Microsoft loses grip on slippery Mango

The next version of Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system has arrived early for those willing to risk a slapdown by Redmond.

A version of the code built by Microsoft and delivered to smartphone-makers this summer has apparently slipped free of the Redmond-OEM loop and was leaked online.

The leaked code is build number 7720 of Windows Phone 7.5, which Microsoft signed off and released to phone-makers in July.

A link to the code, better known by its codename of Mango, appeared in the XDA Developers forums here, larded with plenty of warnings.

The post points out this is vanilla MS phone code, missing the tweaks that phone-makers will add to differentiate their phones from those of the competition.

What the post doesn't say, but probably should, is that if you decide to install 7720 on your phone you run the strong chance incurring Microsoft's displeasure.

You might also miss out on future updates once Microsoft and the OEMs officially ship phones loaded with Windows Phone 7.5.

Earlier this year, many users keen to get their hands on the highly anticipated but delayed NoDo release of Windows Phone 7 downloaded the ChevronWP7 hack, created by Chris Walsh, which let them unlock Windows Phone devices and install an unfinished build of NoDo.

Microsoft initially warned against using such home-brew installations, saying it was not sure what would happen to people's phones once the hack was used. As it turned out, people who installed the unofficial update were not able to move to the finished NoDo.

After NoDo was made available, Microsoft took great pleasure in crowing "I told you so" in an official company blog post here. ®