Edible Apple

Engadget’s take on Microsoft’s last gasp effort to remain relevant in the smartphone game.

In our original preview, we said that Windows Phone 7 didn’t quite feel like a complete smartphone OS yet. We’d like to come back and report that it finally has the fit and finish of a fully realized product, but that isn’t exactly the case. Don’t get us wrong: there’s a lot to like or even love in WP7. Microsoft has done an outstanding job with lots of aspects of this UI, particularly when it comes to navigation and ease of use — but there are holes here as well. It still feels like the company is a good year behind market leaders right now, and though it’s clear the folks in Redmond are doing everything they can to get this platform up to snuff, it’s also clear that they’re not there yet.

But that isn’t — and shouldn’t be — a deterrent to taking a close look at the handsets being offered. Microsoft isn’t walking away from Windows Phone 7 anytime soon, and the company has created an incredibly promising base set of features to build off of. With terrific Zune and Xbox Live integration, a fast and smart method of getting around the OS, great Office and email experiences, and a genuinely beautiful and useful user interface, Microsoft has definitely laid the foundation for the next several years of its mobile play. Now it’s time to get the upper floors finished.