14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Mobile 7, the latest mobile operating system flavor announced officially from Redmond-based Microsoft, is getting closer and closer to its final version, the latest news around the Internet show. The latest build of Windows Phone 7 that leaked into the wild is said to be the RC1 escrow build, which is expected to be declared the actual Release Candidate 1 version of the mobile platform.
A ROM image of this near-final (RC1 escrow) version of Windows Phone 7 (build 6176) is already available for download, and those interested in learning a little more on what it looks like can get it up and running in emulation, [Admark=1]Paul Thurrott notes on a post on Windows Phone Secrets. The build is an unlocked version of the solution included in the developer tools CTP - April Refresh, released only a couple of weeks ago.
There are a wide range of screenshots with the new ROM available over at winsupersite, providing us with a closer look at what the near-final version of Windows Phone 7 looks like. However, it seems that not all services can be accessed from the emulator, and that the Games hub doesn't work either in the new ROM, yet there are still a great deal of things that were brought to light.
XDA-Developers' RustyGrom, who unlocked the emulator image from the CTP - April Refresh, says he noticed the following in the ROM: - It seems a bit more buggy. Some odd screen drawing issues and even jaggy lines have been noticed. - Most apps seem slightly updated and more polished. A few quirks here and there. - One can see the dialer and it even fakes working. - Office is actually working. Looks like the apps shown in the videos they released.
The first handsets to run under the Windows Phone 7 OS are expected to arrive on the market sometime in the fourth quarter of the ongoing year, and the emergence of this RC1 escrow version of Windows Phone 7 shows that things are moving in the right direction. Hopefully, details on the final release of the platform will also emerge into the wild, enabling us to make an idea of what Windows Phone 7 devices will offer to users.
