iPhone and Android users have been given the chance to try out Windows Phone 7 (WP7) on their handsets, thanks to an ingenious marketing demo created by Microsoft that runs on iOS and Google's mobile operating system.

The demo uses HTML 5 to give iPhone and Android owners a preview of the Windows Phone 7.5 user interface. By heading to http://aka.ms/wpdemo users can get their hands on a mock-up of the tile-based 'Metro' interface of Microsoft's latest mobile OS.

The marketing campaign, one of the most original Microsoft has come up with, should help Microsoft garner the much needed attention for the success of its mobile OS, which currently accounts for just one per cent of the smartphone market.

None of the apps on the demo interface are clickable, but it gives them a sense of the tile-based interface, which is quite different from those both the iOS-powered iPhone and Android-based handsets.

WP7's The interface has received mixed reactions from the mobile users' community, but some are confident that this latest attempt by Microsoft might just revive the smartphone ambitions of the Redmond IT giant.

Tags: wp7 demo html 5 ios android microsoft windows phone 7