I was searching the Google for information on Windows Phone 7 regarding database support. There will be no database support. Interestingly, I found discussion with somebody venting about this (and the other, many, lacking features of Windows Phone 7) and saw an interesting reply from a Microsoft employee. Quoted in full (sic and all that apply)…
I'm part of the team that supports all Mobile and Phone technologies. Our team still remains obligated to continue supporting 6.5 and the corresponding Enterprise Business market.
Clearly the target market for Windows Phone 7 is the consumer and its entire architecture has been designed from scratch by the best architects at Microsoft, who left other divisions within the company and converged to brainstorm the specific needs of the consumer, as contrasted with businesses (although there definitely is overlap).
Note that Marketplace for Windows 7 is set up in a way that any app posted there can be downloaded by anybody; it isnt intended for the needs of the Business who wish to deploy an app on the phone that only they are privileged to access.
The needs of the Enterprise Business customers will not go away and their needs must be, and will be, addressed differently.
For the moment, the limelight is on the Windows Phone 7 Series, but you will see Enterprise progress and Microsoft's continued support for phones used in business.
Best Regards,
Mark
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Mark Chamberlain Sr. Escalation Engineer | Microsoft Developer Support | Windows Phone 7
First, regarding the "best architects" wank wank stuff. You could have fooled me! Metro UI was interesting for about a day. Now it's just ugly to me. But I'll give it another shake once it's out of beta. It's not fair to bash on it too hard while it's still in beta. On the other hand, Mobile Shell 3 and SenseUI are still interesting and I've used both for a while now!
So, according to Mr. Chamberlain, the enterprise customers needs must and will be address differently? Differently? As in, not using the draconian Windows Phone 7 model? Do I dare hope for life of Windows Phone 6.5 beyond 6.5.3? Do I dare hope for Windows Phone 6.5 to be renamed Windows Phone Enterprise Edition with a new wicked CE7 kernel and updated Compact Framework 4.0 (with Silverlight)? Do I dare hope for Visual Studio 2010 (and beyond) support?
Do I dare hope for life on the mobile operating system that could easily be modernized and that I've enjoyed using and programming for over the last ten years?
A side note: T-Mobile can't keep the HD2 in stock! All that on an "outdated" OS. I could have told you that putting a decent CPU in a HTC SenseUI (aka TouchFlo 3D) powered device would do that. But nobody listens to me… :-)