Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 operating system that it just launched has some pretty big flaws. Whether or not those flaws are enough to keep people from buying smartphones running WP7 is yet to be seen but initial reports show that at least in the US, WP7 sales are low. What exactly is wrong with Microsoft’s latest attempt in the mobile market?

WP7 has less security features than Google’s Android OS. Yeah, how does that work out? Doesn’t Microsoft build the Exchange email server system and the OS that the vast majority of computers in use run? Virtual private network (VPN) abilities are conspicuously absent in WP7, as is on-device encryption and support for complex passwords. This is all stuff the iPhone and some of the newer Android powered smartphones can do and they do it well. Honestly speaking, Microsoft had these features in its last mobile OS so what is going on here Microsoft? How many corporate email networks will be incompatible with WP7? A lot.

I have beaten the lack of copy and paste on WP7 like a dead horse (a January update is supposed to add the feature finally). However, Microsoft’s Office app on WP7 really shows up the lack of the feature. How exactly are you supposed to do any word processing on a phone without copy and paste? C’mon. I could do this stuff on dumb phones years ago. Android, BlackBerry, HP webOS and iOS all have better document management software and they let you copy and paste. Think C&P isn’t a big deal? Try going without it for a day.

The biggest problem that WP7 faces is that it is specifically made for regular consumers and not corporate users. That’s all fine and dandy but this is a Microsoft product. Doesn’t Microsoft want business customers? That’s the target right now for the iPhone and Android. Just look at how many new Android models with world phone abilities, pre-loaded productivity software and corporate email support are hitting the market.

Microsoft has a lot of work to do between now and the OS’s first update in January. Besides copy and paste (finally), turn by turn navigation will make an appearance. Hopefully, Microsoft realizes that it needs to update the security, add Adobe Flash support and make WP7 a platform that consumers and business users both find useful.

What do you think?