Microsoft (re)confirms HTC HD2s won't run Windows Phone 7 operating system

After APC Magazine recently quoted a Microsoft official saying Windows Mobile 6.x devices wouldn't be able to get an upgrade to the Windows Phone 7.0 OS, the Softies spread a little uncertainty as to the veracity of that report.

We were all told that we'd get the real and official backward-compatibility story at the upcoming Mix 10 conference, giving some HTC users a thread of hope.

But after a second Microsoft official was quoted saying there'd be no upgrade for HTC HD2s to Microsoft's next-generation phone OS, I figured it was time to check in and see if Microsoft's mobile team was ready to admit what many expected.

Here's the statement I just received from a Microsoft mobile spokesperson via e-mail:

"For Windows Phone 7 Series we are enforcing a strict set of hardware requirements to ensure a consistently great experience for end-users and developers. While we cannot confirm that WM6.X phones that satisfy those requirements will be upgradeable, every Windows Phone 7 Series device will be upgradeable with improvements and features we deliver with subsequent Windows Phone 7 Series releases. We currently do not have plans to update the HTC HD2 to Windows Phone 7 Series."

So there you have it. Windows Mobile 6.x devices are not going to be able to meet the new stricter Windows Phone 7 chassis specs to which Microsoft is holding phone makers.

Microsoft officials still aren't talking yet about whether -- and how -- existing Windows Mobile 6.x apps will run on Windows Phone 7 devices. Given the completely different user interfaces between current Windows Mobile phones and the Windows Phone 7 ones, it's pretty much assured that apps will need, at the minimum, some UI tweaks (if they can be moved to the new platform at all).