Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Series OS may not look much like the iPhone, but the platforms have a number of philosophical similarities. Including the fact that only Microsoft’s only own apps will be allowed to run in the background. (At least at first: Microsoft, unlike Apple, says it intends to let third-party programs multitask eventually.)

For some folks, here’s a fairly compelling reason to buy a Windows Phone 7 Series handset: Microsoft’s mobile OS is going to get Netflix Watch Instantly.

Good post over at CNN Money by Philip Elmer-DeWitt with some backstory about Apple’s lawsuit against HTC over iPhone patents. Elmer-DeWitt quotes Yair Reiner, an analyst who says that the suit is spooking handset manufacturers since it throws the future of Google’s Android OS into doubt. (And Reiner says that manufacturers were already nonplussed over Google’s introduction of its own Android phone, the Nexus One.)

End result, according to Reiner? A window (pun unavoidable) of opportunity for the otherwise way-behind OS known as Windows Phone 7 Series, which manufacturers may turn to instead of Android. (I don’t know if Windows Phone is vulnerable to Apple lawsuits, but on the surface, at least, it owes far less to the iPhone than Android does…)

Windows Phone 7 Series superguide.

The FCC’s National Broadband Plan.

Apple fixes busted Macbook drives.

Microsoft’s anti-Google YouTube videos.

Adobe CTO on Flash, iPad.

The Canadians: disgruntled over Buzz.

Use Buzz on WebOS phones.

You can’t force-feed users.

Redbox delays Warner DVD releases.

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