Early Windows Mobile 7 reportedly handled, 'no apps from previous versions'

By Phil Nickinson
last updated

Oh, Eldar, just what are we going to do with you? The Russian behind Mobile-Review.com apparently got his hands on a very early version of Windows Mobile 7 and talked about it on (where else) Twitter. He mentions that "Zune HD is more simple UI) and that "for WM users it will be a great step ahead. For market it's a copycat of Android 3.1/3.2 [ed. note: Android's currently at Version 2.1] or iPhone" with "a lot of horizontal movements, a lot of additional info by clicks etc."

And the kicker, which you see above, is that it might well not be compatible with current Windows Mobile applications. That's something we've been hearing for a while now -- a clean break from kernels of days (and years) past. And while that's not necessarily a bad thing -- fresh start and all that -- if it's true, it'll be sure to upset a portion of the current cadre of developers. Or, maybe they'll appreciate a clean start, too. Glass half-full and all that. Stay tuned, folks.

Via wmpoweruser

Phil Nickinson
Phil Nickinson

Phil is the father of two beautiful girls and is the Dad behind Modern Dad. Before that he spent seven years at the helm of Android Central. Before that he spent a decade in a newsroom of a two-time Pulitzer Prize-finalist newspaper. Before that — well, we don't talk much about those days. Subscribe to the Modern Dad newsletter!

23 Comments
  • and if you've not seem it already on another site, a French website (Presse Citron) was twittering yesterday that LG plan to release a WinMo7 device in SEPTEMBER.
  • Come back here tomorrow ;-)
  • There's WM7 news/rumors, and guesses flying around more and more now. I can't wait to see next month before MWC kicks off how crazy this will get.
  • Gentlemen? This is going to be epic :-)
  • with Ballmer famously pounding the table saying "...developers, developers, developers..." I would not be surprized if MSFT releases an App-Analyzer or other conversion assistance utilities (in Visual Studio or separately) to assist with 'up-verting' applications to WinMo7.
  • Take a look back at any product Microsoft have ever released... Xbox, Windows, Office, Zune... Every single one of them had some kind of backwords compatibility for their older prodcuts that they were replacing in some way shape or form. I highly doubt MS isn't going to allow years upon years of great software on their new OS. Obviously, there might be some restrictions. Such as SPB Mobile Shell, probably won't be allowed on WM7 since in compromises the new interface.
  • Or maybe it could just be the build he saw, if this is all true in the first place, was so early that it didn't have the needed binaries to run any apps?
  • If there is no backwards compatibility, that's one less reason to stay with Windows Mobile. All of the apps I have developed or purchased are worthless to me now. So if I'm going to have to start over, WM7 will HAVE to be a lot better than everything out there. This will be interesting.
  • I imagine that the .net applications will work, even if nothing else does, not that I use many of them.
  • "And while that's not necessarily a bad thing -- fresh start and all that" I don't mean to be blunt, but I don't see how anyone could possibly think this. A major part of any OS is the applications available for it; when you create an update on your established OS that will not be compatible with the applications your OS accumulated over the years, how is this possibly anything other than a bad thing? Imagine if Apple releases an OS update that made all the iPhone's previously released apps incompatible? There would be a major uproar and for damn good reason. I hope Microsoft finds a way around that issue. I have quite a number of WM apps I consider important and some of them haven't been updated in years, nonetheless any possibility of them being updated for WM7.
  • With a fresh start, they might be able to control the apps more, like Apple does. I don't really want that to happen (even though I tend to feel safer getting things from a more trusted source). However, that might be why they've been saying they planned on keeping 2 OSs going. Also, not all software made for earlier versions of Windows work as well or at all for later versions (e.g. not all software that worked on XP is [fully] compatible with Vista/7); sometimes it has to be up to the developers to make new, better versions of their programs. Maybe, like undude said, Microsoft will make it easier on them by providing some conversion assistance or something.
  • lol, Eldar. For the sake of conversation, let's pretend he's telling the truth. He's made up info on breaking stories before, most recently the Nexus One. As he said in his tweets, it's an early build, so it's not feature complete, and i'd wager it's why the GUI still looks very similar to screenshots as the GUI is one of the last things to get finalized. WM7 is likely to handle legacy apps via emulation. That's how pretty much every OS does it these days, leaving the kernel nice and trim without having to deal with legacy code. Microsoft's not going to shoot themselves in the foot by killing off one of the historic advantages of the platform. But honestly, there's way too many rumors leaking out all of a sudden, which is usually de rigeur when a new major release is on the cusp of being made official. Considering many will be proved true or debunked in a month, i'd take it all with a grain of salt.
  • A full .NET app should still work as long as the Compact Famework on Win Mo 7 is backward compatibile, and they have done a very good job with that. My biggest hope is that .NET CF apps won't be second rate on Win Mo 7. I want them to be peppy and run, feel and look like native apps. If they do this then I think Win Mo 7 as a very big advantage.
  • Key words: "one of the first builds without most features".
    MS would be really stupid to not allow WM5/6 programs in 7. One of the strongest points with WinMo was that it was open to change and different programs (not just in the Marketplace). I will be angry if they pull an Apple move with the restricted Marketplace, and essentially locked down OS.
    Anyway, I don't see MS willing to lose all their hardcore WM users because of this. I am calling bs on this Russian guy's claim about getting WM7. MS have not released ANYTHING on WM7 yet, and I highly doubt they would do so much as put a build of it online, a year before its release.
  • There might be some hope. Windows
  • An expensive brick. That's what you'll get if you buy a Windows Phone running WinMo 6.x software. I think Microsoft just killed all its sales of WinMo 6.6, now we know it is incompatible and not upgradeable. Everyone's going to wait for WinMo 7.
  • Let's keep in mind that rumours of non-forward compatibility are less substanted than rumours of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq... :-)
  • You can only beat a dead horse for so many years before you have to start from scratch. Luckily, as many contributors have pointed out, virtualization could become the key to legacy intereropability. Maybe that is why the proposed specs call for a 1Ghz proc? Anyway, 6.5.3 looks and feels better than the 6.x the Fuze came with. I am holding out for WM7 on a HD3 Pro, maybe I would settle for a screen keyboard at that point. As far as Apple is concered, they broke compatability with OSX, but the iPhone is new enough to have avoided a similar fate so far.
  • Well... MW7 is the OS of the future.
    iPhone had no legacy apps and had a great success.
    Android had no legacy apps and is doing well
    so...
    why not WM7? In fact that's great!! They don't have to bloat the OS with old stuff that will soon disappear. They don't have ties to stop them from doing the best OS EVER. Let feature phones and none touch/multi-touch devices have their own OS.
    .
  • While I can see both sides of the coin in terms of having a clean break from the old WinMo applications and programs, I for one will be one of the people who stay with the old until WM7 is far past "up on its feet." Why is that? Because I'm sure it will take time before all the programs I use will be compatible with WM7, and I'm not looking to be a "beta" tester for them. So, while having no backward compatibility has some great pros, I think it will certainly put a hit on the amount of early adopters that will pick it up, and I don't think Microsoft can afford to not make a big splash right away with it.
  • Um. Yeah. Microsoft is going to kill the Windows Mobile ecosystem for a hail mary pass on a new version of the OS. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Totally believe that. Also if you believe that you should know that all Windows Mobile 7 phones will have an integrated coffee grinder and espresso maker too. This is the kind of headline Apple wants you to believe.
  • lmao...this is rich. All you posters hoping MSFT will have a home run with win 7. Not gonna happen. All you nay sayers to the iPhone are missing out on alot. Why buy a phone where none of your software from prior versions work!?! What a waste
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