Windows Phone 7 App Tools Released for Devs

This could be do or die time for Microsoft when it comes to its mobile strategy. The software giant jumped on the mobile bandwagon early but has seen its mobile share melt away, thanks first to competitors like RIM’s BlackBerry and more recently the rapid ascent of the iPhone and, this year, Android devices.

With Windows Phone 7, Microsoft revamped its mobile platform with new features and a new user interface. As Apple has shown, one of the keys to mobile success is having a large number of applications for the device. Microsoft has always had plenty of mobile apps, but the process of getting to them was never anywhere near as easy as the App Store marketplace Apple pioneered.

Microsoft has released its developer tools for Windows Phone 7, kicking off the race for third parties to finish their apps in time for the mobile system

’

s launch in a few weeks.

However, for developers who have had their heads down working on code, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has one caveat. Any developers writing apps using the beta versions of the tools will need to uninstall the betas and install the final tools, or they will fail certification for Microsoft’s Marketplace, company officials said.

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Windows Phone 7 Tools Done, but Devs Have Work to Do