We've been told to expect a Vinvasion so many times that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is in danger of being the boy who cried "Mango". But with Nokia committing the world's biggest handset maker to WP7, it's time to start taking Microsoft seriously. After all, 7.5's Live Tiles look great, it comes with business and social smarts pre-loaded, and Xbox features have our thumbs twitching.

5 KILLER FEATURES

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1 WHAT'S NEW

Has Microsoft found the cure for information overload? Think of this as a news fed of your whole connected life, with calls, texts, emails and social networking updates all gathered together, by person, into streamed threads. No more hopping between apps to find a message - an you can group you buddies to keep things simpler still.

2 LOCAL SCOUT

Health and safety regulations halted bob-a-job week (aka 'unsupervised child slavery week' to those of us who were Scouts at the time) in the 1990s. Not it's back, but this time it's Windows Phone wishing it could be home watching Runaround instead. Local Scout finds nearby bars, shops and tourist attractions so you can b a local wherever you travel.

 

3 LIVE TILES

Big, bold and beautiful, Windows Phones' briskly animated Live Tiles are one of the platform's best features. Like stripped-down widgets, they hint at what's going on inside but never clutter up the minimalist interface with unnecessary data. Hit the new Me tile to see what your mates are saying about you online - if you dare.

 

 

 

 

4 GAMES HUB WITH XBOX LIVE

Mango doesn't contain any major new developments here - it's about casual and social gaming rather than playing Battlefield 3 on your phone, and multiplayer is still limited to a few turn-by-turn games - but if you're a social gamer who likes to see who's online, compare scores and make your avatar look even more ridiculous, it's still a major reason to choose WP7.

 

 

5 OFFICE HUB

Your friends might look at you funny for buying a Windows phone, but your boss will be beaming. Not only does it come with Word, Excel, OneNote, and PowerPoint built in, it also offers the full email experience of Outlook Mobile. Best of all, the comparative dearth of apps and games means you won't be distracted from meeting your quarterly targets.

 

 

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE

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TuneIn Radio

Access 50,000 internet radio stations from around the world via Mango's Music Hub. Works well over 3G as well as Wi-Fi.

Xbox Companion

Searches and controls media on board your 360, and also feeds back extra info about the game or movie on screen.

Jet Car Stunts

You're a knight and you have to rescue a beautiful... just kidding. You're in a jet car and you have to do loads of gnarly stunts.

gRadie

Turn news feeds into Live Tiles with this basic (and slightly buggy) RSS reader, which uses tiles to create a list of posts.

OS RATER

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Interface

It might not be what you're used to, but there's nothing wrong with Mango's design, speed or usability. We'd decorate our bathrooms with Live Tiles if we could.

Productivity

Windows Phones come with the world's favorite (well, most common) office software and free SkyDrive cloud access. The on-screen keyboard is fine - and speech recognition is very nearly as good as Siri.

Multimedia

Camera and video features are better than fine, with instant face-tagging as standard. The Music Hub works well with Windows Media Player, and Spotify has now arrived. Renting or buying movies is impossible without a PC, though.

Apps

Microsoft has come up with some decent casual games but no company can create an app ecosystem on its own. The 35,000 apps in the Marketplace can't hide the fact that it's missing dozens of key players.

Social networking

There's little in the way of third party social apps, but you hardly need them - social networking is firmly bakes into Mango. You can post almost anything to multiple networks with a tap, and the aggregate feeds are awesome.

MORE TASTY MANGOS

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HTC Titan

This giant of a phone has a 4.7inch screen for squint-free web surfing. It's a shame the display only has a 800x480 resolution, though, but overall it's a solid sizeable intro to Mango.

Samsung Focus S

Packs the same 1.4GHz processor as the Lumia 800, along with an 8MP camera and 4.3inch Super AMOLED screen. Dad-phone styling wont' set the design crowd alight, mind.

Nokia Lumia 710

Swappable covers? How 2001! Fortunately this Lumia's 1.4GHz Snapdragon guts, 800x480 display and 5MP camera are bang up to date. An affordable route into WP7.5.