Microsoft’s decision to give every one of its 90,000-plus worldwide employees a Windows Phone 7 device is getting a mixed reaction today.

Clearly hoping that this might get a few employees to ditch the iPhone – there are plenty of them swimming around Microsoft’s Irish offices anyway – some feel the move looks a little desperate but overall, we think the (mostly) good press it creates will be worth it.

All signs coming from Microsoft have indicated that they are delighted with the new mobile phone OS – though they are in something of a race to get as many apps developed for its October launch as possible.

Being delighted with it doesn’t mean that all Microsoft employees were going to go out, buy a new smartphone and ditch their iPhone contract though. Indeed, how many adopt the new devices and how many stick their freebie on eBay should be interesting to note.

As a Cnet blog on the matter notes, this all echoes something Apple did back in 2007 when the iPhone was first announced; Apple called an all-hands company meeting, where Steve Jobs announced that all full-time employees who’d worked at Apple for more than a year would be getting free iPhones.

No details have been released yet on when or exactly which models will be available.