• All Things D et al, Thursday, October 21, 2010 2:06 PM

With what some say is the future of Microsoft at stake, critics are just starting to weigh in on Windows Phone 7. The verdict?

Critically, The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg calls the mobile operating system "novel but lacking." Ouch.

Specifically, "Despite having all that time to study its rivals, Microsoft has inexplicably omitted from Windows Phone 7 key features now common, or becoming so, on competitive phones," Mossberg adds. "These missing features include copy and paste, visual voicemail, multitasking of third-party apps, and the ability to do video calling and to use the phone to connect other devices to the Internet."

Still, "Reviewers mostly like what they see," writes The Atlantic. "Microsoft appears to have made good on the promise that they were going to take a completely new approach to their mobile OS, picking the best from Google's Android and Apple's iOS."

"This is a fresh software platform," and "surprisingly fully baked," concludes MSNBC's Technolog.

Under the headline, "A groundbreaking interface ships on great new phones," Computerworld writes: "Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 operating system borrows heavily from Apple's iOS and Google's Android but then takes the interface and navigation in an intriguing new direction, offering a user experience that at least equals and in some ways surpasses them."

Calling the platform "promising," The Los Angeles Times writes: "Where Microsoft may be able to stand out is in Windows Phone 7's integration with Bing, Bing maps, Outlook, and especially with Xbox Live and the ubiquitous Office suite of applications."

"Microsoft's total mobile OS reboot is bold and fresh," enthuses PCMag.com, while adding: "It's also definitely a Version 1.0."

The Register, meanwhile is "surprisingly impressed with the detail, though sadly disappointed with the bigger picture."

Critics aside, how will consumers respond to Windows 7, and what impact will its launch have on the broader mobile market?

Well, according to eWeek, "While it is unlikely consumers are licking their chops over these devices the way many did at the prospect of a new Apple iPhone or phone based on Google's Android operating system, it's clear Microsoft is going to lavish as much marketing muscle as it takes to push an army of Windows Phone 7 gadgets at shoppers for the 2010 holiday season."

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