Details On Windows Phone 7's Q1 Update EmergeDetails On Windows Phone 7's Q1 Update Emerge

Microsoft is getting ready to release an update to its Windows Phone 7 platform. The biggie is Copy and Paste, but that isn't all.According to information Paul Thurrott has gathered, the update will be released in February at the earliest. The update is code named NoDo and should go gold in January. The carriers have to test it, but Microsoft will be responsible for the distribution. NoDo is short for "No Donuts" which is probably a little jab at Google's Donut update for Android.

There will also be a CDMA location stack. That should be included in the first wave of devices that the CDMA carriers like Verizon release.

The next update Mr. Thurrott has info on is called Mango, and it is relatively major. Internet Explore 9, HTML5 and Silverlight support in the browser will be included. There is no timeframe on this update, so it could be later rather than sooner. Between NoDo and Mango there would likely be other NoDo-style tweaks if Mango is several quarters away.

Tech lovers of devices like phones, computers and software like periodic updates. It keeps people interested and keeps the enthusiasm alive. Previously Windows Mobile devices were sort of like toasters - they did what you purchased them for, so why bother updating them? That works great for toasters but not smartphones. Microsoft appears to have learned this lesson. The distribution of NoDo will be the test to see if everyone gets the update within a reasonable amount of time.

There will also be the test to see if the updates themselves go smoothly or if there will be a few bricks in the making. Given how smoothly updates for Zune players have been over the years and that Windows Phone 7 shares a lot of Zune DNA, I am hopeful the updates will be flawless. We'll see in a few weeks.