Microsoft on Thursday confirmed that its new phone operating system is as different under the hood as it is to the eye. In a blog post and at an event with a handful of journalists, the software maker said that those developing software for Windows Phone 7 Series devices will do so using either Silverlight or XNA, the toolset used to create Xbox games.
"Overnight those developers have become Windows Phone developers," said Charlie Kindel, the Microsoft executive in charge of the mobile developer strategy. "One of our principles is to build on the shoulders of giants."
Microsoft announced its plans for the new phones and showed off the user interface at last month's Mobile World Congress. However, it had been mum on what it would take to write software for the phones although speculation had centered on Silverlight and XNA.
While the move brings the phone closer to Microsoft's Web and gaming efforts, it also marks a pretty distinct break with past versions of Windows Mobile. "In some cases, some work can be done to get those apps to run, but it's fundamentally a different platform," said Todd Brix, another member of the Windows Phone team.
The company also confirmed that it has no current plans to allow any current Windows Mobile phones to run the new OS, which is due to start shipping on new devices by this year's holiday season. That the new OS is such a complete break with past versions is a relatively new development in the multi-year history of its development. Roughly 18 months ago, a largely new team of engineers and executives came in as part of what one employee termed "a complete reset" of the project.
News Source:- http://news.cnet.com
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