If you’ve ever wondered what Windows Phone 7 is really like, now you can try it out on your iPhone or Android phone without making any permanent changes. You can even run it on your PC… so how does that work?

Well, it works because Microsoft have set up a web-based emulator for the OS, which you can find on their official website. You can check out the Messaging, People, Local Scout, Outlook, Calendar, Family and Phone apps, which gives a pretty good preview of the way that everything is laid out.

Sadly, it doesn’t interface with your existing phone — so you can’t really accomplish anything other than swiping around the menus. Still, it’s an interesting concept and one that you should definitely have a go at if you haven’t used a Windows Phone before.

The Metro stylings of Windows Phone are also coming to Windows 8, so this might be a good way to see what you’ll be getting into — of course another way is to download and install the Windows 8 developer preview, but that’s a little too hardcore for most.

Windows Phone 7 is definitely a nicer OS than it gets credit for, and this is a cool way that Microsoft can show off their work.

Check Out the Windows Phone 7 Emulator Here!

This article was sponsored by Mobile Fun, the UK’s leading online retailer of  the official Kindle cover, other Kindle covers, and even a Panasonic Lumix case line.