I just hope that the tie-in with games can carry the momentum with Windows Phone until the features improve some because the iPhone has been around longer and has a long head start--one that Windows Phone won't catch with its first version (nor its second).

My rant was more an expression of frustration at Microsoft for squandering the smartphone lead. And it might also be frustration that something I value highly--and the team I work on values highly--isn't that important in the grand scheme of things. Maybe it doesn't pay to make it easy for developers. Maybe you should invest your effort in building compelling marketplaces and industrial designs. When you look at Apple's experience the past several years, not just with the iPods and iPhones, but with Macs as well, they've focused on the consumers and mostly let the developers fend for themselves.

And there are a lot of people who are perfectly happy with that arrangement.