Windows Phone 7.5 looks like its a great update. A lot of new features for existing users and maybe a few reasons to choose Windows Phone over Android or iOS (SMS, Facebook chat, and Windows Live in one threaded view sounds like a killer feature for many of my friends and family).

Last night I had a short conversation with my Windows Phone owning cousin (Torin) about the new update. Here’s the relevant bits:

Torin: Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, I’m excited
Me: Yup, and Apple’s announcing a new iPhone on October 4th. It’s going to be a good month for cell phones.
Torin: This is so much different from what I had before.
Me: Is it better?
Torin: A lot. Everything opens faster, it looks so much nicer, and I love the new multitasking ability.
Torin: Bing Vision is amazing.

Bing Vision looks like one of the coolest new features in Mango. There are many apps that do similar things for iOS but nothing that looks as good and works as well as I’ve seen from Bing Vision.

Engadget’s review of Mango is the best one I’ve read and is one of the most comprehensive. Windows Phone appears to be lagging in a few areas but I wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft catches up with the rest of the pack by this time next year. But, even with it’s few downsides it’s a fantastic option and there’s nothing I want more than to see more competition in this space.