Since its launch in October 2010, Windows Phone 7 has been a popular topic of coverage on many technology sites, and is now one of Microsoft’s main focuses alongside Xbox, Kinnect and Microsoft Office.

While the technology press might be happy with devices – and in particular the platform – the most popular phones remain Apple iPhones, Androids and BlackBerry handsets.

So what single reason is there to switch to Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7? Why would a new or seasoned mobile user want to decide to buy that particular phone when others with far more users and apps are advertised and displayed on shelves in mobile phone stores around the world?

Well there isn’t a single reason – there are dozens, and here are 10 of them.

No one wants a phone that they cannot use – which is one of the reasons that Microsoft began development of Windows Phone 7 after the realisation that Windows Mobile had become archaic. Even propped up by HTC’s Touch FLO 3D user interface, Windows Mobile was tricky to adapt to for new users.

Windows Phone 7 is the polar opposite, however. The Metro user interface is a work of art, designed for fingers and thumbs, is fast and responsive, and crucially everything is arranged to allow you to perform common tasks as quickly as possible.

While other platforms have widgets that allow integration between the phone, contacts and a key social networking service (typically Facebook) Windows Phone 7 actually includes this functionality within the operating system, giving you the chance to check your friends’ latest online status updates while you browse through the People Hub (the platform’s contacts list) looking for a number.

With the Mango update in 2011, meanwhile, Twitter integration will also be added to the platform, while Windows Live is already included.

Windows Phone 7 is becoming an increasingly popular mobile solution for many users – in the UK, at least. Following news that the platform has already surpassed 10,000 apps, it now seems that the Windows Phone platform is the fastest growing in terms of app availability, reaching the magic number in just 4.5 months.

Moreover the Apple App Store took 4.7 months to reach the same stage, while Android took 11 months. Embarrassingly for RIM, the BlackBerry App World which launched back in April 2009 has only chalked up 20,000 apps to date...

One of the areas where many mobile platforms fall down is text entry speed. While Android devices have recently been given better software keyboards and the iPhone’s keyboard pioneered confortable on-screen text entry, Windows Phone takes things further by providing what is probably the fastest keyboard of them all, offering both quick text entry and fast spell checking and corrections.

Along with Xbox and Kinnect, Office is one of Microsoft’s key properties, and naturally Windows Phone 7 offers a version of Microsoft Office Mobile allowing you to type and edit Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations, not to mention OneNote voice and typed notes. You can use your Windows Phone as a mobile office.

All of this is held together with integration with the SkyDrive online storage; the initial Windows Phone release made use only of OneNote/SkyDrive integration, while the NoDo release (due Spring 2011) brings full SkyDrive integration to the platform.