Windows Phone Thoughts: WP7: The Path To Success

"Microsoft doesn't tend to invest time and capital into market segments it can't dominate, which makes one wonder how it is still a distant fifth in the worldwide smartphone market...However, IDC predicts that once the next version of Windows Phone 7 arrives in products later this year, Microsoft will be on firmer footing...Here are four reasons why Microsoft will be a major smartphone player in a few years.

And three reasons it won't."

Jeff Vance has written a thoughtful article that summarises what he thinks will make Windows Phone 7 a success - and a few major hurdles along the way. Some of the good points aren't turning out so well (the Nokia-Microsoft partnership has been awfully quiet), but he makes a good point about cloud services. It's a long article, but worth the read.