> They may have agreed to have MS developers work very closely with Nokia for customizations. Hard to say without knowing all the details

if thats true

> In an ironic way Microsoft was actually offering more flexibility and openness of development

then yes that would be the case.

personally i doubt that microsoft gave up any significant control of win mobile and there has been little evidence to suggest it has. that said microsoft would not want nokia going on about how they get to do what they want with ms win mobile as that would only discourage investment in the platform by Samsung/HTC/LG who ms still need as it will be a good 18~24 months before nokia is shipping significant volumes.