14 DAY TRIAL // Developers feeling like the software development kit for Windows Phone could do with some extra capabilities, need to take a look at the Windows Phone Power Tools.
Available as a free project hosted on Microsoft CodePlex, the Windows Phone Power Tools are designed to extend the Windows Phone SDK and simplify the work that devs have to do.
Windows Phone Power Tools were up to version 1.4.6 at the time of this article, and the great thing about this project is that developers can contribute to its evolution.
The Windows Phone Power Tools are available under Microsoft Public License (Ms-PL), which is a Microsoft open source license, and yes, the source code is indeed also offered for download.
“The Windows Phone Power Tools are a natural extension to the developer tools that come with the Windows Phone SDK,” reads a message on the product’s page.
“Instead of allowing you to only install developer xaps the Power Tools let you test update scenarios by allowing you to update an existing developer app. Instead of having to step through the IsolatedStorage file browser on the command line, the Power Tools provide a GUI to allow you to interact with your applications.”
There are also a number of additional capabilities that devs using the Windows Phone Power Tools will get to leverage.
Microsoft’s official Windows Phone SDK is up to version 7.1, a release designed to let devs build apps for Windows Phone Mango (Windows Phone 7.5), in addition to Windows Phone 7.
The Windows Phone SDK packs an impressive collection of technologies, including: Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone, Windows Phone Emulator, Windows Phone SDK 7.1 Assemblies, Silverlight 4 SDK and DRT, Windows Phone SDK 7.1 Extensions for XNA Game Studio 4.0, Expression Blend SDK for Windows Phone 7, Expression Blend SDK for Windows Phone OS 7.1, WCF Data Services Client for Window Phone and Microsoft Advertising SDK for Windows Phone.
Windows Phone Power Tools are available for download here.
The Windows Phone SDK 7.1 RTW release is available for download from Softpedia via this link.