"Free-phone program" for Microsoft employees commences November 18th

Microsoft employees should be extremely proud of themselves now that Windows Phone 7 is official, but it looks like the fun won't end with its eventual launch in North America. In fact, Microsoft appears to be giving a big pat on the back to its employees as it appears that the company will be starting their “free-phone program” starting on November 18th.

Although it was believed that pre-orders for the HTC 7 Pro would begin on December 8th, it's actually going to be only for Microsoft employees – as opposed to general consumers. For Microsoft employees, they'll be able to get reimbursed for their Windows Phone 7 handset as long as they don't purchase it prior to November 18th or after June 15th 2011. Luckily, they can still go ahead and place a pre-order prior to the November 18th date, but they can't obviously purchase it beforehand.

The nice gesture definitely shows their good faith in helping out their own employees to start relying on handsets powered by a Microsoft mobile platform – rather than something from the competition.

via WPCentral