The users of the Android-powered handsets and the Apple iPhone can now get a feel of the Windows Phone (WP) experience --- thanks to Microsoft’s neat browser-based HTML5 demonstration which showcases the WP’s Metro user-interface and unfolds the basic functionality of the operating system.

With the WP emulator guiding the Android and iPhone users through the main features of Microsoft’s new mobile operating system, the demo can be viewed within the Phone, People, Messaging, Outlook, Calendar, Family, Local Scout and Picture tiles.

The WP demo – which can be accessed by the Android and iPhone users by typing http :// aka .ms /wpdemo into the browser - shows the working of each of the tiles just as they actually work on a handset powered by the Windows Phone 7 operating system.

The notably effective demo clearly underscores the efforts that Microsoft is making in the direction of attracting the users of Google’s increasingly popular Android OS and Apple’s iOS, as well as shedding some of the disgrace associated with the earlier versions of Windows Mobile.

The effort by Microsoft is a well-timed one, as it comes at a time when the smartphone sales are on the rise in the US; having accounted for 56 percent of all cellphone sales in the third quarter.

Going by the Nielsen statistics, Android and iOS dominate the OS market with a 42.8 percent and 28.3 percent share respectively, followed by RIM’s BlackBerry platform --- Microsoft’s Windows Mobile ranks fourth!