Windows Phone 7 Won’t Run Old Apps, Won’t Work on Current Phones

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Shocking news this past week about the forthcoming Windows Phone 7 Series. Not only will it not run current apps, but also current phones such as the forthcoming HTC HD2 from T-Mobile may not be upgradeable. This week, I’ll point you to more information about this, as well as additional detail about Windows Phone 7 and videos of this software in action.

Current Phones Won’t Run Windows Phone 7

As we noted last week, Microsoft is constraining the hardware specifications for its new Windows Phone 7 Series, meaning in part that there must be exactly three buttons used for specific things.

Everyone had been assuming that the long-awaited and very appealing and powerful HD2 from T-Mobile expected later this month would likely be upgradeable to Windows Phone 7 Series. Nope, says a Microsoft general manager for the Asia-Pacific region. She said that the HD2 “doesn’t qualify because it doesn’t have the three buttons.â€Â

That certainly created a stir, and certainly diminished the enthusiasm of those who were looking forward to getting this new device. (According to a rumor passed along by PocketNow, it may be coming March 24 at a price of $199, or $450 without a contract.)

You can read more about this latest development on The::Unwired and on IntoMobile.

Windows Phone 7 Series Won’t Run Current Apps

The other bit of news was somewhat expected, but still something of a shock: none of your current software will work on a Windows Phone 7 device. According to a post by a Microsoft executive, making a clean break from the past will allow the new phones to be as powerful and user-friendly as possible.

What does that mean? That the developers will need to rewrite their software to work on the new phones. The exec did say that Microsoft will continue to work with partners who plan to deliver Windows Mobile 6.5 devices, and that it will continue to support these products.

The big question is, Will developers bother to rewrite their software? Given that so much of the smartphone action is in the Android and iPhone arenas, they may simply choose to focus on those platforms rather than rewrite their software for Windows Phone 7. An indication of the declining interest in Microsoft's platform may be the recent announcement by Skype that they were pulling their Windows Mobile version of Skype and have ceased development of it.

Plus, consider the situation of developers who are working on software for Windows Mobile 6.5. Do you continue with that development or do you drop that platform and start developing for Windows Mobile 7 instead?

You can read more about these developments in articles on Yahoo and Engadget. And you can read more about why Microsoft is making this radical break in a Microsoft blog post.

More Details on Windows Phone 7

Lots of information is coming out about this new software. A YouTube video shows a demo of the Xbox gaming function. And here’s a demo video on CNet that shows some of the apps as well as the Xbox Live hub. Also available on YouTube is a 17-minute walk-through.

None of your current software

None of your current software will run natively.

Somebody will undoubtedly write an emulator just as there are Palm emulators on Windows Mobile now!

When it comes to cell

When it comes to cell phones,people are always updated in the latest version of it.We don't want to be left behind.I care much about the condition of the society than with the expensive gadgets.Why don't we focus into something more important?Like for example,the daylight savings time.Why don't we pursue it?It's time to spring forward – daylight savings time begins on March 14th, 2010 at 2 in the morning.If you live in Hawaii,or Arizona,you don't have to worry about it,but everyone else does – though your cell phones will reset automatically – no payday loans needed for a tech update. Daylight savings time is an ancient tradition (the Romans had it) and it has everything to do with getting people to work in the available daylight than anything else.

good review.i personally

good review.i personally haven't have this experience.but i have heard about issue.so pointing out these errors would be really helpful for them to correct those mistakes.otherwise they would have no idea about these issues.
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Microsoft is trading their

Microsoft is trading their loyal customer base for the iPhone's customer base. The problem is that many people who use the iPhone look at the name "Microsoft" as a liability. So MS is going to alienate many folks, like myself, who purchased a WinMo device precisely BECAUSE it did not have the absurd handicaps of the iPhone (such as the utterly unnecessary lockdown to an app store), while failing to win a crowd which has long ago written them off due to a near decade of lousy experiences with former MS technology.

I guess the MSDN crowd beat the backward compatibility crowd at MS. It's a shame.
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To those of you who are

To those of you who are complaining about rendering code useless, I'd like to remind you of something he mentioned: "The expertise and familiarity with our tools is not lost. If you are a .NET developer today your skills and *much of your code will move forward*. If you are Silverlight or XNA developer today you’re gonna be really happy. New developers to the platform will find a cohesive, well designed API set with super productive tools."

Also, if you PROPERTLY design your application, most of your functionality should be written in such a way that it, for the most part, is not platform specific. I realize this can't be 100% the case, but you should write your code as loosely coupled as possible for reasons such as these. The more you do this the less you’re impacted by such decisions.

Also, in theory you could “wrap†all the platform specific stuff in “Providers†or “Managers†which would centralize what code needs to be changed when the platform changes and greatly reduce the impact as well as provides you with one place to go to make changes.

I for one welcome the change, it was long needed. The WinMo platform has been getting its but kicked in the market and I believe this is Microsoft’s last effort to attempt to save the platform.

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I dunno I just prefer

I dunno I just prefer changing apps to the new ones, most of them should be updated anyway.
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Hey a lot of real informative

Hey a lot of real informative stuff posted here.Great to see that your trying to create the much needed awareness. Round Tubing

The problem is that many

The problem is that many people who use the iPhone look at the name "Microsoft" as a liability. So MS is going to alienate many folks, like myself, who purchased a WinMo device precisely BECAUSE it did not have the absurd handicaps of the iPhone..THanks for sharing this information..
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In a blog post Thursday,

In a blog post Thursday, Microsoft executive Charlie Kindel, who handles contact with outside software developers, said that jettisoning support for older applications was necessary to make the new operating system as powerful and user-friendly as possible.Nike Jordan II Retro

Any software, be it for

Any software, be it for laptops or mobile phones, must be created with both backward and forward compatibility. If there is no flexibility like this then it will be quite expensive to implement it in devices, keeping in mind the creation of new apps and tools to suit it.

Ha,thats a thought,but why

Ha,thats a thought,but why would you be talking about daylight saving at a blog that talks about phones???Isn't that

something you need to think about too. Fighting Games

The exec did say that

The exec did say that Microsoft will continue to work with partners who plan to deliver Windows Mobile 6.5 devices, and that it will continue to support these products.
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Phone suppliers compete in

Phone suppliers compete in part by providing support for many applications as they can, and everyone is trying to catch up Company Voluntary Arrangement with Apple Inc. 's successful App Store, with more than 100,000 applications. Microsoft is leaving behind tens of thousands of applications written for Windows Mobile versions of which date back more than a decade.

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