OS Version: Windows Phone 7.5 Mango
Rating 4.7/5
Performance
Windows Phone 7.5 is a big step up from 7.0 with over 400 bug fixes and a more beautiful, natural, and ergonomic design. Multitasking is much better in Mango and the overall performance is very zippy. Some of the big things is more apps able to run in the background, message threading, more stable UI, and a whole lot more apps. On the HTC Trophy apps loaded up fast and games ran very quickly. Windows Phone is very minimal and everything is bigger, faster, and better than other mobile operating systems. Internet Explorer 9 is not what you think it is big bulky and always in the way. This time around it is almost non existent and the address bar is at the bottom of the screen and is much improved in quality and speed. Also the entire look and feel is more refined. I prefer this OS to any other and hope to see some of WP7 (marketplace apps) on Windows 8.
Marketplace
Windows Phone 7.5 brought in a lot of mainstream apps but not enough for many picky consumers. Adobe reader, ESPN, Shazam, Pandora client, Tune In radio, and Iheartradio shows you that they have great music choices for the regular music streamer. There is a ton of Xbox Live games for the true gamer at heart and the average daily Joe like angry birds, Hydro Thunder Go, fruit ninja, and Pac Man Rally. Even at 70,000 apps it is still found lacking in some departments but also has some very unique apps that I found like the free Tom and Jerry app with 100+ episodes and for $3.99 you can get the best outdoors app to date SAS Survival Guide with not only the best selling book in the app it also includes video gallery, comprehensive picture database of edible and non edible plants and animals, and pop quizzes to test how smart you are in the wild! Windows Phone apps are the best looking and quickest loading apps out in the smartphone arena.
Design
The Windows Phone 7 team must have taken a long time planning the layout of a otherwise unknown Operating System. The important thing about the layout is the ease of use of the WP7 platform. The main thing to know about the design or layout is the unique metro layout. The idea behind the "metro" look is putting the user first. The word metro derives from a subway station where there is a whole bunch of metro or retro stores underneath the ground. The entire metro interface follows you wherever you go even especially in every app. The whole design has a similar character trait with Apple's IOS platform uniformity. In Android you do not get the same experience where ever you dare enter. With IOS it is the same look wherever you go even if it is not a very refined look. Also the only thing able to be customized is the background and all you see is a wall of apps which do not tell you anything except for the few with little red notifications on them. With Windows Phone 7 you get a beautiful Start menu which you can choose to pin certain items and things like the temperature on your weather tile or how many and who e-mailed you all show up without you actually going into the app. The whole fluid minimal design puts the user up front and personal with what you want not just random bloatware. It may have a ways to go but for me it does the job well and beautifully. 
Score 9.5/10
