Win7 Phone a 'Tepid iPhone Knock-off', Says Critic

The highly-anticipated Windows Phone 7 smartphone operating system (OS) has been blasted by at least one popular technology website shortly before its release. InfoWorld, which recently reviewed the software, referred to the new mobile OS as a "tepid knockoff" of similar and older offerings of the Apple iPhone.

"It's as if Microsoft decided in summer 2007 to copy the iPhone and has shut its developers in a bunker ever since, so they don't realize that several years have passed, that the iPhone has advanced, and that competitors such as Google Android and Palm WebOS have also pushed the needle forward," said InfoWorld blogger Galen Gruman. (Source: pcr-online.biz)

Windows Phone 7 Navigation A Disaster

The major problem with Windows Phone 7 is its navigation. According to Gruman, getting around menu screens and windows is all about scrolling -- way too much scrolling, in fact.

A big problem may be that Windows Phone 7 just isn't receiving the love that has been shown with other mobile operating systems. According to Gruman, who made the comments at the Mobile Beat developer conference last week, "I was appalled, flummoxed, and stupefied by what I saw and the answers to the questions from the 15 or so developers in the audience... it should be noted that minuscule attendance and the utter lack of passion in the room spoke volumes about Windows Phone 7's ultimate fate as well. By comparison, about five times as many people attended a session on WebOS." (Source: seattlepi.com)

Will Microsoft Pull the Kill Switch on Windows Phone 7?

Things didn't always look so terrible for Microsoft's mobile OS. In March, Gruman characterized the system as considerably original, noting that Windows Phone 7 "uses a radically different approach to organizing information and apps... there's a good chance that Microsoft is on to something powerful."

That said, reports closer to the launch of Windows Phone 7 suggest it's unlikely to go over very well at all. In considering the navigation mess, Gruman suggested the Microsoft simply kill the mobile OS before anyone even gets a chance to experience it.