Back in August, Microsoft and Nokia announced a partnership that would see Microsoft Office applications ported onto Nokia smartphones, starting with the business-centric Nokia Eseries. At the time, the move seemed a good one for Nokia, given that it would help strengthen its competitive position within the North American marketplace, and a good one for Microsoft, since it would strengthen its business-mobility segment by porting a version of Office onto the Symbian operating system.

But, as I wrote at the time, it didn't seem like the greatest deal for Windows Mobile; if Microsoft's productivity applications exist on other operating systems, the argument went, then there would be fewer reasons for either the enterprise or small and midsize businesses to back Windows Mobile.

I still stand beside that original assessment. However, it also seems that Microsoft may have been thinking about that conundrum, because the beta version of Office Mobile 2010 (released to the broader public at the Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles, held Nov. 17 to 19) apparently makes use of some of the improved user-facing features of Windows Mobile 6.5.

Overall, Microsoft claims that Office Mobile 2010 offers 10 specific benefits. Here are the five that, to me at least, seemed most useful:

Integration with Windows Mobile 6.5 and its improved touch screen interface, allowing navigation through documents via those pinch-and-flick multitouch options so popular with the kids these days.

Connection to SharePoint Workspace Mobile, which will allow users to port SharePoint files on their phones via SharePoint Workspace Mobile 2010. Specifically, users will be able to scan through document libraries and other lists, and open and sync documents directly from Microsoft SharePoint Server.

Copy and Paste across applications, taking content from an e-mail or office document and then porting it into other applications. Microsoft claims that the "improved clipboard" capabilities on Windows smartphones will make copying and pasting a "simple and intuitive process."

Outlook Mobile 2010 capabilities: Users can leverage Outlook Mobile to receive their e-mail, calendar, contacts and tasks; use Conversation View to combine related messages; and find people in an organization by searching through a global address list via Microsoft Exchange.

View and Edit Office Documents. Microsoft says it uses "exclusive Text Reflow technology" to allow you to view Office documents on your smartphone in a way that makes the content and data look the same as it does on the desktop. When a document is edited on the smartphone, rich formatting is preserved, including tables and charts.

Windows Mobile 6.5 is largely regarded as a placeholder until the release of Mobile 7, details of which are being kept under wraps. Office Mobile 2010 most likely won't help boost its overall market share in the mobile OS arena, but may help give business users an added reason to stay with the device instead of leaping to a new platform.