Microsoft has taken a major step toward the public launch of Windows Phone 7. Today the company released the upcoming mobile operating system to manufacturing, which means that the OS is pretty much in its final form.

Now it’s time for hardware makers to start developing phones built around the platform — and for software developers to start pumping out third party apps.

Of course, some developers have already written apps for Windows Phone 7, but now that the RTM is out, I suspect we’ll see more development.

The last I’d heard, Windows Phone 7 devices were expected to start hitting the streets in October, and it sounds like things are pretty much on track at this point.

Brad Linder

Brad Linder is editor of Liliputing and Mobiputing. He's been tinkering with mobile tech for decades and writing about it since...