Microsoft's upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series will not support full multitasking, with critics likening this important feature omission to Apple's iPhone.
For Windows Phone 7 Series, the OS will process Microsoft's core integrated experiences, including music and phone calls, in the background, but NOT those of third-party apps – very much like the iPhone.
Unless you have jailbroken your iPhone, you will only be able to run certain things (such as the iPod music option) in the background while you do other stuff on the device, such as surfing the web via the Safari browser.
Not the end
Windows Phone 7 Series will, however, support push-notifications so that third-party apps can send you updates and status messages when the app itself is not running in the background.
In comparison, Google's Android and Palm's WebOS both support much-improved multitasking, allowing numerous third-party apps to run in the background.
And don't worry WiPho fans - this isn't Microsoft's final stance on third party multi-tasking - it's just designed so the first release doesn't go all unstable and eat your battery.
Charlie Kindel, Manager of Microsoft's Windows Phone App Platform and Developer Experience program says the decision to not support full background processing was related to battery-life:
"We do not allow third-party applications running on the phone to execute in the background," he told Wired.com. "We're poised to support it eventually, but in order to support great battery life and great end-user experience, we're focusing on the integrated experiences first."
Via Wired
