Nor for other Windows Mobile 6.x-based handsets

Mar 1, 2010 13:54 GMT  ·  By

From all mobile phones available on the market at the moment with Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.x operating system on board, the high-end HTC HD2 had most chances to enjoy an upgrade to the newly unveiled Windows Phone 7 OS, but it seems that it won't taste the new OS either. According to Natasha Kwan, general manager for Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business in the Asia-Pacific region, the HTC HD2 doesn't qualify for and upgrade, so those who already own the device should stop hoping.

It is a well-known fact that Microsoft has put in place a series of tight requirements for the upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series mobile devices, and it seems that this is the main reason for which the upgrade is not possible for existing handsets. In the particular case of HD2, Natasha Kwan said that the phone “doesn’t qualify because it doesn’t have the three buttons,” apcmag reports. HD2 has five buttons on the front, and Windows Phone 7 Series will have only three of them, namely back, home, and search, though other buttons will be included on the side of the devices.

“Because we have very specific requirements for Windows Phone 7 Series the current phones we have right now will not be upgradable,” Kwan continued. This very much narrows the list of handsets that might taste Windows Phone 7 OS down to zero. We already had doubts that any existing device would enjoy the new platform from Microsoft, especially since previous rumors suggested that there might not be compatibility among OSes, and now things seem to have been cleared up.

“We think there are people who will want 6.5, and the 6.x platform has a lot of enterprise and line of business apps,” Kwan says. Windows Mobile 6.5 is also said to receive an update to Windows Mobile 6.5.3, and that should happen before the platform gets re-branded as Windows Phone Classic. Moreover, Microsoft also said that it would continue the development of the existing operating system flavor indefinitely, which means that current users will still enjoy support for their devices.