Windows Phone 7 Series doesn’t have a clipboard. For ages, the lack of cut and paste in the iPhone OS was the stick Windows Mobile lovers used to beat Apple with, now Microsoft has ditched the ability to cut and paste from Windows Phone 7 Series. Why?
At its Mix10 conference, Microsoft has been showing off Windows Phone 7 Series. In the process it revealed that it believes Windows Phone 7 Series users really won’t mind losing the ability to copy, cut and paste text.
Given that Windows Mobile has had a clipboard since the days when it was called Pocket PC, it seems like a odd decision to ditch it from Windows Phone 7 Series.
Microsoft told Engadget that though there is “a data-detection service built into [Windows Phone 7 Series'] text-handling API that will recognise phone numbers and addresses…most users, including Office users, don’t really need clipboard functionality.”
After all the muttering and moaning that came before Apple finally added copy/paste to the iPhone with iPhone OS 3.0, you’d think Microsoft might realise that folk do want a clipboard. We don’t fancy trying to use a Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 without the ability to copy and paste. Just imagine the hell of trying to use Excel.
We’ve seen the first batch of Windows Phone 7 Series apps and they look good but frustrations from the lack of cut and paste could be pretty irritating.
With any luck, the current lack of copy and paste abilities in Windows Phone 7 Series is just temporary. Fingers crossed that Microsoft will see the error of its ways and slap a clipboard into a future update.
Out 2010 | £TBC | Windows Mobile (via Engadget)
