Earlier this week Microsoft announced that the Windows Phone 7 code base has been finalized and that the software has been released to manufacturing. The Windows Phone 7 operating system has been overhauled completely. This is something fresh, new and a bit “scary” for Microsoft. The Windows Phone 7 operating system is entirely new, and due to the failure of Microsoft’s Kin phone earlier this year, Microsoft is really hoping that it will be a success this time round.
Microsoft will release the production version of the Windows Phone 7 development tools on September 16th, and in early October the redesigned online applications store will open. Terry Myerson, Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Windows Phone Engineering revealed Microsoft’s testing program for Windows Phone 7: “We had nearly 10,000 devices running automated tests daily, over a half million hours of active self-hosting use, over three and a half million hours of stress test passes, and eight and a half million hours of fully automated test passes”. Now, that’s a lot of work!
Developer feedback has been quite favorable, thus far, some developers have praised the quality and stability of the code. The proof I suppose would be in the pudding. Asus, LG, Samsung and HTC have been working very closely with Microsoft concerning the hardware specifications, which includes a powerful Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon processor. The first handsets running Windows Phone 7 are expected in time for 2010 holiday shopping, perhaps in middle October?