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Microsoft expected to go with Windows Phone 7.5 for 'Mango'

Summary: When I received my first tip about the "Mango" Windows Phone release -- back in December 2010 -- my sources said the update might ultimately be named "Windows Phone OS 7.5." It's looking like that is Microsoft's plan.

Mary Jo Foley

By for All About Microsoft |

When I received my first tip about the "Mango" Windows Phone release -- back in December 2010 -- my sources said the update might ultimately be named "Windows Phone OS 7.5." It's looking like that is Microsoft's plan, based on the company's own partner information page (as spotted by the WPCentral.com site on April 22).

Mango is the next major version of the Windows Phone operating system -- one that will bring IE 9 Mobile; application multitasking; Twitter integration; and access to a SQL database for the phone. Developer tools for the Mango update are slated to arrive in May 2011, officials said earlier this month.

Last year, I heard Microsoft's release-to-manufacturing target for Mango was August/September 2011. I'm still hearing "early fall," with Mango preloaded on new phones in time for holiday 2011, and pushed to customers -- after a hopefully less painful and lengthy testing process -- before the end of calendar 2011.

Microsoft's phone-naming choices has left a little lot to be desired. For the past year-plus, however, Microsoft execs have been semi-clear that the hardware line-up from Microsoft's hand full of hardware partners would be known as Windows Phones, and the operating system powering them would be the Windows Phone OS.

To me, the 7.5 name makes it fairly clear that Microsoft isn't intending to deliver many interim updates to its phone platform.  Windows Phone OS 7.0 will be followed by the 7.5 update, and then (one would assume) Windows Phone OS 8.0 in 2012. (I say "assume" here because Microsoft officials haven't said anything publicly so far about the company's plans for Windows Phone OS 8, a k a "Apollo.")

The decision to go with a few "big bang" operating system updates for the phone shouldn't be too surprising, given many of those working on the Windows Phone platform at Microsoft came from the Windows division -- the original home of the "big bang" OS releases.

In other Windows Phone tidbits, I noticed on the home page for the Microsoft TechEd '11 conference site that there's a placeholder for session/s on "Zune software." There are no Zune software sessions listed (yet), but maybe there will be some new news on the Zune software ("Dorado") front at the show.... I'd bet more details on the Windows Phone private/beta marketplace functionality is at the crux of whatever Microsoft will say about Zune at its conference.

In other phone-related news, if you're wondering whether Microsoft is tracking your every move with Windows Phone 7, the answer is no, according to company officials.

Topics: Telcos, Microsoft, Mobility, Operating Systems, Software, Windows

About

Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

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  • RE: Microsoft expected to go with Windows Phone 7.5 for 'Mango'

    I also herd that Microsoft is planning on droping the "7" &" 7.5" from the name, and just calling it Windows Phone, not sure where though, i'll see if i can find the article.
    Justin071894
    Reply Vote

    • This is part of the plan

      @Justin071894

      The reason is to bridge the gap between Windows "8" and phone hardware. Metro will (likely) make an appearance in Windows 8 in some form of scalable UI but they are looking at porting the OS to phone hardware so as to do away with WinCE (and leverage their newfound ARM porting skills of the desktop OS). This is part of the bigger "Windows Everywhere" plan. It will be more like "Windows, with the Metro UI, on your small screen handheld device, which also happens to be a phone". Metro may be the preferred UI for smaller, lower-resolution screens like slate tablets, and mobile devices.
      Joe_Raby
      Reply Vote

      • This is the end of Windows Phone 7

        @Joe_Raby - If, as you say, Microsoft dumps Windows Phone 7.x, and instead ports its desktop Windows 8 to phones and tablets (which run on the ARM processor), then what happens to people with current Windows Phone 7 handsets?

        Are current Windows Phone 7 handsets obsolete? Will current WP7 handsets be upgradeable to Windows 8?

        Is Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) the last update to that operating system before the switch to Windows 8?
        Vbitrate
        Reply Vote

  • Message has been deleted.

    Linux Geek
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Microsoft expected to go with Windows Phone 7.5 for 'Mango'

      @Linux Geek

      I completely agree. In my opinion it just shows a lack of commitment and it also shows that it's halfway through it's "life"
      Justin071894
      Reply Vote

      • Trust me, they are commited...

