Windows Phone Thoughts: WP7 on HD2 a Bit Harder Than Thought

"So, how different is CE7/WP7 from that model? (Which is the model we have now in CE5.x/WM6.x) - The mARM AMSS provides a different interface and initialization proceedure. That means any of the WP7 drivers from a donor device we might port from would not work at all with our current AMSS. Which in turn means no boot without re-writing the drivers/kernel or AMSS. So to compare it to a desktop PC once again, we need to write a BIOS, a Hardware Abstraction Layer, and a set of drivers for each component on the system (likely a good deal of the drivers would be usable once the rest is done) Do I sound jaded yet? Yes, yes I am It's probably a factor of 10 more complicated than I thought it would be initially."

Remember when I said half-baked WP7 on an HD2 was a bad idea? Well those who are attempting to port WP7 over are finding it a bit tougher than they initially thought to even get it on the device, aside from the performance concerns I raised. Also putting aside the legality (which isn't vague - the HD2 isn't licensed for WP7, so you'll find no one arguing that the device should have WP7 running on it), I think this is further evidence that WP7 marks a radical shift in Windows Mobile development, away from what we've had in the past. It's no wonder that no existing device got an upgrade, despite the pleas of the users!