But, throwing aside Windows Phone’s issues (or issue), there’s a heck of a lot to be excited about, a heck of a lot for Microsoft to be excited about, and a heck of a lot of reasons to disregard sensationalist articles on Windows Phone’s seeming imminent death, and to swim against the tide of general Windows Phone negativity.... Wired’s aforementioned article noted a few really great things about Windows Phone, the fact that Windows Phone Mango has been well received by both reviewers and users alike meaning that it is objectively a really good operating system.
There's some great discussion points in here, and I love the idea of Microsoft being in a better position than Google because of similarity between devices - those who like Windows Phone like the core experience, not some variant of the UI that's been hacked together by a handset manufacturer to "look different."
Of course Nokia have got a remit to make some changes, and how that works out, as well as what is offered to keep the two other major Windows Phone players on-board (Samsung and HTC), is going to play an important part in the 2012 story, along with the expected software updates from Microsoft.