Windows Phone 7 Mango Hands on
Last month, Microsoft took the wraps off "Mango," a significant update to Windows Phone 7. Mango includes more than 500 new features that are designed to improve multitasking and to make apps and the OS work together more efficiently. Mango essentially takes the most likable features of Windows Phone 7 and improves them with new features, tweaks, and refinements. Mango is coming this fall, and it will be free for all Windows Phone 7 customers.
Tue, June 21, 2011
PC World — Last month, Microsoft (MSFT) took the wraps off "Mango," a significant update to Windows Phone 7. Mango includes more than 500 new features that are designed to improve multitasking and to make apps and the OS work together more efficiently. Mango essentially takes the most likable features of Windows Phone 7 and improves them with new features, tweaks, and refinements. Mango is coming this fall, and it will be free for all Windows Phone 7 customers.
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Microsoft packed quite a few features and enhancements into this update, so I tried to focus on the most important ones. Let's dive in.
Threaded Messaging, Linked Inboxing, and Multitasking
Microsoft probably should have had these three essential features in place at the launch of Windows Phone 7; nevertheless, I'm glad to see them included in the Mango update.
In the messaging app, you can easily switch between SMS, Facebook chat, and Windows Live Messenger within the same thread. This concept sounds useful, though I don't use Facebook chat or Windows Live Messenger. At least for me, AIM or Google (GOOG) GTalk integration would be much more useful. Still, messaging worked smoothly when I switched from SMS to Facebook chat with my friend. If you get tired of texting, you can pull up your friend's Contact card (more on that in a bit) and call them.
Email messages are organized by conversation, with replies to a thread consolidated into a single view that you can follow more easily. You can make multiple inbox groups, too: If you have two work-related inboxes, for example, you can group them together to see all of the messages in one place, and you keep your work email accounts separate from your personal email. You can also pin any of your inboxes to your homescreen for quick and easy access.
Multitasking is an overall improvement. As Microsoft announced in April, Mango extends multitasking to third-party apps as well as to Internet Explorer 9. You can quickly switch among recently used applications by pressing and holding the back button. All of your open apps are elegantly displayed in chronological order based on when you last used them.
Enhanced Hubs
In Mango, all of the hubs have been enhanced with some sweet new features. For example, the People Hub will connect Facebook, Twitter, Outlook, LinkedIn, and Windows Live messenger in one place, so you won't have to jump from app to app to communicate with your friends and colleagues. You'll also be able to group and categorize your contacts based on how you think of them--friends, coworkers, enemies, or whatever.
