Today, the Microsoft Windows Phone Team has announced that they have released Windows Phone 7 to Manufacturing. Back in July, Microsoft released a technical preview.
Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft’s next generation of mobile operating systems, set to replace Windows Mobile 6.5, complete with new branding a name change to Windows Phone 7. The name change is both to move it forward version wise, as well as to tie it to the success of Microsoft’s Windows 7 on the desktop and laptop platforms. Windows Phone 7 features a new interface, a new browser, and a more coherent design through the OS. It will also feature a better software update process.
With the Release to Manufacturing (RTM), this marks the integration of the software with the final phone/mobile device hardware that manufacturers and mobile/cell phone network providers will be releasing to consumers later this year.
On the Windows Phone 7 blog, they mention the testing it went through:
Windows Phone 7 is the most thoroughly tested mobile platform Microsoft has ever released. We had nearly ten thousand devices running automated tests daily, over a half million hours of active self-hosting use, over three and a half million hours of stress test passes, and eight and a half million hours of fully automated test passes. We’ve had thousands of independent software vendors and early adopters testing our software and giving us great feedback. We are ready.
For the full story, see the Windows Team Blog