First impression of Windows Phone 7: Samsung Omnia 7

Samsung Omnia 7 is one of the first phones to run the new Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system. I bought the phone from my mobile operator and used it as my primary work phone for the past week, switching over from the Apple iPhone 4.

Here's what I like about the phone:

• The Omnia 7 looks like a serious business phone, with tapered sides and corners sharper than the iPhone. At 4 inches, the screen is noticeably larger than the iPhone. The AMOLED screen shows deep contrast and vibrant colours; it's really a joy to look at.

• Windows Phone 7's user interface is snappy and unique--very business-like with wordy titles flying around. Actually it looks a bit like an over-animated PowerPoint slide with flying bullet points. No cute icons here like the iPhone, it's strictly business. According to a quick poll around the office, half liked the wordy user interface and half didn't.
• You can edit Microsoft Word and Excel documents on the phone without installing any additional software, and the phone can be used with your company's SharePoint 2010 Server. Windows Phone 7 is really the best phone for working on Microsoft Office documents.
• The lock screen on the phone shows you how many unread e-mail messages you got. I love this feature, which is sadly missing from the iPhone.
• The phone has a good selection of paid, high-quality games at launch.

What I don't like about the phone:

• The phone connects easily to Exchange Server for syncing e-mail, but I was unable to browse the corporate address book in my Exchange Server 2003. Apparently, it's a bug.

• Unlike the iPhone, you can't connect to a Wi-Fi network whicj SSID is hidden. This may cause problems for some corporate networks.
• I missed the apps that I use frequently on iPhone and Android phones, like LogMeIn, Dropbox and Angry Birds.
• No copy-and-paste, no multitasking, no support for Flash yet. It's almost like using the first-generation iPhone.

If you're looking for a business phone that works well with Microsoft apps, the Samsung Omnia 7 may be the right phone for you.