Confirmed: Windows Phone 7 Won't Support WinMo Apps

Windows Mobile developers will certainly be very disappointed with this piece of news, especially those who are currently working on releasing their applications for the 6.5 version of the operating system, since it has been confirmed that the new Windows Phone 7 OS won't include support for older applications. Of course, there is always the possibility to rework an application so as to fit with the new mobile client from Microsoft, but that is a time and money consuming process and many won't be happy about it, that's for sure.

The confirmation on the lack of compatibility between the new OS and the older flavors comes from Maarten Sonneveld of Microsoft Netherlands, who says that there is no reason why developers cannot rewrite applications built for Windows Mobile 6 so as to make them run on Windows Phone 7 OS too, theregister.co.uk reports. However, it seems that his words were initially misunderstood, as the translation from Dutch read, “there is no reason why programs written for Windows Mobile 6 cannot run on the new version of the OS.”

What this means for developers includes the fact that they will have to rewrite their application in .NET and Silverlight, so as to make them compatible with the new version of the OS. Microsoft has reportedly listed some confidential documentation showing that software solutions for Windows Phone 7 Series will have to be Silverlight and .NET-based, but it seems that it can also offer access to various other APIs to drive the development process of applications upwards.

According to a recent article on The Consumerist, developers already started to express their unhappiness with Microsoft's approach. Anthony Wieser of Wieser Software, reportedly stated that “Everything looks different. It's difficult to see how existing applications will fit into the new framework.” At the same time, Charlie Jorgen of Seattle's Trinket Software, is cited stating that devs will certainly have to redesign their apps for the new OS. “I'm surprised there won't be compatibility and concerned about the rework we'll have to do,” he notes.