Microsoft speeds up Windows Phone 7.5 updates -- to half of supported phones

With the Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" update successfully installing on Microsoft-powered devices worldwide for over a week, Microsoft has decided to open up the update to half of all eligible phones as of Monday. The company said that it will not yet open the upgrade to all phones as it wished to compile data from its smaller operators to ensure smooth updating.

"I know some of you have questions about how Windows Phones are selected to receive the update," general manager of Windows Phone 7 customer experience Eric Hautala wrote. "Put simply, it’s done totally at random, with absolutely no preference for carrier, model, or country. Random sampling is an important engineering technique to accurately measure quality and pinpoint issues early."

Hautala said this could even cause two Windows-powered phones on the same carrier and plan in the same family to receive the updates at completely different times. He urged patience while Microsoft works to upgrade everyone.

Betanews readers who have already installed the update report generally being pleased by the enhancements and have experienced few issues.

"Installed flawlessly. Had to force the update through the Zune software. So far, I'm liking what I see. Platform is a lot smoother than before," commenter brunul said.

"In my opinion Mango is a giant leap forward for the OS. The implimentation of multitasking, as well as greater over all performance, has greatly improved Windows Phone," commenter Billy Houser opined.