Reviews

Windows Phone 7 NoDo review

Copy and paste finally arrives on Windows Phone 7, but is there anything else for Microsoft's long-suffering users to look forward to? Kevin Pocock takes a closer look to find out.

14 Apr 2011

Microsoft's desire to pitch Windows Phone 7 as a dependable mobile platform for business was given due attention at launch as the only smartphone operating system with Office and SharePoint support. Yet to maintain that strong footing it needs to adequately and quickly address any issues that exist as hurdles to productivity. To this end, there have been some welcome changes with NoDo (officially version 7.0.7390.0), but once you have downloaded and updated your handset via Zune Desktop, you will also realise that not every obvious issue has been resolved.

"What is present is the copy and paste function we've been patiently waiting for."

What is present is the copy and paste function we've been patiently waiting for. The function works well in the most part, and is on a par with Apple's iOS in terms of simplicity. One tap highlights a word, and non-blinking cursors appear at each end of it, which can then be dragged to a desired point in the text. Above the selected text a document-on-document icon appears. Tap this to copy, and this icon then appears in a bar just above the pop-up keyboard, to indicate available copied text for pasting.

Unfortunately, apps need to be updated to support copy and paste. The prime examples of this are the official Twitter and Facebook applications, where copying and pasting remains impossible. This is frustrating, particularly if you want to repost a tweet or comment, or copy an interesting bit of information or piece of feedback from those applications to a Word document or email.

We look at how Windows Phone 7's copy and paste functionality compares to Android and the iPhone.