I’ve asked you why you use Android, iOS, and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry OS, and now I’m putting the focus on Microsoft’s mobile offering. I waited until now to ask this particular question for one specific reason: their event tomorrow. While we have a good guess as to the majority of new features that Microsoft is going to unveil, there is still an opportunity for Microsoft to surprise the world with just a few different additions.

I’m asking why you use Windows Phone now, right before Microsoft is gearing up to unveil a new version of the platform, because I want to see why you use it, and how that particular reason, or feature, continues forward into the next version. I’m very interested to see what has kept Windows Phone users coming back to the platform, or sticking around the whole time, and how that changes, or doesn’t change, when Microsoft finally pulls the curtain off (the rest) of Windows Phone 8’s features.

Awhile back, I wrote about how Windows Phone bore me just looking at it. I described how Microsoft’s Live Tiles and Hubs were great, but that in usage I just couldn’t find it in me to be interested in the platform after using it for some time. Basically, Windows Phone, in my opinion then, was great to start, but after a few weeks, the “cool” side of the Live Tiles and Hubs wore off. The fun went away.

When I was using Windows Phone, I was using it (at that point in time) it on the HTC Trophy. Now, this isn’t a bad phone, at least not compared to the really bad phones out there. It wasn’t the top of the line device, but it was what Verizon had and I had to make due. So I was using it, and I loved it for what it was. But the platform just wasn’t speaking to me on that hardware.

That was early this year when I got rid of the Trophy for the last time. And back in September is when I picked up the Lumia 900 by Nokia, and now my opinion has changed in just about every way it could. And yeah, it’s made me excited to get my hands on the Lumia 920 in a big way.

And I’m not sure when it happened, either, but some of the applications for the platform have really come around. In fact, there are Twitter clients on Windows Phone now that I like more than iOS-based Twitter apps that I used to use way too often. That’s a big surprise to me, and it gives me the brightest indication of what I can expect from Windows Phone 8 and their new, more powerful applications.

The apps are just a nice bonus for me, though. I keep finding them by accident, the ones that really “wow” me. So, while I would love to include it in the list of why I use Windows Phone, I’ll keep that as just an “icing on the cake”  type of thing for now. No, I went back to Windows Phone mainly for the ecosystem, the new one that Microsoft is working so hard at launching and redefining their place in the mobile (and other) markets. Yes, it’s a new ecosystem, but it’s one that I can see myself getting behind.

That could change at any moment, though. For now, it’s what I want and what suits my needs.

I’m using Windows Phone because of the great keyboard, the Lumia 900’s great hardware, and the speed and smooth experience that Microsoft’s mobile OS offers. After having not used it for a little while, I had completely forgotten just how smooth and responsive the whole experience is, and how gorgeous the interface looks. I love the OS’s aesthetics, as it stands out against the likes of Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. It’s something different.

I’ve changed my stance on Windows Phone mostly due to the ecosystem, but the platform itself has evolved quite a bit, thanks to developers who have put a stronger focus on the applications. If that continues to grow in the right direction, then Windows Phone will certainly be an operating system worth the limelight with the next big version.

So why do you use Windows Phone? Have you noticed a nice bump in improvements for applications? Or, on the flip-side, why do you choose not to use Windows Phone? Are you waiting for a specific device? Or have you just pledged allegiance to one of those other platforms? Let me know, Dear Reader!