Mix10, Microsoft’s conference for web developers and designers, wrapped up on Wednesday. While there is plenty to talk about post-conference (see developers’ comments on technology reporter Sharon Chan’s Microsoft Pri0 blog), the Windows 7 Phone Series seems to top the list.
A post on Developer World gives some background on Microsoft’s mobile platform:
“Windows Phone 7 Series leverages Silverlight and the XNA gaming platform for application development. Visual Studio and Microsoft Expression Blend are positioned, respectively, as development and design tools for the phone OS, which features graphical capabilities akin to the Apple iPhone.”
As reported on Developer World, “The company Monday also said developers will be able to bring applications and games to market via Windows Phone Marketplace.”
In fact, application developers can get started immediately with the free tools available at developer.windowsphone.com.
While that’s good news for developers, one of the more contentious notes to come out of Mix is that Windows Phone 7 won’t support full multitasking for third party apps. Instead, Microsoft will support a push notification system similar to Apple’s. John Herrman’s post on Gizmodo, In Defense of No Multitasking: Microsoft Edition, comments that “given Windows Mobile’s multitasking past,” the lack of multitasking “took people off guard.”
Another hotly challenged item is the lack of a copy and paste feature for the launch of Windows Phone 7, though the capability may appear in later iterations of the phone.
See more of the highlights of Windows Phone 7 as covered at Mix10 on Gizmodo’s post, Windows Phone 7 Apps: Everything You Need to Know. Herrman covers new features, Silverlight, the Zune client, the marketplace, multitasking, first apps and more.
What are the most exciting developments or the biggest oversights in your opinion? What are your thoughts on the Windows Phone 7 Series?