Posted on 09-05-12 07:52 pm
Many people have been asking me lately a variety of questions in regards to future Windows Phone 8 plans. The questions range from the broad standpoint (will I continue to work with WP8?) to much more specific questions (WP8 jailbreak?).
Here's some answers that should help clarify my future plans for Windows Phone Hacker:
Will you continue to work on WP8 hacks?
Yes, I do plan to. The fine line here is that Microsoft has cut support for now legacy devices (despite my Lumia being mere months old when this was announced), which means that it will be a tad difficult to get my hands on a working device with the OS. Student life is a cheap life, my friends. But I will try to do what I can.
Windows Phone 8, jailbreaks, etc.
Well, here's the interesting thing. The WP8 OS is completely different; it has all our favorite WP7 pieces, but recompiled to run on Windows NT on ARM. The developer unlock system is pretty much the same, though I would expect security to be beefed up from the start. The one thing we (homebrewers) have to our advantage is the fact this is a first release, which increases the possibility of finding simple, careless mistakes.
Edit: Pardon my outdated info. WP8 devices apparently do not need developer unlocking, whereas WP7.8 devices still will. That makes sense, since, you know, WP7 will continue to thrive and all.
Sarcasm aside, this means that homebrew will actually be trivial on WP8, which is extremely good news. Also, native code is officially supported, which should make development pretty fun. The question with "jailbreaks", then, is whether or not exploits will be found to break out of the application sandbox and elevate privileges to do things we shouldn't be able to do. Now, this question can only be answered when WP8 is actually released; we don't know what exactly we would want to do and can't, but considering the large number of new WP8 features, there's probably a lot less to worry about than on WP7.
In regards to custom ROMs, with talks of the devices using Secure Boot, it'll certainly be a challenge compared to the already difficult WP7 hacking.
Windows Phone 7.8?
I like my Focus a lot. Until it finds a worthy replacement, I will continue to develop for the WP7 branch. When support for it will be dropped, I can't say. I'll just have to play by ear of what happens; a lot of the plans are in the air right now, and will just have to follow the direction of the wind. One simple answer is available, though: I will continue to try my hardest for WPH.
Any comments, questions?