Got high hopes for Windows Phone 7? Fortunately, those hopes won't go to waste, as it is a well-made mobile platform that could seriously put the Redmond crew back in the smartphone game.
Hub System
One of the smartest decisions here is the Hub system, which essentially lets you group all related content into a single place, streamlining your consumption and interaction. There are six hubs on the platform, consisting of People, Pictures, Games, Music+Video, Marketplace and Office. This kind of organization allows you to do plenty of things from a single, unified interface - a brilliant decision that, in my opinion, is the OS' core strength.
User Interface
The all-new UI is immediately noticeable as soon as you pick up a phone. Gone are the mass of unnecessary information, which are replaced with "live tiles" that allow you to fully customize your home screen content with widgets, contacts, hubs, shortcuts and alerts. The tiles can be rearranged, removed or replaced without much trouble.
Navigation requires plenty of scrolling. Despite that, it feels very natural and intuitive, especially because you're working within a specific hub, where you can do so many things from a single place. Everything is consistent across all screens, too, so it's very easy to use once you get used to it.
Contacts and Email
Windows Phone 7 lets you merge contacts from various sources, including Facebook, Gmail, Windows Live and Exchange accounts. It works, for the most part, but can create plenty (and we mean plenty) of duplicates in the process.
Email support is wide and varied, as we've come to expect from Microsoft's previous mobile efforts. For now, it lacks a unified inbox, although you do get a merged calendar (we'd like extra features on that one too, such as additional views).
Office Support
One of the biggest strengths for WP7 is the tight integration with Microsoft Office Suite. Editing is limited for now (with promises of more in the future), so it's not quite there yet. OneNote Mobile, on the other hand, is a whole other story. Suffice to say, the "notebooking" software is one of my favorite desktop tools and the mobile version pairs beautifully with it.
Web and Multimedia
Browsing experience is commendable, although no more better than what you can get from iOS and Android. Plus, there's no support for Flash, Silverlight or HTML5, so it's a step back if you're coming from one of the other platforms.
As for the multimedia experience, you only need two words: Zune integration. WP7 essentially appropriated the Zune HD's media talents, so this is quite the capable music and video playing platform.
Overall
Is Windows Phone 7 perfect? Not by a longshot. In fact, it feels unfinished in some ways. The parts that work, though, feel awesome.
