As if a few leaked internal documents were not enough to convince most mobile developers out there, Charlie Kindel, the Microsoftee in whose hands lies the future of application development for Windows Phones, has confirmed that development for Windows Phone 7 Series will be done using .NET, Silverlight and XNA. This is good news from Microsoft because as I said a few days ago, they have an uphill battle against the App Store.
According to Charlie:
…one of our principles was “to build upon the shoulders of giants; where possible integrate instead of create.” It won’t come as a surprise to many to learn that the Windows Phone 7 developer experience builds upon the following GIANTS (among others):
- .NET
- Silverlight
- XNA platform
- Microsoft’s developer tools
- Web 2.0 standards
I bet things will look bright for Windows Phone 7 Series thanks to Silverlight and XNA, for both rich web applications and great gaming. We all know that these are the basic pillars of Apple’s App Store, and main attractions of the iPhone as a mobile device. If Microsoft can succeed in luring developers to their new platform at MIX10, even if they have to pay them to shift focus, it will be a huge win for them. Companies are already abandoning their efforts for Windows Mobile 6.5 in anticipation of Windows Phone 7 Series.
Ever since the App Store became the benchmark for mobile applications distribution, this will be the first time another platform will actually compete with the experience that it provides. Android Market has been there, but it doesn’t even hold a candle against the App Store in terms of both quality and experience.
Come what may, MIX10 will decide the future for Microsoft’s next gen mobile platform. Apple better have something up its sleeves for iPhone 4G since the competitors are closing in sharply. This is evident with iPhone’s market share starting to decrease and Android’s increasing slowly. But if history has taught us anything, we know Apple will sue its competitors as soon as they are able to catch up.
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