14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Phone 8, the next version of Microsoft's mobile operating system, might be closely related to the Windows 8 client being prepared for desktop PCs.
Apparently, Microsoft might plan on moving away from the Windows Compact Embedded platform that currently sits at the core of Windows Phone, and bring the mobile operating system closer to the PC platform.
Windows Phone 7, the mobile OS that Microsoft is currently loading on handsets, is built on Windows CE, but the next mobile platform release might have nothing to do with it.
Along with Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8, Microsoft is expected to plan pushing out the first user interface aimed at tablet PCs, and here's where the tight relation between the two platforms enters the game.
One thing that is known on Windows Phone 7 at the moment is that Microsoft won't make it available for tablet PCs, but that would change with Windows Phone 8, since it might include support for both smartphones and tablets.
Windows 8 has been long rumored to come with support for tablet PCs, and from here to having the next version of the mobile OS based on it was a simple step to be made, it seems.
Of course, this would mean that both Windows CE and Windows Phone 7 have only a short life left to live, just as the Windows Mobile 6.5 platform did.
The Windows Phone 8 would basically be Windows 8 greatly optimized for mobile devices, on top of which Microsoft would load an UI designed specifically for handsets.
Since tablets and smartphones are very much alike, it would make sense if the mobile platform would be used on these devices as well, rather than the full Windows 8 OS, designed for desktop PCs, laptops, notebooks and the like.
Reportedly, Windows 8 would come with a tile-based user interface codenamed Mosh, which would be the alternative UI, destined for tablet PCs. Moreover, the platform would come with a new app model too, though it remains to be seen whether it might affect mobile apps as well.
The same as with the Windows Phone 7 OS, the upcoming Windows Phone 8 is expected to run applications that are Silverlight or XNA-based.
Even so, there might be a series of compatibility issues between the currently available apps for the Windows Phone platform and the Windows Phone 8 OS, and developers might need to write new code, which might not sound that great in the end.
However, nothing was confirmed on this as of now, and it might still take some time before Microsoft shares info on this. After all, Windows 8 is expected to arrive only next year, and Windows Phone 8 might be released along with it too.