If you can excuse the indulgence, the announcement of a strategic partnership between Microsoft and Nokia – a move that sees the Finnish firm adopting Windows Phone wholesale in the West – has me all of a flutter.

For the sake of some context, I best inform you that, until my recent adoption of Microsoft's OS via my smart HTC HD7, I had spent my life moving from one Nokia phone to the next.

Besides familiarity, my main reason for being such a loyal customer was, by and large, you could drop a Nokia phone from any height, and it would survive largely undamaged.

As a result, it was a perfect partner for nights out, and a factor that – in my university days at least – resulted in the vast majority of friends also owning one of the firm's handsets.

My last Nokia phone was an N95 8GB – another reliable device in terms of hardware, but one ultimately shackled by a brand of Symbian that seemed to get slower by the hour.

Just a few months into my phone's life, navigating through its folders and awkward settings menus seemed positively archaic when compared to the set up offered on iPhone and alike.

Windows of wonder

Four months into my experience with Windows Phone 7, and my impressions of its OS couldn't be more different.

It's by no means perfect, and there are undoubtedly things iOS or Android customers would miss should they switch, but it's simply a joy to use.

Unlike Symbian, which was too bedded down in its own prehistoric protocols, WP7 is a platform that tries to please you from beginning to end – the OS's 'metro' UI already surpassing iOS in terms of sheer sophistication and usability, in my eyes.

The prospect of robust, well designed hardware running a sleek and slick OS fit for the smartphone age is one worth salivating over.

Though Microsoft's existing OEM partners might well be a little put out, the addition of Nokia to Windows Phone 7's roster of manufacturers is undoubtedly good news for consumers – finally, Nokia phones will run a platform that does them justice.

Nokia's nous

And taking another approach, it's a deal that immediately gives Microsoft's OS access to millions of consumers still loyal to Nokia and – most importantly – yet to upgrade from their existing feature phones.

If Nokia can spread WP7 across an array of handsets at different price points - which is exactly what it says it plans to do - there's every chance Microsoft will gain a march on Apple, with its platform able to appeal to multiple level of consumers at once in a way the $600 iPhone can't.

Conversely, Windows Phone 7's comparatively closed set up when compared to Android means that it's able to offer both a more user friendly OS for newcomers and, in turn, a more stable marketplace for developers – bolstered, of course, by the addition of Ovi Store, operator billing and Xbox Live integration. 

With its mainstream appeal, Nokia is a perfect match up for such a strategy.

All eyes on Elop

Still, it's how this new line of attack for Nokia can be delivered that is the biggest 'what if' currently circling the minds of those within the industry.

For a firm that has, for so long, ignored calls from all corners to alter its approach to suddenly turn on its heels is not an everyday occurrence - just how willing those working internally within the company will be to abandon their belief system and adopt Microsoft's mantra remains to be seen.

What's clear is, this is a move Nokia CEO Stephen Elop believes in. It's also easily the biggest day in Windows Phone 7's short life to date.

With both firms desperate to regain ground they've lost over the past two years to iPhone and Android – this time with an agreement that attempts to do more than following on their rivals' coat tails – discounting two companies with the combined size and scale of Microsoft and Nokia would be foolish.

And whatever they may tweet, it's a mistake neither Apple nor Google is likely to make.