Hopefully, for those gullible souls who rush to buy this, an old school "plain brown paper wrapper" will be the order of the day.

Sticking with the 'old school' theme, maybe it'll come in a "Lucky Bag".

or if you're 'really old school', that'd be a "Jamboree Bag" (come on, don't be shy, I know that there are LOTS of you out there old enough to remember those)

"selling a copy of a PC OS with a free mobile phone running the latest version of Windows Mobile is bound to be an expensive promotion"

Why? Surely it'll be the usual "free" mobile phone with a 50 year £2000 month contract? (OK, I've exagerated a tiny bit there, but you get the picture)

I've had enough of Windows Mobile, it's sluggish, unstable and fiddly to use. It's iPhone or Nokia all the way from now on.

Isn't that known as a "Palin" these days?

Let me get this right - you risk your sanity and livelihood putting an unproven piece of crap like win 7 on your pc - and they also expect you to trash your phone at the same time?

It's like going into hospital with pneumonia and getting MRSA at the same time.

I'd put money on the purchaser having to take out a contract. But if that is the case, how can it be called 'free'?

Given that I'm almost definitely going to buy Windows 7 I'd be inclined to try for this offer if I can and the phone is really free - anything to offset the cost of the OS for my three Windows PCs.

Does this mean that if I dye my hair and grow a beard I become a new person?

A few cosmetic changes, a couple of fixes for appalling performance, the addition of the number 7 and the removal of the word vista does NOT constitute a new operating system.

As AC stated, free will most likely mean a monthly contract fee. I reckon the word free is the most abused/misused word in the history of language/print.

@ Anonymous Coward ... "sluggish, unstable and fiddly to use" is an accurate description of Windows Mobile, but it also applies to Symbian in my experience (at least on my - soon to be ditched - Nokia N82).

A £60/month contract for 24 months is *not* free.

However, if the PC software is also free then it softens the blow a bit (hint to CW marketing staff !!!).

"It's also unclear ..."

"It’ll also boast ..."

"It’s thought that ..."

"It's been claimed that ..."

It's also as big a steaming pile of shit as Vista.

I have Windows Mobile on my phone for the sole reason that I will not get a iPhone as Windows in not even that restrictive. And Symbian is a pain in the ass to get things working like GPS.

As soon as a reasonable Linux phone hits the market I will switch and not look back. If the phone and software has bugs so be it. All software has bugs, it is whether they take away from all the advantages.

In the same way that XP (NT5.1) was a facelift for 2000 (NT5.0)? Who cares, as long as it is better than Vista!

windows 7 is proof you can polish a turd, but snag is, all microsoft have to show for it is a very shiny chrome-covered polished turd!

The Neo Freerunner (http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Neo_FreeRunner) seems to fit your bill. My disclaimer, however, is that I do not own one of these (since I can't justify spending $400 on a phone).. so I can't be certain of its utility.

Lets get something straight before I start: I'm no fan of Vista. But why do the same people slag off a product that hasn't been released, throwing the usual unfounded trash talk around. Look at it this way, Win 2008 is based on Vista. It's faster, more secure and more stable. Given some time and resources, it should be no surprise that Win7 is so much better than Vista.

All OS have their advantages, even Vista (the name sounds nice, don't it?). Rejoice in the fact that there is choice. Linux is almost fit for the desktop, OSX now has two or three apps that aren't art packages, and Windows Vista will just about manage Aero on HAL9000..

noticed the recently whorish approach towards all things M$ El Reg has developed recently?

ever since they came back from that 'developer' conference they've been suprisingly positive towards the Beast.

Who are you and what have you done with our Reg Reporters!

or has there been some sort of background board change as part of the recent Style Boutique overhaul? I know there's a crunch on but seriously, sell yourself too cheaply and people will leave. I certainly am losing a large chunk of faith when i read this kind of butt-munching toadyness from what was once an upstandingly arrogant take-no-tosh kind of online rag.

I happen to like M$ products, I've made some wonga in various support roles. This does not mean i will roll over and take some of their Windows7 lovin' untill i've given it a thorough try. Every recent M$ related article i've read on here has been spun positively without any of the usual sting.

In comparison, there do seem to be a lot of negative Mac and iPhone articles popping up.

You have lost some ballance. Possibly an inner ear infection due to an oily microdollar rubberised friend being inserted without due sanitary process between uses.

please improve. KPI not met.

>A few cosmetic changes, a couple of fixes for appalling performance, the addition of the number 7 and the removal of the word vista does NOT constitute a new operating system.<

No, it sounds more like a Vista update (SP2 anyone), and they want to charge us? Someone, somewhere, is taking the piss and if they don't fix Vista (like they did with XP), I hope their market share crashes and burns.

I don't hate Vista, got it on my gaming desktop and business lappy (all my customers are Windows people), but I can see it's flaws and if MS try to sell a new operating system without fixing Vista first I forsee a PR disaster...

'Got a PC with Vista on? buy this new product for £375 (ie $400 for yanks), it actually works! - disclaimer: it's Vista, but better, and it's got a different name.'