WP7's Copy/Paste Update Finally Rolling Out

The first Windows Phone 7 update is finally rolling out to users, bringing with it that much sought after copy/paste functionality and updating users version 7.0.7390.0.

The update, dubbed NoDo, has been a long time coming, and aside from copy/paste, it brings with it a few other notable improvements to WP7. These include faster boot and resume times for apps and improved searching and stability in the Windows Phone 7 app store. NoDo also adds improvements to WiFi, messaging, Facebook integration, Outlook, the camera, and audio, as well as providing performance enhancements for certain handsets. For full details on the update, see the excerpt from Microsoft's support page at the end of this post.

The bad news is that this is being rolled out in stages. Windows Phone Central reports that while the update was pushed to SIM-free, carrier unbranded devices on Tuesday, those waiting on their carrier to release the update could be waiting a while. Case in point: Canadian carrier Telus confirmed that it won't be rolling out the update until March 29. Even then, it could take up to four weeks for everyone to get it.

Sit tight, everyone, and be sure to let us know when you do get it!

Full details on update via Microsoft WP7 Support:

March 2011OS version: 7.0.7390.0

• Copy & paste. You asked for it—now it's here. Just tap a word and drag the arrows to copy and paste it on your phone. You can copy text from emails, text messages, web pages, and Office Mobile documents, and paste it anywhere you can type. To learn more, see Copy & paste.

• Faster apps and games. Nobody likes to wait. That's why we've whittled down the time it takes for apps and games to start up and resume. It's all part of our focus on getting you to the things you love, easier and faster.

• Better Marketplace search. We've streamlined Marketplace search to make it easier to find specific apps, games, or music. Press the Search button in the Apps or Games section of Marketplace and you'll see only apps or games in the results. Press Search in the Music section of Marketplace to search just the music catalog.

• Other Marketplace improvements. We've improved the stability of Marketplace while you download apps. We've also improved the experience of downloading apps larger than 20 megabytes, upgrading from trial apps to paid apps, using a credit card with an address outside the United States, sharing links to apps via email, sorting Xbox LIVE games by release date, and creating an Xbox LIVE account from within the Games Hub.

• Wi-Fi improvements. We now display your phone's Media Access Control (MAC) address in Settings. (You might need this info if you try to connect to a Wi-Fi network that uses MAC address filtering. To learn more, see Connect to a Wi-Fi network.) We've also removed the limit on the number of Wi-Fi profiles that you can store and reduced the time it takes to start your phone if you've stored lots of Wi-Fi profiles.

• Outlook improvements. We've improved the experience of viewing iPhone photo attachments you receive from a non-Exchange-based email account (such as a Google Mail, Hotmail, or Yahoo! Mail account), using the Global Address List (GAL) when connecting to Exchange Server 2003 using Exchange ActiveSync, and working with email display names that contain brackets (for example, "David Alexander [Contoso]").

• Messaging improvements. We've improved the experience of receiving Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages if your phone uses a PIN-locked SIM.

• Facebook integration. We've improved the experience of syncing Facebook accounts.

• Camera improvements. We've improved the stability of switching between camera and video modes.

• Audio improvements. We've improved the experience of using a Bluetooth headset to make calls when you're playing music or videos.

• Other performance improvements. This month's update also includes software from several phone manufacturers that improves the performance of specific models. Naturally, if you don't have one of the affected models, we won't install this portion of the update on your phone.