Earlier this morning, the Windows Phone development team officially signed off on the release to manufacturing (RTM) build of "Mango" - the latest version of the Windows Phone operating system. This marks the point in the development process where Microsoft hands code to its handset and mobile operator partners to optimize Mango for their specific phone and network configurations. The Windows Phone team is now turn to preparing for the update process. The Mango update for current Windows Phone handsets will be ready this fall, and of course will come pre-installed on new Windows Phones.



In May, Microsoft officially took the wraps off of Mango, a release including hundreds of new features that create a smarter and easier approach to communications and apps. These include:

- A new email Conversation View which helps users to participate in long email discussions with their friends and co-workers.
- Threads that bring together my text, IM, and Facebook chat all into one conversation.
- App Multitasking, enabling users to efficiently work on their emails, listen to music, and then pop in and out of Words By Post games. Mango also connects apps to search results and deepens integration within the Hubs like Music and Video and Pictures.
- Internet Explorer 9 for fast web browsing and support for new HTML 5 web sites.