Wow. After spending all afternoon geeking out over the cool new features that will be available in Windows Phone 7 Series, I think I’m starting to come down a bit. And that’s largely due to a report that explains that Microsoft is taking an Apple-like approach to its next-gen mobile operating system… possibly in some of the worst possible ways.
Not only will the Windows Phone Marketplace be the only official place to download and purchase third party apps. But Windows Phone 7 won’t support memory cards for additional storage. And only Microsoft’s applications will be able to run in the background. Fortunately, it’s not quite as bad as the situation on the iPhone. For instance, there will be tools that let streaming music applications such as Pandora stream audio in the background while you’re surfing the web or playing a game. But other apps, such as a VoIP application like Skype, won’t be able to do much in the background.
Microsoft says the problem is that background apps can run down battery life and tie up resources, making a phone less responsive. After spending a few weeks installing apps on my Google Nexus One with Android 2.1, I have to say, this is true. The more apps you have running in the background, the slower your phone gets.
But is the answer prohibiting apps from running in the background, or developing smarter memory management tools that will shut down unnecessary applications more aggressively?
On the other hand, Gizmodo discovered the fact that Windows Phone 7 Series will support DivX videos out of the box. And that’s pretty cool.
via Kevin Tofel
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