Windows Phone 7 Copy-And-Paste Patch DelayedWindows Phone 7 Copy-And-Paste Patch Delayed

Microsoft has pushed back a highly anticipated update to its Windows Phone 7 software until the end of the month so it has more time to address technical glitches that plagued a previous software update for the platform.

The latest update, which mainly adds copy-and-pasted functionality and enhanced Marketplace search capabilities to Windows Phone 7, will not be available until late March, said Microsoft Customer Experience Engineering manager Eric Hautala, in a blog post.

"I believe it's important that we learn all we can from the February update. So I've decided to take some extra time to ensure the update process meets our standards, your standards, and the standards of our partners," said Hautala. "As a result, our plan is to start delivering the copy-and-paste update in the latter half of March."

Last month, Microsoft released a small update for Windows Phone 7 that was designed to ensure future updates go smoothly. Ironically, the update didn't install properly on about 10% of customers' phones and was particularly buggy on Windows Phone 7 models made by Samsung.

"Let me be crystal clear: We're not satisfied when problems prevent you from enjoying the latest Windows Phone updates," Hautala wrote. "When we find an issue, we study and fix it. To that end, we're carefully studying the current update process and will apply the lessons learned from it to all future ones."

Microsoft introduced the Windows Phone 7 platform in November in an effort to keep up with rivals Apple and Google in the smartphone market. To date, however, it's had little impact in terms of halting the company's slipping market share.

Microsoft's share of U.S. smartphone platforms slipped 1.7%, to 8%, during the three months ended Jan. 31, according to the latest data from market watcher comScore. Over the same period, Google Android's share increased 7.7%, to 31.2%, while Apple's iPhone held steady—increasing .1% to 24.7%.

In February, Microsoft struck a deal with Nokia under which the Finnish handset maker agreed to use Windows Phone 7 as the default OS for its smartphones. Microsoft hopes the pact will expose Windows Phone 7 to a wider group of users and increase its market share outside the U.S., where Nokia remains the world's largest distributor of handsets.