The more open ended Web 2.0 approach...from Windows?

Time for another post, and this time it's something I'm VERY excited about. Sure I was excited previously for the iPad (I even made two posts about it), but I think the honey moon excitement period was over and the more I read about the iPad, the more I partially hear the words AppleTV blowing in the wind...I mean one program at a time is all you can use and there's the question of Flash compatibility, not too mention the dreaded App Store process, and I what I find as an amateur programmer looking to start developing software to be a bit off-putting. I mean the only way you can get software on the platform is if you use a Mac AND get accepted by the App Store. If I want to get a more open ended approach, I have to jailbreak my iPhone and then Apple treats you like a piece of dirt.

Now in walks the Windows Phone 7 Series, which while still mum on the details looks to be a real competitor. There is the whole Android thing but Google Chrome isn't really proven and no 3g on the latest model hurts a bit, and it looks a bit like something cheap made by some Korean company you've never heard of...oh wait I think it is! Here's a pic of the Windows Phone 7 Series (is that what we call it?):


Now that's classy! It's the very model of a perfect balance of sleek business shick, futuristic classiness, and simple functionality, but I'm not hear to talk about some sort of weird erotic obsession I may have with Microsoft gadgets (even if they don't have a bunch of crappy commercials with god awful indie music and a bunch of hip wannabes you'd never want for friends)...

I'd like to quickly touch on why I now think Microsoft now rules, very quickly, from a programming enthusiast's point of view:
- C#/C++/VB Express - great for development, free, and all you need to make programs
- XNA - free coding tools and templates to make games
- The fact that Microsoft has really humbled itself by listening to it's user base and giving them what they want.
- Xbox Live - if you like that
- The Zune - underrated but great
- tons of 3rd party software companies adopting royalty based approaches to using their development software to subsidize it's freeness (that a word?).

There's a lot more to it, but the key thing I want to bring up is that MIcrosoft is doing a lot to get me pumped up and that's before they even mentioned their phones. Especially because Microsoft is adopting a 'hub' approach to how you use your phone and it's totally customizable and can be streamlined based on the individuals needs. For me the Gaming hub might take precedence while the People hub might take precedence for someone else. I think it will be great to see what happens, plus there's no itunes needed and no garbage DRM. I'm hoping Microsoft will give more development tools for the masses based on the large user base using already using Windows.

I'm not going to rush out and sell my iPhone yet as Microsoft hasn't announced pricing, networks, locked or unlocked etc., but I may have a post about a 16gb 3gs for sale come Holiday season. I love my iPhone and I knock Apple but I'm still addicted to the iPhone, but still letting go might not be that hard...