For those who want to taste the windows phone should consider twice before buying the current windows phone. Microsoft lately has been announced a news relating to the current update of windows phone operating system on the mobile phones, such as Nokia or Samsung.
There's a reason for that - the two OSes may look similar on the outside, but they are vastly different on the inside. The new core that enables so many cool features (multiple CPU cores, better graphics) is shared with Windows 8 RT (based on Windows NT) and not Windows Phone 7 (based on Windows CE, same as Windows Mobile).
Why wouldn’t Microsoft let its most loyal mobile users in on its latest and greatest software? The reason is actually very simple: This isn’t the same Windows Phone operating system as the one they’ve been using. Although Windows Phone 8 resembles its predecessors in both looks and functionality, everything has changed under the hood.
“The oversimplified way of putting it is that, before, you had a phone that ran programs; now you have a computer that can make phone calls,” says Greg Sullivan, Microsoft’s senior marketing manager for Windows Phone (shown above). “There is a fundamental difference architecturally.”
Windows Phone has been re-coded from the ground up for Version 8. The original Windows Phone (Version 7) and all subsequent upgrades before 8 are actually based on Windows CE, Microsoft’s earlier mobile operating system. Windows CE was also the basis for Windows Mobile, which came before Windows Phone 7.
Windows Phone 8, however, is based on the same core software as Windows 8 itself (the Windows NT kernel). While that has many benefits — for users, hardware makers, developers and Microsoft — it means all those phones that were designed to run Windows Phone 7 can’t run the new OS.
All isn’t lost on current Windows Phone users, however. The most visible upgrade in Windows Phone 8 — the super-customizable home screen — will come to older Windows Phones through an upgrade to Windows Phone 7.8, and Microsoft says it’ll continue to support the previous Windows Phone OS.
“The sense that we just bought something and we don’t want to be left behind is what we’re delivering on,” says Sullivan. “Nokia is doing a bunch of works to keep this fresh. They’re going to continue to invest in the Lumia line and add new capability and new functionality.”
Microsoft’s senior marketing manager for Windows Phone, Greg Sullivan, says that it's not impossible to port WP8 on older devices, but the cost of doing that would be very high and the benefit very little - WP8 enables multi-core support, higher resolution screens, NFC, microSD card support and so on, none of which will make a difference on the legacy hardware.
What they are getting (as part of the Windows Phone 7.8 update) is the new start screen - it's the most noticeable change in the OS and will actually benefit the current Windows Phone smartphones.
Users who move to the new version of the OS will get to keep using their Windows Phone 7 apps as those will work on WP8. There's no backwards compatibility for the newly developed WP8 apps though and there's nothing that can be done about it - for example, the Adreno 205 just won't cut it for games intended for a Snapdragon S4 (which packs an Adreno 225 or 305).
So, it is up to you now to buy the current windows phone or wait a little longer to get the WP8.
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