Microsoft to limit its Windows Phone 7 by dropping multitasking?

13th February, 2010 by adina
Tags: Apple, Microsoft, Mobiles, Phones, Windows Mobile 7, Zune

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Microsoft is supposed to consciously limit its Windows Phone 7 while attempting to compete against Apple, as a leak claims. According to some previous reports, the Windows phone 7 will have a Zune-like interface at many levels. This will extend to the underlying framework too. Multitasking would be dropped and applications would pause instead. An iPhone-like push notification system meant to handle new updates.

There are reasons to believe the revamp would be less open than Windows Mobile 6, as hardware makers would not be able to modify the home screen with interfaces of their own, such as TouchFLO. A “service based delivery” system, such as Windows Marketplace, would be used for installing applications, which means the end of a years-old practice of downloading applications through the browser or other sources. A simpler storage area would replace the broad file system.

The Zune HD interface would be used by Windows Phone 7 for media playback and a significant Xbox Live compatibility is also supposed to be provided. Not only would Windows Phone 7 tap into social networking but would also support XNA application programming that lets developers write games by means of the same code used for Xbox 360 games, although different versions should be written due to touch input and specific resolution. It is certain that Windows Mobile applications will not be backwards compatible, but they will have similar enough code base to allow porting some titles over.

Microsoft is certainly aiming to beat the iPhone 3G in accuracy and speed but no guarantees are given it would also beat the several months old version 3GS of the iPhone. Silverlight and Flash are supposed to be limited to the out-of-browser environment although the first half of the year would find them as parts of Windows Mobile. Ambitions for the web experience would certainly force Microsoft to make a series of forward and backward steps.

Availability of the hardware in September would require a fast-track development cycle. Once Microsoft provides the drivers, third parties are able not only to ship phones faster but will also have fast, over-the-air updates finalized. Windows Mobile has been widely criticized in the past for its slow update model. This model requires hardware makers and carriers to approve and implement updates, which means they can be available only several months after Microsoft updates the code.

All this information is still not confirmed but it corroborates some previous rumours and hints at a strange regressive strategy when Microsoft tried to compete against Apple, Android and other modern platforms. The actual design seems targeted at media-heavy handsets like the iPhone and some Android phones. If this proves to be true, Microsoft would eliminate some of the main advantages the company claimed for its Windows Mobile. It is known that Android and webOS already have simplified multitasking systems and also allow their users to download applications outside of traditional channels. As for Apple, it does not have such code by now, but expectations are that it will soon show off its iPhone OS 4.0, as soon as this spring.

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