Watching MS's event from Wednesday they state that 7 of the top 9 phones with plans are Windows phones. Today there are zero of the top 9 phones that are Windows phones. So how did they do this? I doubt they lied so did they just buy a lot of Windows phones and then take screenshots after those sales were accounted for?
From what I can recall after watching some of their conference, they were referring to best rated and not sales. After looking, I found the following:
14 mins into the presentation they say all wp7 apps will work on wp8, and that they can be updated (still in silverlight) to take advantage of the new screen resolutions. Remember just because it's called silverlight it isn't the same thing as what you get in a browser.
I recall them saying later on that they could be easily updated.
Silverlight is also going away as a programming tool. But as I said, bits of it will persist.
There is a LOT of misinformation/FUD going on here that should be clarified:
#1 WP7 apps will work, unchanged and untouched by devs on all new WP8 devices. Melgross - MS did not say there would be work required for this. In fact, they said the exact opposite. Please, review the video where they talk about the compile in the cloud. There is absolutely no work required on the developers part - they don't even have to resubmit the app to the marketplace. Developers do have the option to modify their apps to take advantage of the new resolutions if they want - but, that is a choice not a requirement.
#2 Existing devices are not abandoned - they are getting the WP7.8 update at about the same time WP8 devices launch. Right now, we don't know what will be included in that beyond the new home screen - but, that's actually true about WP8 in general as well. The stuff that was shown off in the video was information about new platform changes and capabilities targeted at developers - we have no idea what other consumer features are being added to WP8 and which of those are going to make into the 7.8 update for legacy devices. Further, I haven't statements that indicate these legacy devices will not get any future updates beyond 7.8. It's been speculated for a while, that wp7 will remain in play as the emerging market strategy for low end devices. So, until there is an official statement one way or the other - it's all conjecture, and dare I say FUD.
#3 Developers who are working on WP7 do not need to learn new languages to work with WP8. Silverlight is a subset of WPF - and both of them use an xml markup language called XAML to describe the UI. On the backend - C#/VB.NET are still the recommended options for non-game development. So, the primary learning is really around the new api more than anything, and that's true with any platform update.
So, here's the reality - speaking as a wp7 developer - WP7 will continue to be supported for sometime by developers, just as previous versions of windows are still supported. Why? Because, if I don't need a new wp8 api or feature for my app - why would I not target wp7? That would give me the widest audience with no work. I suspect that the market place will work the same way it did during the transition from wp7 to 7.5 - that a developer can package both apps together, and the user will be presented with the one appropriate for their device. In other words, there won't be a lot of work to provide an app compatible with wp7.8 and another version (remember, they will likely share almost all the same source code) that is compatible with wp8. That part is of course speculation - MS hasn't revealed the whole dev story yet. But, based on the past I think this will be likely. I think the main area where users will probably most left out is in game development - there will most likely be games that are not going to be available on wp7.8 - but, to be honest, the hardware wouldn't be able to support high end games anyway. But, again if I was a game dev - and my game didn't require the high end features and native code, I would still target 7.8 for now.
[quote name="devGod" url="/t/150823/microsoft-windows-phone-8-launches-this-fall-with-e-wallet-support/80#post_2132721"]#1 WP7 apps will work, unchanged and untouched by devs on all new WP8 devices.[/QUOTE]
And, again, that's better than their desktop OS has managed to do, which is why I don't believe it.
[QUOTE]#2 Existing devices are not abandoned - they are getting the WP7.8 update at about the same time WP8 devices launch.[/QUOTE]
7.8 = 8 for sufficiently large values of 7.8. However, this isn't math class.
[QUOTE]So, here's the reality - speaking as a wp7 developer - WP7 will continue to be supported for sometime by developers, just as previous versions of windows are still supported. Why?[/QUOTE]
Because people refuse to update their Microsoft products and use DECADE-OLD OS' instead of modern software, forcing developers to support DECADE-OLD OS' instead of being able to trim their code for newer software.
Comments
Well, Microsoft is certainly known for taking things to extremes. Marketshare, proprietar…ian…ism…
But yes. I'd love to see someone call them out on that and ask for an explanation, but no one will.
