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Microsoft and the Windows Phone 7 noise machine

The importance of being 'relevant'

Radio Reg Critics of the company and Web 2.0 fashionistas frequently assert that Microsoft is no longer "relevant," in an era of Google and open source.

But the near hysterical level of speculation in the run-up to Windows Phone 7 - and the coverage on the day - prove the opposite. It remains a center of gravity.

What you actually got for your money, though, was a different matter. Microsoft moved mountains of interest, but in terms of telling you what Windows Phone 7 is made of? Microsoft pulled a Jedi mind trick, dazzling people and even managing to draw applause during the unveiling of an phone interface that bore very little resemblance to what's gone before.

For technical details, check back in next month at its Mix web and design conference, Microsoft said.

Reg Software editor Gavin Clarke and All-About-Microsoft blogger Mary-Jo Foley pre-empt Mix by trying to fill in some of the gaps on Windows Phone 7 and look at how the thicket of backwards compatibly that dogs upgrades between versions of Windows and Office is set to come to Windows Phones with Microsoft's latest mobile software push.

Also on the MicroBite agenda: How Microsoft's Adobe-Flash challenger Silverlight could become the actual Windows phone operating system instead of Windows itself, and the next version of Internet Explorer: Is it a standards stonewall or will Microsoft rejoin the civilized world on SVG and WebKit for mobile and PC versions of Internet Explorer?

Chow down with MicroBite using our player below, the MP3 here, or the Ogg here. ®

Microbite February 2010

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