The wait is over; Microsoft’s newest masterpiece is here!

We don’t know if the OS is good enough to steal the thunder from iPhone, Android, and Blackberry, but it is definitely getting Microsoft back into the game.

Yesterday was the first day in North America that Windows Phone 7 went on sale. There are plenty of phones to choose from both in US & Canada.  In US,  AT&T offers Samsung Focus and T-Mobile offers HTC HD7; they are being sold for $199.99 with a two-year contract.
In Canada,TELUS, Rogers and Bell are all offering the new Windows Phone 7 supported devises.

TELUS is offering the following two devices, HTC 7 Surround & LG Optimus 7, at the following prices:

• HTC 7 Surround costs $99.99 with a three-year contract, $349.99 with a two-year contract, $399.99 with a one-year contract,  $499.99 with no contract.
• LG Optimus 7 costs $99.99 with a three-year contract, $399.99 with a two-year contract, $ 449.99 with a one-year contract, and $499.99 with no contract.

Bell is offering  LG Optimus Quantum, at the following prices:

• LG Optimus Quantum for $99.99 with a three-year contract, $399.95 with a two-year contract, $424.95 with a one-year contract, and $449.95 with no contract.

Rogers is offering  Samsun Focus, at the following prices

• Samsung Focus for $199.99 with a three-year contract, $499.99 with a two-year contract, $549.99 with a one-year contract, and $599.99 with no contract.

Windows phone 7 is a fresh software platform; yet, it is surprisingly fully completed. One of the great features of Windows Phone 7 is the personalization of home screen. Check out this Link for a recent post I did detailing a comparison of the newest smartphones. It allows users to add people, games, music, and videos directly to the front of their phone, instead of just configuring apps. Another good feature is that it allow users to see calendar appointments, e-mails, and message counts, from the lock screen; and from the home screen, they can even get more details before going into a single app. As for games, all games with Xbox Live support will have free demos, mirroring the policy of Xbox Live Arcade. Windows Users can log on to Xbox Live on the go.

Despite the great features it has, it misses couple of things at this point such as: Flash video, cut & paste, and multi-tasking for third party apps.

Here is good video that shows you some of the features and functionality of Windows Phone 7.
Microsoft’s big bet on its mobile comeback is definitely going to compete with iPhone, Android, and Blackberry, with its $100-500 million marketing campaign (all sorts of rumors out there on their marketing spend). However, the company will not only have to gain consumer’s vote in order to break through, but also it has to build up its developer community.  Currently, Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace has around 1,600 apps, compared with around 100,00 in the Android Market and over 250,000 in Apple’s App Store.

Greg Sullivan, Microsoft’s senior product manager for Windows Phone 7, told CNN “Our message is going to be clear: This is a phone that does stuff for you.” I guess we have to wait ant see  “if  and how it’ll do stuff for USERS”.