Microsoft said from the start that Windows Phone 7 would not be compatible with older devices running Windows Mobile 6.5.x. This didn't stop the blogosphere from keeping its fingers crossed that Microsoft's latest mobile platform could trickle down to older phones. To quell rumors, Microsoft has laid down the law.Natasha Kwan, General Manager for Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business in the Asia-Pacific region, made everything perfectly clear. She said, "Because we have very specific requirements for Windows Phone 7 Series the current phones we have right now will not be upgradable." That includes HTC's HD2 smartphone, which many thought might qualify for an upgrade.

We've learned that Microsoft has specced three different chassis designs for future Windows Phone 7 hardware. The first, as my colleague Ed Hansberry reported, "requires an 800x480 capacitive touch screen, accelerometer, FM radio, 3.5mm headphone jack, GPS, 5MP camera and more." The HTC HD2 has many of those features. The other two chassis designs have different requirements in order to make WP7 platform work.

Not only will older devices not be able to upgrade to Windows Phone 7, but WinMo6.5.x apps will not be compatible with WP7. Windows Phone 7 is being built with SilverLight and XNA. WinMo6.5.x devices use an entirely different system architecture.

This doesn't mean that Microsoft is giving up on WinMo 6.5 -- and more specifically, WinMo 6.5.3. Kwan also noted, "We think there are people who will want 6.5, and the 6.x platform has a lot of enterprise and line of business apps. A lot of 6.5 applications have been built very much from the old paradigm of the stylus. Those legacy apps will be a lot more compatible on 6.5.3 because we have magnifier technology which lets you use your finger for navigating, even though it has a much bigger surface area."

Microsoft should reveal more about how Window phone 7 will evolve and come to market in a few weeks at its MIX conference, which wil be held in Las Vegas.

[Via APCmag.com]