While Microsoft holds a mock iPhone funeral and sits on announcing a Windows Phone 7 release date, attention has turned to features that the new phone system won’t support.

During a recent podcast a Microsoft spokesman said that the W7P would support mobile tethering, but it looked like he jumped the gun as Microsoft quickly came out and confirmed that “Windows Phone 7 will not support tethering at this time.”

Tethering is a process that allows people to connect their mobile phones (which acts as a modem) to a computer in order to access the web.

All of Microsoft’s major smartphone rivals – Apple, BlackBerry and Android – include the tethering option.

There’s obviously the option for tethering to be released further down the line, but shouldn’t Microsoft’s flash new phone at least cover all bases today’s market leaders do?