It appears Microsoft have started the beginning phases of the Windows Phone 7.5 ‘Mango’ release. I anticipate that many Windows Phone 7 users (and Mango developers) will get the full final release this week.

That full update varies from handset-to-handset as each manufacturer has provided Microsoft with a firmware update to be shipped in conjunction Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5 (aka ‘Mango’) update.

What I am calling ‘stage #1’ of the Mango rollout is the ‘Mango Friends and Family Bundle: Pre-Cleanup’. This has started rolling out already. See below for the screenshot for this update for our HTC HD7:

Today’s ‘Mango Friends and Family Bundle’ update bodes well for the many who have installed an early version of Mango as it suggests most of this group will not need to roll their phones back to the previous release (NoDo) as was first thought. Interestingly it seems this update is coming out slowly as most beta testers were not seeing this when we were. It should be noted however that the previous updates tended to be staggered rather than being available on all handsets at once.

In August we broke here the story about new handsets including the Acer M310, tweeted first about front facing cameras on Mango handsets and previously were early covering details about Windows Phone 7.5 Mango.

Though the Mango update and associated new handsets from Nokia and many others will surely drive adoption – it’s also expected that Windows 8 with it’s Metro style user interface (much like Windows Phone 7) will help selling many millions of smartphones based on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5 platform.

Keep a close on your Phone and/or the Zune 4.8 client (make sure you have the latest version) because Mango should start being delivered to many Windows Phone handsets this week. Stay tuned here for more updates or follow: @WindowsPhoneNZ on Twitter. You can also listen in to the NZ Tech Podcast where I’ll be discussing this update on Episode 34.