Windows phone ' Mango ' released production.

Mango, cut into slices. If Microsoft can get people to buy five a day ... Photo: Helen Rimell

Microsoft have logged off the code for the "Mango" version of its Windows phone operating system-officially, the code has had the RTM (release to manufacturing)- according to Windows Team Blog.

There, explains Terry Myerson, Corporate Vice-President at the Windows phone team (basically the daily manager) that "This marks the point in the development process where we hand-code to our handset and mobile operator partners to optimize the Mango to your phone and network configurations."

(See our previous coverage on Windows phone Mango for an idea of what this includes.)

The good news: this is a bit ahead of where it had been expected to be (and probably miles better than the original release of Windows phone, which got caught up in internal struggles within the entertainment and device division of Kin-project Pink, from $ 500 m acquisition of danger-and rewrite of the Windows Mobile).

The bad news: it will be called "Windows phone 7.5". We wanted Mango. We will stick with that for now.

So it is the end-July, and the code is going out now, so that they have misunderstood the entire August ... so that should mean release in September, right? Unfortunately, not. Involved in getting the phone code quite complicated dance includes an extra layer, as you did with the release of Windows OS to OEM PC makers: air carriers.

So to get the Mango in people's hands (or retailers ' stores) processes to navigate are:

• handset makers have to test the Mango against their new design to ensure that the code runs really well on their systems

• handset makers have to test the Mango against their old design to make sure the code does not cause devastating thing to happen and that in fact only good things will happen-not even indifferent this worked perfectly with the first update to Windows phone ("pre-NoDo" update), which created some LG phones when it rolled out in April.

• handset makers (like Nokiawill include) must take their phones to carriers and allow them to test them against their networks. All airlines insist on this as a condition for phones will on your network-especially new phones it is the same for Apple. (New iPhones sent to airlines in sealed boxes software so can be tested.)

• If everything is hunky dory, so the airlines who will leave the handset makers. This will depend on the course of the slowest airline to respond in General.

This year there is a greater problem but: lots of Android phones and of course the new iPhones-expected in September-which is in the queue in front of Windows phone Mango phones. It is potentially a traffic jam that will hold things up.

This means generally that you should not expect Mango update to be rolled out, or the new Windows phones (including Nokia's Sea Ray-no doubt you can find a more interesting name, such as N9487) appears before October.

Which is what I have tell you since February, at least with regard to Nokia.

You can also consider fully how Mango would fare in the new OS to the world that it would be articulated. Many said that Windows phone wasn't competitive when first released (no cut + Paste and various other things). Mango is a great improvement. Windows Team blog notes that it will have threading to bring conversations with an individual across multiple connections (IM, email, text) in a single view; multitasking; and Internet Explorer 9. No words on Flash.

The question is whether it will be sufficient, when Apple's iOS 5 is released, and whether there will be the next version of Android code name Ice Cream Sandwiches-available by then. There are expected to have componnents such as face detection, a new app launcher, USB host (for a game controller), and simpler updates. Because Androids messages system is just about perfect, but (in my opinion) its Gingerbread keyboard system is grim perhaps UI improvements will be there.

Inapplicable, Mango is not going to have a soft landing.

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