As we get to the end of 2009 I want to provide you a guide on getting started with Marketplace, and from this we (the WMOz team) plan in the new year to provide a series of reviews of applications available in Marketplace.

For this first post I’ll focus on getting started from your phone, making sure your account is setup, browsing & searching for apps, download/purchase and installing. I plan to write a separate post on how to use review apps and the web portal.

Using Marketplace on your phone:

1. You’ll need a Windows phone powered by Windows Mobile 6.5, or  download the Marketplace client for your Windows Mobile 6 or 6.1 phone, a data plan for your phone, a Windows LiveID. (ok, pretty obvious I know, but we’ll start at the beginning and try to call out all the different parts)
2. From the Today screen press the Windows icon, or press the Windows button on your phone. This will launch the Start menu.
3. On the Start menu, scroll to find the Marketplace icon and press to start Marketplace.
4. Marketplace will start, and will check to ensure you have the latest version of the client on your phone.
5. Sign-in to Marketplace using your Windows LiveID.        

Ok – so now you are in the Marketplace client, and signed in.

The sections of Marketplace:

• Main screen/Home: shows some of the Showcase applications, and provides access to Most popular, What’s New, Categories and My Applications areas. When you choose “Home” from the menu, this is where you’ll be taken to.
• Search bar: ability to search for apps inside Marketplace by keywords from their title and description. Here’s a search example ofr GPS and the result.     
• Showcase: highlighted applications
• Most popular: applications with the highest volume of purchase/download - you can filter this section by pressing on the “View All” drop down list.
• What’s New: new applications available on Marketplace – you can also filter this list - this shows the list filtered for Free apps.
• Categories: browse through the catalogue of applications. Many categories include sub-categories for definition of the application inside a category. For example Games has sub-categories including Action, Classic, Board.
• My Applications: provides a view of applications I have purchased/installed, ability to review or remove the applications.

Those are the different sections of the Marketplace client on your Windows phone, the next step is to start purchasing/installing applications on your Windows phone.

Purchasing/Installing Applications:

1. Choose your application to purchase , this screenshot shows choosing from the "What’s new” section.
2. Selecting the application takes you to that applications detailed listing. , read the description and as you flick (on a touch phone) to navigate down you are provided any reviews and ability to look at screen shots of the application.  
3. Once your satisfied this is the application want return to the top of the screen, and press on “Install” . This will trigger the purchase process for a paid application, or if the app is free it will commence installing over the air. [Note: Marketplace apps are installed over the air, so if you have are connected to WiFi the installation will use your WiFi connection].
4. If the application requires purchasing you are notified to accept a charge being added to your credit card . If it is the first time you are buying an app you will be asked to provide credit card details.
5. The application will now commence installing, a progress bar is provided at the bottom of the Marketplace screen, but you can continue using your Windows phone during this time as the install takes place in the background.
6. Once installed the application will appear in the Start menu of your Windows phone, and also in the My Applications section of Marketplace.

Enjoy exploring Marketplace and discovering some of the great apps that are available already.

DonK