XDA-developers have Windows Phone 7 code, 8-months before release

While bloggers debate Microsoft’s Apple-like approach concerningWindows Phone 7 Series functionality such as third-party app multitasking and app distribution, members of the xda-developers forum website are already beginning to prepare themselves.

In many respects, Microsoft has chosen a closed approach to the Windows Phone 7 Series OS. For example, hardware will be restricted to just three chassis options, handsets can only have three buttons beneath their sizable capacitive touchscreen displays, and Microsoft will impose restrictions on both app distribution and background processes for third-party apps.

These restraints are very familiar of course, thanks to Apple and its iPhone development policies. But just as Apple’s lock down was quickly manhandled by the Dev Team and its infamous jailbreaking process, Microsoft’s imposed restrictions are bound for the same fate.

Thanks to a good friend of the site, we now know that just a short while ago, the first Windows Phone 7 Series code was leaked on the xda-developers forum. The build was pulled from an emulator image but rest assured, the talented team of hackers patrolling the forum are already blazing through it in preparation for the impending arival of a full ROM. The code is real, of course, and it’s more than enough to get cracking.

With more than eight months until Windows Phone 7 Series is set to begin shipping to the public, xda-developers forum members have plenty of time to dissect the OS and determine how best to tweak it to suit their needs — and the needs of power users. Discussions surrounding app distribution outside of the Windows Phone Marketplace and background process support for third-party apps are already in full swing.

So, potential Windows Phone 7 Series power users, read the heated debates through the tech news ecosystem all you like, but try not to get too worked up. Just like every other smartphone platform on the planet before it, Windows Phone 7 Series is on a short path to hacksville.

[Source BGR]