Windows Phone 8 (Apollo) - a single core with Windows 8, WinRT API ...?

The current version of Windows Phone is Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango”. In the spring, a new release of “Tango” is expected, which, in addition to new features, will bring a reduction in hardware requirements. The fact is that MS strictly enough regulates hardware requirements and therefore Windows Phone phones are not yet cheap. The next step is Windows Phone 8 Apollo, which is expected in the fall. Now the core of Windows Phone is still Windows CE, but this is not noticeable to the software developer. Software, as it is now accepted on almost all mobile platforms, is written in a managed environment, in this case using the .net compact framework, Silverlight and XNA. Last year there were a lot of rumors and leaks that the core in “Apollo” will be from Windows 8, and this is an important step towards a single platform with tablets and desktops. And here again rumors and leaks. Why all this and why?



It is clear that the new kernel simplifies the work of MS, but the main thing is the ability to extend compatibility between API and hardware. Microsoft, in contrast to Apple, did not transfer the OS from the phone to the tablet, but transferred it from the desktop by doing work on optimizing the kernel and services and adding a new API. I think that this will add noticeably to the capabilities of such tablets, they will even be able to have the Win32 API and execute old applications, Microsoft did not reject this possibility. For Windows 8, a new API has been developed - WinRT . WinRT and HTML5 are positioned as a new platform for software development, while the development language can be both managed language and native language like C ++. Note that there is no longer any talk about Silverlight and XNA, they will not disappear anywhere, but the accents are changing. By the way, the MIX conference, which was held for several years and was the driving force for promoting Silverlight, will not take place this year. Now it turns out that the software developed for Windows Phone can probably be easily run on Windows 8, technically there are no problems, because This is a managed code, but how to do the opposite and how to simplify the transfer of applications from tablets to phone? This decision suggests itself - add the WinRT API to the phone. But for this, you probably also need to grab the core with you, since WinRT is probably tied to the basic mechanisms of Windows 8. Let's not forget that Windows CE is flawed in terms of features and even the .net framework is trimmed there, I think, not least because of the kernel.



Now for some interesting rumors. The kernel has already been said, but there is more information.

• WP will receive a new engine for managed environments - Redhawk, which will bring a full-weight .net framework, which was not in Windows CE. Everything is clear here - they will extend the API, they will start with .net.
• WP will get a Powershell console with phone control commands. This is by the way quite realistic and seems to me to add popularity. From the point of view of security, there should be no problems here, because Powershell is a secure managed environment, and the ability to quickly script the behavior of a phone will even please geeks. The opportunity will open to flexibly customize and program the phone without installing applications from the marketplace.
• It will be possible to run Windows Phone in native OS mode under the Hyper-V hypervisor on the computer. It is quite feasible. The applications are all managed, the kernel will be portable, so there is an opportunity to just build Windows Phone for x86, add a driver for video and other devices, and now we have an x86 operating system that will work much faster than in the emulator.
• X86 platform support. See point above, well, Intel can finally make the processor suitable for the phone.
• You will be able to write C ++ applications for WP. This immediately raises a security question - if C ++, then you need a new API with a sandbox environment, apparently it will be WinRT. The ability to write in C ++ looks very promising - the opportunity arises to create more productive applications while remaining in a safe environment. Native applications for the same Android exist, but they can significantly affect the stability of the platform and they are created in special cases.

References:

RedHawk to be part of Microsoft's Windows Phone 8, too?

Windows Phone “Tango” will support 120 languages, C ++ development support coming soon

Nokia promises there will be a lot of changes in Windows Phone

WP smartphones with 256 megabytes of RAM?

New rumors about Windows Phone 8 Apollo