A few months back we wrote an article speculating about whether future Nokia smartphones would feature Windows Phone 7 or not. There were a number of reasons for thinking Windows Phone 7 wouldn't be adopted, but following Friday's announcement it seems we were wrong. Join us after the break to find out more...

Nokia announced a partnership with Microsoft on Friday which will see the software giant's Windows Phone 7 operating system make an appearance on future Nokia smartphones.

When Nokia CEO Stephen Elop first joined Nokia last year, we didn't think that Windows Phone 7 would be adopted for Nokia smartphones, for a number of reasons. One of the biggest reasons was Qt – Nokia's new framework – which lets developers create apps for either Symbian or MeeGo, and easily tweak them to appear across the range.

Because it's an entirely new operating system, Windows Phone 7 isn't compatible with Qt, so apps will have to be developed from new. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, however, as we mentioned on Friday.

Nokia Windows Phone OS: The Facts!

Rather than using the Ovi Store, Windows Phone 7 handsets will be able to use the Microsoft Marketplace for the latest applications, giving users a whole new world of apps. You'll still be able to get the best Nokia apps on Windows Phone 7 handsets as well, including the excellent Ovi Maps.

When we first heard rumours about Windows Phone 7 on Nokia smartphones, we were also concerned about Nokia's existing fan base. Millions of users are actually happy with Symbian, or are looking forward to MeeGo, so what's likely to happen to them?

Well, the first MeeGo device – the Nokia N9 – is set to launch later this year, and there's still plenty of room for Symbian as well. We'll be seeing updates in the form of PR 2.0 and PR 3.0 for Symbian ^3, and Nokia's partnership with Microsoft will also see a lot of enhanced services introduced for existing operating systems.