So it'll be something in the application manifest?

I haven't had much time to play with the emulator or the SDK, since for some bizarre reason I can't install it!

Because of the CE roots. CE supports clipboards etc.

Have you seen that smart multitasking stuff? There are also numerous examples of code executing in the background (I mean third party code) and I can see if I can video one.

Fine, I used the wrong word... :(

I think as well as apps being compartmentalised, there is a manifest permission allowing file system access. I guess this would only work on "developer" phones though.

I think the lack of copy and paste and the lack of a file browser is daft. I can't rationalise those so I won't. I'm only rationalising things which are actually rational.

The hubs are completely customisable, there's a separate list for programs, accessed by tapping the arrow, or swiping left.

In none of Microsofts documentation is there anything forbidding more than the three buttons required. All there is is a requirement to have a Start, a Back and a Search button. The HD2 is lacking the Search button.

The reason the iPhone feels a lot smoother than it is is the number of animations hiding the real wait times.

I suspect we'll see a set of standard controls that fit the Metro UI which will make things a whole lot easier. We only have to wait till tomorrow to see what this stuff is going to be like though!

As a C++ developer starting out in the XNA world I can see your points, however in raw performance terms, XNA, .Net etc have nothing compared to C++.

To do a relatively simple thing takes 3-4MB of .Net overheads, or 20KB when written in C, it's faster to load (because it doesn't have to load those .Net frameworks) and for simple things it's much faster. As you add complexity, it's faster to execute, but a lot more tedious to write.