I've been a loyal Windows mobile user since WM5, currently have a HTC Diamond 2, and for me Windows mobile 7 is a massive step backwards. No multitasking? No copy and paste? Even Apple belatedly have realised these are very handy features to have in a phone. And if WM6 didn't have they I could at least understand, but they do! So they have gone to all this effort to make an OS with less features.
Then there's apps. One thing I hate about the WM platform is the lack of apps for it. For one of the longest running smartphone OS's around today, the lack of support is laughable. Marketplace has helped a little but its mainly made obvious how little software support there is for WM.
If MS hadn't abandoned WM for so long it might have been salvageble, but personally now that iOS and Android are well established, and you've got Blackberry cornering the corporate world and nokia taking over emerging markets, I don't see a place for WM7. It could have at least kept the current loyal WM users if WM7 was actually more than just a pretty GUI, but no improve the one thing your current users don't give a toss about (the GUI, WM has always had a shit GUI) and remove the one thing your current users actually care about (customisation, flexibility, control). Great job MS, sounds like the ticket to success. But I'm sure a half billion advertising campaign will drag WM7 to a success it just doesn't deserve.
