[sc:mobile-category ]The first significant WP7 update is finally here!

Microsoft has posted what they updated here.  OS version 7.0.7390.0.

Below is the list of updates that MS lists and my thoughts on each one:

Copy & paste

It’s top billed for a reason, it should have been in the original release.

Copy and paste is the kind of functionality that you don’t know how much you use until you don’t have it and even in the couple of months I have had the HD7 without C&P, it nearly drove me insane.

The implementation is pretty slick, taping on a word selects it and then you can drag the selection either left or right.  The only issue I have with it is that sometimes selecting the first word is a challenge, either the wrong word is selected or WP7 doesn’t pick up the selection at all.  I suspect I’ll get better at it over time, even in the last few hours it seems to have become easier to hit the sweet spot.

One slightly strange C&P item is that for text messages you can only copy the entire message, there is no selection interface for copying just part of the message.

Otherwise, it’s exactly what WP7 needed.

Faster apps and games

I haven’t really seen any real difference here, but I don’t use a lot of apps so it could be good for those that switch between apps a lot.

Better Marketplace search

I’ve commented on it before, the Marketplace is a mess to find applications in, search or not.  A couple of quick searches really didn’t seem to return better results for me.

Other Marketplace improvements

The other improvements are mostly bug fixes, one of which I had run in to around upgrading to a newer version of an app.  We’ll see if it happens again next time it has a new version released.

I couldn’t test the ability to create an Xbox live account from the games as I already have an account setup.

Wi-Fi improvements

Ok, MAC address in the about box is a BIG improvement and should never have been left out in the first place.

And of course unlimited is always better than limited so support for unlimited Wi-Fi profiles is good, though I never personally hit the limit.

Outlook improvements

I’ve never received an iPhone photo attachment but I’m sure those that have are quite happy about this.  Likewise the rest of these improvements seem mostly to be bug fixes.

Messaging improvements

This is interesting, when MS originally posted the list of updates it included this grouping, but it has now disappeared from the list.  I haven’t seen any improvements in this area so that’s that I guess.

Facebook integration

I don’t know what they changed here, everything seems the same as before…

Camera improvements

Nothing to see here either, just some bug fixes.

Audio improvements

I have a set of Bluetooth headsets, but haven’t received a call yet since the update while using them (or before actually) so I don’t know what they changed, but I’m sure it was an improvement .

Other performance improvements

And of course the grab bag of anything else.  It’s impossible to say what if anything changed on the HD7.

Conclusion

So in general the changes fall in to three categories:

1. Feature additions
2. Bug fixes
3. System updates

The feature additions are highlighted by Copy and Paste, the rest are pretty minor and in some cases (like Xbox account creation) invisible except in certain situations.

The bug fixes are great and the low level system updates are welcome but really, other than C&P, everything else is mostly invisible, which leads to the question…

If an update falls in the ecosystem and nobody is there to hear it does it make a sound?

I’m not sure, but perhaps the IE9 update will make some more noise .

Some of the things that I would have really liked to see:

• Unlock codes over 4 numbers
• Ability to disable calendar and contact sync for Live accounts
• More calendar view modes
• SMS sync to Exchange
• Notes sync to Exchange
• Some kind of network live tile, so you could toggle Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/Cell network without drilling down through settings
• Time based profiles
• Custom ringtones
• Support for more than just call forwarding (call hunt, etc.)

The Good:

• Copy and Paste, yea!
• Faster app loads

The not so bad/not so good:

• Lots of bug fixes

The Bad:

• How much was left out of the update
• How many updates are completely invisible to most users