14 DAY TRIAL // Visual Studio 2010, the latest release of Microsoft's solution, does not offer support for the development of applications for currently available versions of Windows Mobile. While support for application development for Windows Phone OS 7.0 is included in the software solution, those interested in building apps for earlier versions of the platform will have to use other resources, the company announced.
“Visual Studio 2010 does not support mobile application development for versions of Windows Phone prior to Windows Phone OS 7.0,” Microsoft states. “Because Visual Studio 2010 does not support mobile application development for Windows Phone prior to Windows Phone OS 7.0, you cannot use the following features: .NET Compact Framework projects, Visual C++ device projects, smart device CAB projects, Device Emulator and Device Emulator Manager, testing tools for device projects, and Device Security Manager.”
However, the software giant does note that earlier versions of Visual Studio, including Visual Studio 2008, still offer support for development of applications for Windows Mobile. Visual Studio 2008 mobile developers can use the Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Tool Kit for app building, which is compatible with the Windows Mobile 6 SDK, Microsoft adds.
When releasing the retail version (RTM) of Visual Studio 2010, Microsoft announced that the solution lacked support for Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP, previously released for Windows Phone 7 application developers. The compatibility between them is expected to be restored in the following weeks, but support for WM 6.x app development won't come to Visual Studio 2010, it seems.
It's a common fact that Microsoft is set to continue the development of Windows Mobile 6.x for an indefinite period of time, yet it seems that it will reduce the amount of resources dedicated to it. Moreover, given the fact that developers willing to build both for WM and WP 7 will have to use different resources for each platform, it shouldn't come as a surprise if fewer and fewer applications are launched for the older OS version.