Windows 10 Mobile

Microsoft

 Windows 10 Mobileis an edition of theWindows 10operating system. This edition of Windows 10 is a

mobile operating systemthat succeedsWindows Phone 8.1and is designed forsmartphonesand small
tabletsunder 8 inches in screen size, running onARMas well asIA-32processor architectures.
Windows 10 Mobile aims to provide greatersynergywith its counterpart forpersonal computers,
including more extensive synchronization of content, a new universal application platform will allow one
app to run on multiple Windows 10 devices such asPCs,mobile devicesandXbox, the ability for
developersto portAndroidandiOSapps easily with minimal modifications, as well as the capability, on
supported hardware, to connect devices to an external display and utilize a "PC-like" interface with
mouse and keyboard input support. Windows Phone 8.1 smartphones will be eligible for upgrade to
Windows 10 Mobile, pursuant to manufacturer and carrier support. [2]Some features may vary depending
on hardware compatibility.[3]
The first Technical Preview for Windows 10 Mobile was made available for download to selectLumia
smartphones as of February 12, 2015.[4]Additional Lumia devices were supported in subsequent builds.
Versions released after Build 10080, released on May 14, 2015, also work on the Windows Phone variant
of the HTC One (M8). Although the M8 is currently the only non-Lumia Windows Phone included in the
preview program as of build 10149 released on June 24, 2015, Microsoft has assured that future builds
will add support for more non-Nokia, non-Microsoft Windows Phones, though not all devices will be
included.[5]No release date for the final version has been announced;Joe Belfioreconfirmed that due to
how the OS is being developed, it will not be released in parallel with PC editions of the platform. [6]

 Development[edit]
Microsoft had already begun the process of unifying the Windows platform across device classes in 2012;Windows Phone 8dropped theWindows CEbased architecture of its predecessor,Windows Phone 7,[7]for a platform built upon theNT kernelthat shared much of the same architecture with its
PC counterpartWindows 8including file system (NTFS), networking stack, security elements, graphics engine (DirectX), device driver framework and
hardware abstraction layer.[8][9]AtBuild 2014, Microsoft also unveiled the concept of "universal" Windows apps. With the addition ofWindows Runtime
support to these platforms, apps created forWindows 8.1could now beportedtoWindows Phone 8.1andXbox Onewhile sharing a common
codebase with their PC counterparts. User data andlicensesfor an app could also be shared between multiple platforms. [10]
In July 2014, Microsoft's then-new CEOSatya Nadellaexplained that the company was planning to "streamline the next version of Windows from three
operating systems into one single converged operating system for screens of all sizes," unifying Windows,Windows Phone, andWindows Embedded
around a common architecture and a unified application ecosystem. However, Nadella stated that these internal changes would not have any effect
on how the operating systems aremarketed and sold.[11][12]
On September 30, 2014, Microsoft unveiledWindows 10;Terry Myersonexplained that Windows 10 would be Microsoft's "most comprehensive
platform ever," promoting plans to provide a "unified" platform fordesktop computers,laptops,tablets,smartphones, andall-in-onedevices.[13][14]
Windows 10 on phones was publicly unveiled during theWindows 10: The Next Chapterpress event on January 21, 2015; unlike previous Windows
Phone versions, Windows 10 will also expand the platform's focus to small, ARM-based tablets, thus making it ade factosuccessor to Microsoft's
commercially unsuccessfulWindows RTplatform (which was based upon the PC version of Windows 8). [15]Windows RT devices will receive a different
update with some of the features of Windows 10 for PC. [16]
During the2015 Buildkeynote, Microsoft announced Windows Bridge,[17]a collection of tools to allowAndroidandiOSsoftware to be ported to
Windows 10 Mobile. Windows Bridge for Android consists of a runtime environment (codenamed "Astoria") that allows Android apps writtenJavaor
C++to be adapted for use under Windows 10. The layer will implement the majority of Android 4.4'sAPIs, translating relevant calls into calls to
equivalent Windows APIs. Support for Microsoft platforms such asBing MapsandXbox Livewill be available as nearly drop-in replacements for
equivalentGoogle Mobile Services. Android apps for Windows 10 can be published toWindows StoreinAPKfiles. The layer contains some limitations:
Google Mobile Services and certain core APIs will not be available, and Kevin Gallo, technical lead of Windows Developer Platform, explained that
apps that have "deep integration into background tasks", such as messaging software, may not run well in this environment. [18][19]Windows Bridge for
iOS (codenamed "Islandwood") is anopen sourcemiddlewaretoolkit that provides atoolchainfor compilingObjective-Cbased software to run as
universal apps on Windows 10.Visual Studio 2015can convertXcodeprojects into Visual Studio projects.[20][17][21]An early build of Windows Bridge for
iOS was released as open source software under theMIT licenseon August 6, 2015, while the Android version is in closed beta. [17]