Does it make sense to write pre-Mango (7.0) applications for Windows Phone 7

Question

Inspired by the exchange on a recent issue , I wanted to know if there are good reasons for developing Windows Phone 7 applications, model-oriented before Mango, i.e. creating applications oriented to API 7.0, but not to more modern 7.1 APIs.

I got the impression that since the Mango update is now fully deployed, there are very few reasons why someone will have a phone with Mango OS preinstalled. I guess that anyone who has a phone before Mango probably never connects it to their computer and probably doesn't download applications.

Are there any good statistics on demographic versions of the OS that can report this decision?

Answer 1

I know from analytics of my applications that there are people who live there using pre-Mango versions of Windows Phone, but as you noticed, they are unlikely to connect their phone to their PC to perform updates or even update applications that they already downloaded (my wife, for example, would still be on the original version sent, if I hadn’t updated my phone myself!).

With this in mind, I personally do not see the point in creating applications that are now intended for target versions of Mango for the operating system. Refunds are very unlikely to guarantee this.

Answer 2

There are not many reasons to target pre-Mango, not Mango, as the update is available to all phone models now and for free.

Do not forget about the latest SDK, because there is no reason not to ... LOL, it makes sense in my head. Things like performance improvements, bug fixes, new features, etc., are all reasons to keep up with the latter, as you know.

The only reason I will focus on the older SDK is that a particular version of the phone’s OS was not available for certain equipment for any reason.

And again, if you can make your application with the lowest common SDK, why not, theoretically it will only increase your user base if backward compatibility is implemented by choosing a newer and not fully deployed version. You just personally suffer from the old APIs and miss new features. However , I see this counterpoint as a largely academic argument and adds little weight to the selection of older versions.

Save yourself a headache, go with new stuff. Anyone who actively uses their phone to use your application is likely to be hot with updates.

Answer 3

I no longer program 7.0-specific programming since the show from Mango is now available almost everywhere I am interested in application deployment. This question will launch it again when vNext is released (with potentially updated hardware / sensor requirements, etc.), but at the moment I see little reason to focus on the old version.