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Microsoft man riles update-hungry Windows Phone 7 users

Boo-hoos over NoDo

Microsoft VP Joe Belfiore has been forced to apologise after making light of the plight suffered by Windows Phone 7 users who've had to wait several days for the latest OS update.

During a 10-minute interview on Microsoft's inhouse TV network the good Mr Belfiore clearly misjudges the mood of the planet and expresses pleasure at having got the cut-and-paste update, NoDo, out the door, before going on to suggest that the rollout is progressing well. That enraged the commentards, many of whom are still waiting for their update more than 24 hours later, forcing the Microsoft man into a grovelling apology.

"I’m sorry that I came across as insensitive," he explained, after apologising for using such inflammatory language in claiming that "most people have received the February update" and claiming that the latest update was "going well", when not everyone had downloaded, installed and used the latest features.

"I am am early adoptor [sic]" says one of the comments responding to the interview, continuing: "I want the fucking update NOW. Stop talking bull *... no customer is happy... deliver the freaking update".

Which seems a bit harsh when things really are going better than they ever have been for Windows Phone 7 users.

The new update has to be tested by the network operators, and Microsoft did have some problems getting the last update out - in the excruciatingly fawning interview Belfiore almost admits that the first update was a test run, and Microsoft has already said it wasn't for every Windows Phone 7 handset. That update is now rolled into the latest update, which is going out to customers now, but not as fast as some would like.

Not that Windows Phone 7 users don't have real things to complain about: Twitter integration and multitasking aren't expected to arrive until the end of the year, and the Where's My Update website (which is supposed to tell users when they can expect to get the new version) isn't as accurate or universal as it should be, but given the problems with the last update Microsoft can be forgiven for taking things a little slowly this time around.

But that's not what Belfiore is apologising for: his crime was apparently making light of something his customers take way too seriously, though if Microsoft can't judge the mood of its customers perhaps there is something worth worrying about. ®

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