Slashdot Mirror
Windows Phone 8 Detailed, Uses Windows 8 Kernel
MrSeb writes "Thanks to a leaked video — a video that Microsoft made for Nokia — we now have lots of details about Windows Phone 8 (WP8). From deep Windows 8, Skype, and SkyDrive integration, through to the addition of NFC 'wallet' payments and BitLocker encryption, it sounds like Windows Phone 8 will be close to iOS and Android in terms of features. The interesting stuff is under the hood, though: WP8 will have the Windows 8 kernel instead of the Windows CE kernel of its predecessors. Through the Win 8 kernel, WP8 will support native code and multi-core processors. It will also have the same network stack, security, and multimedia support as Windows 8. While Win 8 apps won't be directly compatible with Windows Phone 8, Windows Phone manager Joe Belfiore says developers will be able to 'reuse — by far — most of their code.'"
And it'll still scroll more smoothly than an Android.
Now with 'handwarmer' function!
Im pretty sure anyone with a brain figured this was the general direction they were gonna go when Win 8 was announced. MS wants to unify mobile, living room and desktop. The Xbox 720 will probably be the Win 8 kernel too.
Good-bye
"While Win 8 apps won't be directly compatible with Windows Phone 8, Windows Phone manager Joe Belfiore says developers will be able to 'reuse — by far — most of their code."
Good. I'll only need 8 handsets to display the ribbon in MS Office.
I predict a world where Microsoft has the best mobile platform but can't break the stranglehold of Apple and Google.
Will they be able to reuse their Windows 7 Phone code, or was that a dead end?
Does that mean anyone who hacks a Linux desktop gets their Android phone too? If anyone that hacks a FreeBSD box also gets Mac OS X boxes too?
Or forward. Or sideways. WP8 won't be binary compatible with WinCE-based WP7 (which itself wasn't compatible with WinCE-based WM6), nor with desktop Windows 8, nor with, apparently, any other OS that's ever existed. Sure hope they make it real easy for developers to build their existing code for WP8.
Oh, and it'll also be real interesting to see whether any WP7 devices can be upgraded to WP8.
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
I haven't really seen Windows 8 yet, but, this could potentially be a really awesome direction. I don't much like Windows personally, but I have always wished phones, tablets in particular had the flexibility of a general purpose computer. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping Microsoft let's this happen.
Mark my words, and I can't believe I'm even saying this, but Windows Phone, will soon be considered the best mobile platform, due to it's unification with the desktop, and XBOX. Unfortunately, it won't mean much because people will still want shiny iPhones and will clamor to the numerous free Android phones that they can get. From a technical standpoint, there is nothing about Android that is good. The reason it is so popular, is because it is cheap and most people can get one. There, I said it. /standby to be marked as Troll in 3, 2, 1
I have nothing clever to put here...
I'll bet this was in the roadmap for some time, and helps to explain why they do not offer a native SDK currently.
I think this is great for their phone platform as the Windows 8 kernel is likely to be far more robust in the areas of thread scheduling and memory management. Given that Windows 8 demonstrably can execute even in 128MB RAM (http://windows8beta.com/2011/10/windows-8-runs-on-64mb-and-128-mb-ram), the resource impact probably isn't an issue.
Only if the hack involves something deep within the Kernel - which in terms of hacks, is generally pretty rare. Most hacks come from privilege escalation, usually because of some shoddily written plugin (i.e. just about anything Adobe makes). I very much doubt that Microsoft will offer WP8 users the same level of...freedom that Windows users get. Hell, you'll be lucky to even sideload apps.
+1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
So, viruses for Windows 8 will be also portable to WP8? :)
I never understood the desire to unify desktop and other things (XBox) on a phone let alone why is it valuable. There is value in creating apps that interface with other systems but one is overstating the value of a whole phone dedicated to interfacing this way when it turns out people would rather have other features (mobile location services, e-readers, etc).
Another way to think about not: Are people chomping at the bit who support Android and iPhone to get or sharing accessing to their home machines? These platforms aren't popular because of this nor do I see that changing in two years. If you can answer "Why do you think that is valuable?" then I can begin to see your stance otherwise I suspect that such features are "gee-whiz" but not necessary or the best use of the mobile phone platform.
Unlike Apple, Windows doesn't really have a history of charging for anything but the largest OS updates. Windows Phone 7 to 7.5 was a free update, even though they were a full year apart.
Yeah, but I don't believe they've ever changed to an entirely new kernel before for free. What do you think they are, an open source company or something?
"Ahh! I see you're in that indeterminate Schrodinger state where - oh, uh
At least, for some values of "hacks" and some values of "gets their phone".
Here, for example, how to get root on Android using generic Linux kernel vulnerability.
Windows Phone 7 is C# only, which is why I don't support the platform with my games (99% of my C++ code is shared between the iOS and Android builds, which is how it should be). So if Windows 8 developers can "reuse — by far — most of their code" does that mean Windows 8 is C# only too, or that Windows Phone 8 will allow 3rd part apps to be written in C++?
IMO, if Windows Phone 8 doesn't support C++, it is dead in the water from the perspective of 3rd party apps. Only the really big players have the resources to completely rewrite their iOS or Android apps (mainly games, which usually aren't intimately tied to the native GUI) in C#. That is one of the reasons there aren't many apps for Windows Mobile 7, and certainly why there isn't as much commonality as you see between iOS and Android apps. If MS had half a brain they would allow development in C++, and include APIs like OpenGL ES which is supported by both Android and iOS, which will make it very easy for developers like me to release my games for Windows Mobile 8.
Better known as 318230.
Not to be a dick, but your argument comes about half a decade late. Microsoft really did everything right in terms of security since XP. They minimized the damage that the biggest issue, user, can cause to the system, hardened the system itself significantly, slapped a properly functional firewall into a default installation and so on.
Code that interfaces with OpenGL is part of the view layer of an application. It doesn't affect the model layer, which is where physics, AI, and other game rules happen. The problem here is that XNA relies on C#, and it appears that C# tools for a lot of platforms are too expensive for some startups trying to bootstrap themselves on sweat equity.
If we look at the progression of these devices, from the IBM PC/Mac, to laptop computers to the current phone devices, the obvious trajectory is smaller, lighter, less power hungry and ever more powerful.
Eventually we'll surely have a credit card sized AMOLED display with built-in personal computer. We'll carry one or more (personal and business machines) around in our wallets (which will have speakers and microphones so we can answer our wallets). But we'll also be able to pair our credit card computers up to ubiquitous speakers, mice, keyboards and displays.
Peripherals.
Our cars won't have satnav systems that need to be updated. They'll just have peripherals (screens, speakers, etc). Our big screen TVs or audio systems will become just another peripheral. We'll be able to easily pair (one of) our computer(s) to the large touchscreen display in the corporate boardroom in a simple way and deliver our presentation.
Our wallets will even give back the space currently occupied by credit cards and various ID cards, as our credit card PC's will do the job better.
I did not know that Android sucked so bad you had to compare quad core devices with single core ones.
What ? Windows NT has had filesystem permissions since 1993. Consumer Windows has had it since XP in 2001.