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.'"

Comments

Scrolling

[Anonymous Coward]

And it'll still scroll more smoothly than an Android.

Multi-purpose phones.

[SuricouRaven]

Now with 'handwarmer' function!

Xbox too?

[spire3661]

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.

Same apps on smaller screen does not work.

[Anonymous Coward]

"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.

Bizarro World

[RazzleFrog]

I predict a world where Microsoft has the best mobile platform but can't break the stranglehold of Apple and Google.

Re:Bizarro World

[coinreturn]

I predict a world where Microsoft has the best mobile platform but can't break the stranglehold of Apple and Google.

I highlighted the part that shows what a wild imagination you have.

Re:Bizarro World

[RazzleFrog]

You can say wild but companies learn from their mistakes. Look at how they've done with XBOX and Kinect. As a PS3 owner I can tell you that they leveled Sony.

Re:Bizarro World

[FuegoFuerte]

We're almost there already. Win Phone 7 is a bit short on apps perhaps, but already has many features the other two don't (and yes, there are some features the others have that WinPhone 7 doesn't).

There's still plenty of room for improvement in Windows Phone, but it's been improving rapidly already. I've owned one for about 6 months now I think (since the HTC Arrive came out on Sprint, whenever that was). It's been more stable than the "feature phones" I've owned, with the exception of my original Nokia 6185 in the '90s. If this keeps up, with Google's "Screw Security and Privacy" attitude, and Apple's "You can have it our way or you can't have it at all" "we know what hardware you want" attitude, I think Microsoft may even be able to break the stranglehold, with proper execution.

Re:Bizarro World

[bonch]

Don't count out Microsoft. They broke Sony's stranglehold at the height of the PS2.

Re:code reuse shares vulnerabilities

[SJHillman]

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?

So much for backward compatibility, huh?

[Shag]

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.

Re:code reuse shares vulnerabilities

[neokushan]

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.

Windows 8, C#, .NET

[Dan East]

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.

Re:No Comments

[Luckyo]

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.

Wow..

[Anonymous Coward]

I did not know that Android sucked so bad you had to compare quad core devices with single core ones.