According to Engadget, Microsoft has shown off the newest build of Windows Phone 7, which has some minor changes but shows how the Mobile OS is coming along. Long Zheng has photos from a Tech Ed event in North America this week that show how well the build has progressed since MIX in April of this year.
The biggest difference is a more compact lock screen - with smaller, subtler text for the time and date. Also, some of the tiles have been updated with new designs and icons - namely Outlook and Marketplace, so they stand out more.
Long goes on to point out that the build looks much more "feature complete" and that it was more responsive in the demonstration than previous builds had been - as this is expected with a product nearing release. Microsoft also announced this week that it would deliver actual prototype devices to developers "very soon".
Windows Phone 7 was announced at Mobile World Congress in February and is the highly anticipated successor to the Windows Mobile mobile OS - they announced that Windows Phone 7 would be available by "holiday season 2010", and that Microsoft would essentially be taking a break from the mobile market until then. Windows Phone 7 was built "from the ground up" and the UI has changed, as well as the underlaying code of the OS.
The gallery below shows off some of the new updates and progress in the latest build. You can view more over at Long"s Flickr.