        @Justin071894 : maybe too commited for their own well being.<br><br>The "Metro UI" people long ago started musing on their project to "takeover" the Windows UI.<br><br>It all started with both Windows Media Player and the ill-fated Media Center interfaces (let's call that Metro 0.5) with almost no success.<br><br>Then they regrouped and formed the Zune team delivering, first Metro 1.0 (with non touch Zune 30), then Metro 2.0 (with Zune 80/120 and Zune 4, 8, and 16) followed by the touch centric Zune HD or what would be Metro 3.0. All of these were created under Windows CE 5.0, except the last which definitely is Windows CE 6.0. Still no success at all.<br><br>Then the group got a hold of the failed Windows Mobile segment, which they "converted" to Metro 4.0 aka Windows Phone 7.0, under Windows CE 6.0 R3. Sales have been 'so-so' as all media has reported (no more than 3 millions sets at this moment running WP7).<br><br>Now comes Mango which I'm sure is just Metro 5.0 under Windows CE 7.0. In that context, Windows Phone 8 would surely be Metro 6.0 either under Windows CE 7.0 R2 or under a Windows Vista kernel ported to ARM. Nokia might bring more customers but no landslide.<br><br>The problem's the MS people haven't learned a bit from the public feedback or have ignored the input since no noticeable changes have appeared since the Zune musings, even though sales have been overwhelming, to say it softly.<br><br>Contrast that to Android which went from a Blackberry like incarnation on versions "A" and "B", and transformed into a iPhone like clone in "Cupcake", perfected in "Eclair" and "Froyo" and now revisited with "Honeycomb" and forthcoming "Ice Cream (Sandwich?)".<br><br>With that said, I don't think Mango nor Windows Phone 8 will have any dent on the market, unless they show something revolutionary (from Zune's perspective, not from iPhone's or Android's perspective as the MS people are keen to say). You don't grab marketshare based just on a cool interface (else we'll all be using NeXT or BeOS at this moment) but by creating a solid UI developers can grow on them (ask Angry Birds and Word Lens developers and they'll tell you what's the key).
        cosuna
        Reply Vote

      • How fast does Google release new versions of Android?

        @Justin071894 <br><br>Microsoft releases the .5 update a year into the platform and it's "OMG they are abandoning the platform". But Google went from 1.0 to 2.2 in about a year and a half, maybe a little less. Why was it to be celebrated then?<br><br>And yes, WP7 is likely half way through it's life, perhaps more. Windows 8 will supplant the mobile OS but keep compatibility with existing WP7 apps because of Metro likely being one of the Win8 UIs. But this is somehow bad...

        And of course, Windows 8 coming out in 2012, first Nokia Windows devices in 2012. They could have easily shipped WP7 this year but they will be the premiere WP8 provider, likely alongside the desktop release of the OS. They'll also likely have some sort of Tablet push with the new OS all tied together. Windows 8 could make the sales of Win 7 look like Xoom sales.
        LiquidLearner
        Reply Vote

      • Yes, much the same way that iOS is.

        @Justin071894

        How much time passed between iOS "upgrades"?
        Tim Cook
        Reply Vote

    • Something in common with you then Linux Geek

      @Linux Geek <br>you know, the "full of hot air" part!
      Will Farrell
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Microsoft expected to go with Windows Phone 7.5 for 'Mango'

    The name iPhone 4 to iPhone 5 is also full of hot air :)
    iluvmsft
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Microsoft expected to go with Windows Phone 7.5 for 'Mango'

      @iluvmsft LOL iphone is such a junk phone. How does it feel apple troll fanboy that your being watched everywhere you are located at. hahaha windows phone 7 is so much better more secure and no one finding your locating. So many apple iphony morons users dont like that hahahah
      ipadsucks
      Reply Vote

  • Message has been deleted.

    HollywoodDog
    Reply Vote

    • Message has been deleted.

      Michael Alan Goff
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Microsoft expected to go with Windows Phone 7.5 for 'Mango'

    Will I be able to publish my own applications without going through the Marketplace? If yes, will I be able to install applications from the Internet that are not from the Marketplace?

    No? Then I'll live with a tablet that has a large screen and put it in my netbook-sized backpack for later retriever. Of course, a tablet will not have vibration motors, but at least I could get a tablet that has HSPA+ (I'm with T-Mobile). Of course, I won't have LTE, unfortunately. I really don't care much about Application Hub when it comes to Windows Phone 7 (or App Hub, for short, but that really did not roll off my tongue at all :)).

    It's nice having a phone that acts more like a computer than a phone, which I like to do anything I want to do; somthting that gives me the choice on whether I want to use an Application Store or not. Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro almost fits the bill nicely, but then I have a very weak phone, which I only do text messaging and not Internet surfing.
    Grayson Peddie
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Microsoft expected to go with Windows Phone 7.5 for 'Mango'

    "In other phone-related news, if you?re wondering whether Microsoft is tracking your every move with Windows Phone 7, the answer is no, according to company officials." - Not your EVERY move, only the stuff that is marketable.
    Socratesfoot
    Reply Vote

    • not even the stuff that is marketable

      @Socratesfoot <br><br>If you read their article on what they collect you'll see nothing is stored on the device. They only collect data when an app that you authorized to use location services requests the current location, and they only collect the data needed to provide the current location to the app. It is associated with a random unique device id that is removed from Microsoft's records after some (unspecified) duration.<br><br>Their policy seems to be the most reasonable (compared to apple and google).

      http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/howto/wp7/web/location-and-my-privacy.aspx
      mcauthon
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Microsoft expected to go with Windows Phone 7.5 for 'Mango'

      @Socratesfoot

      Who cares if Microsoft or Apple are tracking your every move? They have better ways of making a living. Only Google depends on spying on their customers to make their earnings.
      jorjitop
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Microsoft expected to go with Windows Phone 7.5 for 'Mango'

        @jorjitop
        Apple (the company) is NOT tracking users' movements. No data is sent to Apple. Enough has already be explained in this subject.
        Restricted_access
        Reply Vote

  • Message has been deleted.

    .
    Info-Dave
    Reply Vote

  • Message has been deleted.

    HollywoodDog
    Reply Vote
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