I thought I would chime in as well and say that I too am developing some projects for this platform. I *LOVE* Visual Studio. I teach it, I use it, I make a very nice living with it.
Having programmed for the iPhone and Android, I think Microsoft has done a great job with their dev tools for Windows Phone 7.
XCode is very nice (though much different than VS in many ways) but I hate Objective-C. I don't hate the iPhone, Apple, or XCode, just Objective-C. I feel like I'm back in college programming and that was not fun. I have a great deal of respect for the iPhone dev crowd (really, I do).
Android is basically Eclipse with a bolt on but its JAVA which I like better than Objective-C.
Do I think Windows Phone 7 will set the world on fire? I'm not sure. The world runs on the perception of truth and Microsoft has a battle on that front. Apple = Cool. Android = Free. Microsoft = Old World. They really have to change that image and this 'funeral' stunt or whatever it was has to stop.
Crispin/Porter -an ad firm- said that Steve Ballmer came to them and stated he wanted to be cool like Apple (referring to Microsoft et al). They told him it begins by not saying that you want to be cool. I don't think Steve got it because he kept telling the media how he wants Microsoft to cool. You can never be cool if you keep telling people you aren't.
I do think that Windows Phone 7 has a great shot in the business market because of Microsoft and the tools they are using.
Just my humble 2 cents,
P
