Ahead of Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Phone 7.5 update, otherwise known has Mango, the company has taken the lid off of its shiny new Web-based application marketplace. There you can get a taste of what's in store, and so far we're liking what we're seeing.

The Windows Phone Marketplace, simply called Marketplace at the moment, is pretty clean and no-frills: You've got your apps and your games arranged in simple enough categories such as "top," "new" and "free," and there's a scrolling spot up top for featured applications.

In a word, it's uncluttered.

We're seeing this a lot of how companies approach creating an online application store. For a while all you really had was Apple's App Store and the Android Market. Whereas Apple is all about heavy curating, Android's Market was more like the wild west, and discovering apps was quite the pain — this I say as an Android user, myself. Android Market has since received a much-needed refresh, and now it's definitely got that Google polish and ease-of-use.

Of course, on a phone's screen, Microsoft will have far less real estate than a roomy webpage to present its apps. The company hasn't set a hard date just yet, saying only that Mango will drop in the fall on Windows Phone 7.5 compatible phones. And you can see it for yourself. Microsoft is pushing Mango out to happy Windows Phones.

Windows Phone Marketplace, via