Windows Phone 7 will have managed access

Phones running Windows Phone 7 will have an even tighter restriction on native app code than on platforms like the iPhone, a leak of developer documentation has revealed. Most apps will be limited to a set of "managed" protocols that provide access only to key phone features or to carrier-specific extras. Actual native code will be very limited and in many cases will involve only hardware makers and carriers getting special permission that will need to be approved once an app is submitted.

Full multitasking isn't mentioned, although Microsoft plans to imitate the iPhone's background push notification system and let apps get notices even when they're fully shut.

Typical programming for the mobile OS will also bear a closer resemblance to the Zune HD than for any version of Windows Mobile. Software will still use the .NET Compact Framework, but Silverlight will play a heavy role in the interface. Games and their services will use the same XNA environment as for the Zune HD and Xbox 360, though few if any games will ever be transportable.

The attitude towards apps is a stark reversal from Windows Mobile, where native access is standard and Microsoft has often championed looser controls over what apps are allowed to do both within themselves and to the OS. Apple, Windows Phone 7's main target, has stricter limits on app rights but gives them full native access. Android provides the most access as it lets apps directly modify core parts of the platform, while Palm's webOS is relatively controlled as most apps run web code that only indirectly ties into the OS; the addition of games comes about through a form of plugin that goes directly to 3D hardware. [via WMPowerUser]

By Electronista Staff