日前，微软宣布Windows Phone 7平台已聚集1万5千名开发商，目前应用软件数量约3000款左右。据了解，WP7平台在本月初的开发商数量是1万3千名，仅用了几周时间就增长了15%，这对一个新生的手机操作平台来说确实是一个好兆头，更何况它所面临的竞争对手是谷歌Android和苹果iOS这两个强者。

Windows Phone 7

苹果App Store已经拥有30多万款应用，Android Market也有10万款左右的产品。面对这种市场形势，可以说WP7的华丽转身已将微软手机操作系统顺利引入应用软件时代，它更注重通过应用服务提供良好的用户体验，改变了Windows Mobile那种让操作系统决定用户体验的传统模式。

很显然，面对来自其他重量级选手的挑战，初生牛犊WP7的市场前途原先的确令人担忧。但需要注意的是，WP7还掌握了iPhone、Android所缺乏的几张王牌。例如，WP7可以连接微软Xbox Live在线游戏服务平台，在手机游戏领域上显然比其他劲敌更具筹码。要知道Xbox Live的用户已经超过2500万人，微软及其手机制造合作厂商当然可以针对这些硬核电子游戏玩家，打造独具特色的手机平台。

WP7还有另一个杀手锏，即绑定了微软强大的办公应用软件。Android和iPhone的用户就没有这么幸运了，他们手机上运行最快捷的也只有DataViz公司推出的Documents to Go文件编辑应用，但是DataViz公司自从被RIM收购后，很快就中止对WebOS手机操作系统的支持。所以Documents  to Go这款应用基本上也是前途未卜，这也意味着WP7对那些开发办公应用软件的公司来说，仍然是个理想的选择。

当然，这个数据还不能决定最终胜负。不过看到如此之多的开发商争先涌向WP7平台，相信微软员工都会觉得非常给力。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Windows Phone 7 hits the ground running with 15,000 app developers

Microsoft announced it now has 15,000 developers creating applications for its mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7, with around 3,000 applications available today.

It’s a good sign for the infant mobile operating system that had around 13,000 developers earlier this month. A 15 percent bounce in a few weeks isn’t too bad, given that it’s going up against powerhouses like Google’s Android mobile operating system and the iPhone/iPad operating system, iOS.

Windows Phone 7 finally brought Microsoft’s mobile operating systems into an age that is dominated by apps. The Apple App Store already has around 300,000 of them, and the Android Marketplace has around 100,000. Instead of the operating system being core to the experience of a phone, like Windows Mobile’s traditional strategy, it has since become just a springboard for the user experience that applications can deliver.

Clearing several orders of magnitude to catch up to the rest of the smartphone market might seem daunting at first. But it’s also worth noting that Windows Phone 7 has a few cards up its sleeve that the iPhone and Android operating systems don’t have. Namely, it can connect with Microsoft’s Xbox Live online gaming service and promises to beat the pants off its competitors in that sector. With more than 25 million Xbox Live users, Microsoft and its partners can effectively create the phone of choice for hardcore video gamers.

Microsoft is also able to integrate its incredibly popular Office applications pretty seamlessly into a mobile interface. Android and the iPhone operating system don’t have immediate access to the well-known document editing office application. The closest thing is DataViz’s Documents to Go. But that company was acquired by Research in Motion, which quickly killed support for the budding WebOS mobile operating system. So the future of that document editing application isn’t clear on competing platforms. That means Windows Phone 7 is in a good position to make a play on the enterprise market if developers can jump on board with apps that integrate with Office.

Numbers clearly aren’t everything in this game. But after seeing the number of developers ramp up for Windows Phone 7, Microsoft employees are probably throwing each other a few fist bumps.（source:venturebeat）