Looks like I left out that these were Amazon sales of phones with plans.
Firstly, hi everyone. My first message.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
Watching MS's event from Wednesday they state that 7 of the top 9 phones with plans are Windows phones. Today there are zero of the top 9 phones that are Windows phones. So how did they do this? I doubt they lied so did they just buy a lot of Windows phones and then take screenshots after those sales were accounted for?
From what I can recall after watching some of their conference, they were referring to best rated and not sales. After looking, I found the following:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/top-rated/wireless/2407747011/ref=zg_tr_nav_cps_1_cps
Saying that though, I can only see 6 in the top 10, not 7.
Oh, that's a hoot! Why didn't Microsoft mention that at their event?
That must be where they took the data. Thanks for the correction.
I recall them saying later on that they could be easily updated.
Silverlight is also going away as a programming tool. But as I said, bits of it will persist.
We have to assume that these are service plans that Amazon can offer for the companies involved. Perhaps they can't offer service plans for iPhones.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jungmark
uh oh. does that mean, you'll need a 32GB phone since the OS will probably take up 10GB?
don't forget the other 10GB you need for antivirus software etc
There is a LOT of misinformation/FUD going on here that should be clarified:
#1 WP7 apps will work, unchanged and untouched by devs on all new WP8 devices. Melgross - MS did not say there would be work required for this. In fact, they said the exact opposite. Please, review the video where they talk about the compile in the cloud. There is absolutely no work required on the developers part - they don't even have to resubmit the app to the marketplace. Developers do have the option to modify their apps to take advantage of the new resolutions if they want - but, that is a choice not a requirement.
#2 Existing devices are not abandoned - they are getting the WP7.8 update at about the same time WP8 devices launch. Right now, we don't know what will be included in that beyond the new home screen - but, that's actually true about WP8 in general as well. The stuff that was shown off in the video was information about new platform changes and capabilities targeted at developers - we have no idea what other consumer features are being added to WP8 and which of those are going to make into the 7.8 update for legacy devices. Further, I haven't statements that indicate these legacy devices will not get any future updates beyond 7.8. It's been speculated for a while, that wp7 will remain in play as the emerging market strategy for low end devices. So, until there is an official statement one way or the other - it's all conjecture, and dare I say FUD.
#3 Developers who are working on WP7 do not need to learn new languages to work with WP8. Silverlight is a subset of WPF - and both of them use an xml markup language called XAML to describe the UI. On the backend - C#/VB.NET are still the recommended options for non-game development. So, the primary learning is really around the new api more than anything, and that's true with any platform update.
So, here's the reality - speaking as a wp7 developer - WP7 will continue to be supported for sometime by developers, just as previous versions of windows are still supported. Why? Because, if I don't need a new wp8 api or feature for my app - why would I not target wp7? That would give me the widest audience with no work. I suspect that the market place will work the same way it did during the transition from wp7 to 7.5 - that a developer can package both apps together, and the user will be presented with the one appropriate for their device. In other words, there won't be a lot of work to provide an app compatible with wp7.8 and another version (remember, they will likely share almost all the same source code) that is compatible with wp8. That part is of course speculation - MS hasn't revealed the whole dev story yet. But, based on the past I think this will be likely. I think the main area where users will probably most left out is in game development - there will most likely be games that are not going to be available on wp7.8 - but, to be honest, the hardware wouldn't be able to support high end games anyway. But, again if I was a game dev - and my game didn't require the high end features and native code, I would still target 7.8 for now.
And, again, that's better than their desktop OS has managed to do, which is why I don't believe it.
[QUOTE]#2 Existing devices are not abandoned - they are getting the WP7.8 update at about the same time WP8 devices launch.[/QUOTE]
7.8 = 8 for sufficiently large values of 7.8. However, this isn't math class.
[QUOTE]So, here's the reality - speaking as a wp7 developer - WP7 will continue to be supported for sometime by developers, just as previous versions of windows are still supported. Why?[/QUOTE]
Because people refuse to update their Microsoft products and use DECADE-OLD OS' instead of modern software, forcing developers to support DECADE-OLD OS' instead of being able to trim their code for newer software.