Windows Phone 7 is the latest thing in the fast growing world of mobile. Microsoft’s previous attempts all seemed to be based on shrinking down their desktop OS to work on various handheld devices, but the problem is, that didn’t work very well. Apple, Google and others were making operating systems specifically designed for small screens and different input methods.
Anyway, Windows Phone 7 looks like a fresh start – but will it work?
Development is great for Windows developers because, as you would expect, it is based on the Silverlight platform. What will this mean for the general public? Will existing mobile developers want to take on another platform?
Many aren’t coping with supporting iOS and Android, let alone looking at a third option. However, will it encourage new mobile development from Windows developers that didn’t feel comfortable delving into iOS or Android platforms? Time will tell.
If things go well for Windows Phone 7 it could actually push Silverlight forward and it could become a bigger player on the desktop web too.
Windows Phone 7 does not support HTML5 however. Many people were thinking that HTML5 web apps were the way forward for cross platform mobile apps. You can still have web apps on Windows Phone 7, but HTML5 provides those extra features that turn a web page into a web app, certainly on mobile devices.
Interesting times.