Thank you for your interesting reply. Indeed, you raise some good points.
- Xbox stuff must be nice for people who have xboxes, indeed.
The Xbox stuff is also nice when you just play games on the phone. I don't own an Xbox, nor do I game elsewhere, but games on my WP7 are nice to kill time.
- Same for Live. Question: what if I'm not on Live, but on Google (like most everyone is) ?
I use Google for email and calendar and they integrate just as well as the Live stuff does. As mentioned in another reply, you can even get a Windows Live ID with your GMail email address as your username (rather than getting a Hotmail account) - which I've had for years.
In the end, I see the value, for someone who's already fully tied into MS products and services. Not only am I not, but I'll want to avoid that, same as I refuse to be tied into Apple's walled playpen. I see Android and Google as safer bets in terms of letting me do what I want, how I want it, with the phone I buy. In particular, letting me install any software I want
No phone will be for everyone, but don't completely dismiss Windows Phone because you use Google or other online services rather than Windows Live. Instead consider supplementing your Google experience (GMail, Google Calendar) with things only Windows Live has (Skydrive, Live Sync etc.)