I do think that Nokia and Microsoft actually need each other right now. Neither are going to do well in the mobile phone business independently. But this partnership will only work if bother companies listen to each other, very carefully. Nokia must not be allowed to turn WP7 into a latter day Symbian. We all know how that particular story went.

I agree that WP7 apps will resolve themselves over time. They need to get those prices down though - the same app to be had on WP7 costing four times more than iOS or Android isn't going to fly too well. I do believe that Facebook has demonstrated how well a Metro app can look and function. Being consistent with the OS is no bad thing, and if you don't like the OS then what the hell are you doing with it in the first place

Interesting point about entrenchment. I have been showing my WP7 (now a pair of) mobile phones to anyone who'll stand still long enough for me to bore them with the detail. Universally, so far, everyone has not liked what they've seen, even where I'm enthusing about something in Metro that I really have identified with. It starts to go wrong when introducing the subject "Would you like to see the latest Windows phone", at which point they mumble something about disliking Windows and you've lost the punter. So now I don't mention any names unless specifically asked But I've yet to hit on someone who actually likes what they see. It does make me wonder if that is fundamentally what Microsoft and all of the WP7 makers are up against.