Microsoft's decision not include true multitasking or copy/paste on shipping version of Windows Phone 7 Series have sparked quite a bit of discussion around the internet in the past few days. The copy/paste drama has been an especially thorny topic. On the one side, you have people saying that it's a travesty considering that Apple, Palm, RIM, and Google support the feature. On the other side, you have people saying that it isn't a big deal and that copy/paste should be relegated to the desktop/notebook realm.

In fact, previous reports suggest that Microsoft agrees with the latter group. Microsoft's Todd Brix says that copy/paste just isn't a big deal to the general consumer. Brix said that the the lack of copy/paste is a "conscious decision" and that “smart linking” (clickable web address, phone numbers, email address, etc.) is all that is needed for the majority of smartphone users. Brix even says that copy/paste on a smartphone platform isn't even needed for mobile Office applications.

Despite Microsoft seemingly bold stance on the issue of copy/paste right now, istartedsomething reports that it indeed will be coming some time after the release of Windows Phone 7 Series. Sources close to istartedsomething report that the Windows Phone 7 Series team wanted to have the feature included from the start, but launching the operating system by the end of the 2010 wouldn't have been a possibility if too much energy devoted to make it work properly.

It took Apple two years to bring copy/paste to the iPhone platform -- hopefully, Microsoft won't take nearly that long to introduce the feature.

For DailyTech readers that do have smartphones, please participate in our poll and weigh in on the copy/paste discussion.