Copy and paste in Windows Phone 7 coming, just not now

A minor storm of controversy, at least in some quarters, has broken out as it was reported that Microsoft was excluding copy and paste from Windows Mobile 7.  Sure, only a small minority make use of it, but it’s still a feature that long time Windows Mobile users want.  It’s also somewhat ironic, since it took a couple of years for the Apple iPhone to get this basic feature.  So, when Engadget reported that it wasn’t coming, and that they had “super-double-ultra-plus-confirmed” this, it’s not surprising that hands started flailing wildly on keyboards.  That’s what gadget geeks do, myself included.

Engadget also posted an audio clip with Microsoft’s Todd Brix regarding the issue, which was interpreted as an absolute, when it may not in fact be that way…

Microsoft did tell developers that copy and paste won’t be available at launch, as mentioned in the audio.  Also at the beginning of the audio, Todd Brix mentions that copy and paste won’t be one of the upcoming “delighters”, which is the term MS is using for a series of upcoming announcements about new features. He then talks about usage studies that show only a small minority of people ever make use of true copy/paste, and that they have a system wide text engine that recognizes things like phone numbers and addresses that the user can take action on.  It’s almost impossible to interpret the audio as “Windows Phone 7 will never get copy and paste”, but that’s how it played out.

Even as the news was making the rounds, others were posting more details on the matter.  MobileTechWorld posted a comment from Microsoft’s Head of Mobility, which translates to the following…

“This information was confirmed yesterday during the MIX conference. At the time of the launch, copy & paste won’t be part of the expereince on the first Windows Phone 7 Series devices sold. We have developed alternatives to the most common scenarios for using this feature that we will unveil in the coming months.

Of course to complete the experience, this feature (copy & paste) is planned in future updates after the initial launch. [from MTW]

Similarly, two other writers that often have their ears to the ground at Microsoft are reporting the same thing.  Long Zheng reports…

As it turns out, the development team actually knows exactly how they will be implementing copy & paste in WP7S but did not believe it could be implemented without affecting the release schedule they’ve committed to and therefore will be including it in an update down the road. [from I Started Something]

Long Zheng isn’t the only one though.  The one and only Paul Thurrott, one of the most well-known writers on all things Microsoft tweeted this…

So I was told that Windows Phone copy and paste is not definitely, but that they were looking at adding this before RTM. It’s not there now. [from twitter]

From the sounds of it, Microsoft understands that despite not being used by a majority of users, copy and paste IS functionality that will be coming to their new OS.  It’s on the road map and will appear as an update.  This is further supported by what posters over at XDA-Developers are finding inside the emulator.  In fact, if you’re REALLY interested in peering into the guts of the early system, XDA is a good place to start…