever had on a mobile (smart)phone, and that's something Microsoft never achieved (in my opinion).