Windows Phone 7
| Version of the Windows Phone operating system | |
Top: Logo of Windows Phone 7 and 7.5 Bottom: Windows Phone 7 screenshot of the Start screen | |
| Developer | Microsoft Corporation |
|---|---|
| OS family | Windows CE |
| Working state | Discontinued |
| Source model | Closed-source |
| General availability |
|
| Final release | Windows Phone 7.8 (Build 7.10.8862.144) / March 13, 2013 |
| Update method | Zune Software |
| Package manager | XAP |
| Platforms | 32-bit ARM architecture |
| Kernel type | Monolithic (CE-based) |
| License | Commercial proprietary software |
| Preceded by | Windows Mobile 6.5 |
| Succeeded by | Windows Phone 8 |
| Official website | Archived official website at the Wayback Machine (archive index) |
| Support status | |
| Windows Phone 7: unsupported as of January 8, 2013. Windows Phone 7.5: unsupported as of October 14, 2014 | |
Windows Phone 7 (WP7) is the first release of the Windows Phone mobile client operating system, released worldwide on October 21, 2010, and in the United States on November 8, 2010. It runs on the Windows CE 6.0 kernel. It serves as the successor to Windows Mobile 6.5.
Windows Phone 7 was a complete overhaul of Microsoft's previous mobile Windows platforms. It was designed with the distinct flat-styled Metro interface. The first major update to Windows Phone 7 was Windows Phone 7.5, codenamed "Mango", which was globally released on September 27, 2011. Windows Phone 7.x was succeeded by Windows Phone 8, which was released on October 29, 2012; existing Windows Phone 7.x hardware could not upgrade to the incompatible Windows Phone 8 software. As a compromise to existing users, Microsoft released Windows Phone 7.8 on January 31, 2013, adding a few features backported from Windows Phone 8, such as a more customizable start screen and the new bootscreen.
Microsoft ended support for Windows Phone 7 on January 8, 2013, and for Windows Phone 7.5 and 7.8 on October 14, 2014.