Windows Phone 8 vs Windows Phone 7.8 Features Comparison

When Microsoft announced Windows Phone 8 officially, it also dropped a piece of information that angered a lot, I mean a lot of people. Present Windows Phone 7.5 users unfortunately won’t be able to upgrade to Windows Phone 8. That means Windows Phone 8 will only come with brand new devices and everyone who owns a Windows Phone 7.5 device are pretty much screwed. But then, there’s a silver lining to this cloud, current Windows Phone users get an update called Windows Phone 7.8 “Tango” that adds a few features from the upcoming OS to it. Interested in a Windows Phone 8 vs Windows Phone 7.8 Features Comparison? Read on!

The big features won’t be making their way to older devices, but some of the good stuff will. Apparently, this drastic step had to be taken because even though Windows Phone 7.5 is a completely different OS from its predecessors, it runs on the same kernel as Windows Mobile 6.5. Windows Phone 8, on the other hand, will share the same kernel as Windows 8, the desktop and tablet version. This is actually great news for developers, since it will mean making apps for all platforms will become much easier and porting apps require much less effort. It also means mobile and desktop platforms will be integrated much more than previously.

According to Microsoft, Windows Phone 8 is completely future proof and it does include some pretty cool features. For example, it supports processors upto 64 cores! It also includes a lot of features from Windows 8 and has much more enterprise related capabilities. Windows Phone 8 is set to launch officially on October 27, 2012, just a day after Windows 8 sees retail release on October 26, 2012. A few more features of Windows Phone 8 are: a redesigned home screen, NFC support, expandable memory support, support for HD screen resolutions and much more. Windows Phone 7.8 “Tango” will be getting some of the visual and convenience features of Windows Phone 8, but will miss the good stuff like true multitasking, NFC and over-the-air updates. A leak from Nokia has detailed and compared the features of both the operating systems. Have a look at the Windows Phone 8 vs Windows Phone 7.8 features comparison, courtesy of Smartphone France:

Windows Phone 8 vs Windows Phone 7.8 Features Comparison

(Picture courtesy Smartphone France)

This might not be an exhaustive list, but even from it we can see that Windows Phone 8 has got some pretty useful features. The note on the side has two comments, “Limitations sur Lumia 610” means “Limitations for the Lumia 610” and “Sauf Lumia 610” means “Except Lumia 610”. Even now, not all apps run on the Nokia Lumia 610 and not all features are completely available on it due to the low-end hardware and particularly, low RAM. Looks like Nokia Lumia 610 users will have to settle for even less than other current Windows Phone 7.5 users. So what do you think about this Windows Phone 8 vs Windows Phone 7.8 features comparison, would you ditch your current Windows Phone 7.5 to buy a new Windows Phone 8 device?