After a two day meeting between the Chevron Team and various members of Microsoft Windows Phone Team, it looks as though we are close to an agreement between the Homebrew Community and Microsoft. The Chevron Team who developed the Windows Phone 7 Unlocker; which utilized a bug in Windows Phone 7 to allow various customizations to Windows Phones, were asked later to cease and desist with the tool.
They were later invited by Microsoft to sit down with the Windows Phone Team where they could discuss the future of Homebrew applications for Windows Phone 7. In the following statement, while not word for word due to a nondisclosure agreement, the end results look promising for all parties.
Although a large majority of the content presented by Microsoft is covered by a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), which we voluntarily agreed to, we can say we’re genuinely excited by many of the forward-looking presentations. We can only hope they come to fruition as soon as possible.
To address our goals of homebrew support on Windows Phone 7, we discussed why we think it’s important, the groups of people it affects, its direct and indirect benefits and how to manage any risks.
With that in mind, we will work with Microsoft towards long-term solutions that support mutual goals of broadening access to the platform while protecting intellectual property and ensuring platform security.
In the meantime, a forthcoming Windows Phone 7 update will fix a bug that the ChevronWP7 unlocker tool took advantage of; the tool will cease to work thereafter.
To fill this short-term gap, we’re collaborating with Microsoft on an interim solution that will continue to support homebrew developments after the update. We will share details of this when it has been finalized.
In summary, we appreciate Microsoft’s outreach, genuine interest and involvement in this matter and we hope the community can understand we’re working towards a win-win scenario.
As someone looking at developing applications for Windows Phone 7 and wanting to be allowed to do so without any limits, I myself am pretty pleased with how the results are going so far. Not only does this give hope for developers, it puts a pretty positive note on where Microsoft is heading for the future!
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