Thoughout Windows Phone 7′s development process, Microsoft was clear about how updates would work. Microsoft would deliver them according to Microsoft’s own timetable, with a mix of small updates, delivered over-the-air, and larger ones delivered over USB through the Zune software.

This news was warmly received. Many smartphone platforms have the technical ability to be updated, but that technical ability rarely translates into real, substantial updates being delivered to end users. OEMs and carriers alike don’t want old phones to gain new features; they would much rather you buy a new phone instead. Add to this the technical complexity of ensuring updates work with the wide range of custom hardware and software that these OEMs and carriers tend to include, and it’s not surprising that almost all Windows Mobile phones, and many Android phones, are slow to receive software updates, if they even get them at all.

iPhone is a refreshing change to this industry convention. Apple has published regular software updates to both fix bugs and improve functionality on its phones, and these updates have been made available to everyone, regardless of which network operator they use. Your iPhone actually gets better the longer you own it. Microsoft’s promise to provide the same experience for Windows Phone 7 users was hence a very welcome decision indeed.

Unfortunately, that story has now changed, and Microsoft isn’t being entirely forthcoming about it.

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Windows Phone 7 updates: can carriers block them?