That's good and necessary, but it's a "duh" move that Microsoft should have made long ago. What may go beyond "duh" is the apparently tighter integration between "Apollo" and Windows 8, making it easier for developers to write Metro UI applications for each device from a common code base. "What this shows is that Microsoft is indeed planning to create as seamless an ecosystem as possible across PC, tablet, phone, and [TV] set-top box," IDC analyst Al Hilwa told my InfoWorld colleague Paul Krill.
Hilwa adds, "It appears that Windows Phone 8 will leverage important parts of Windows 8 while running the same application base. It remains to be seen how hard or easy for developers to modify apps written for one OS for the other, but all indications are that Windows Phone 8 will bring many of the important new features in Windows 8 to the phone platform. For example, application contracts will allow apps to talk to each other on the phone, and Windows Phone 8 will have native development with C and C++, which is supported on Windows 8."
Windows 8 already uses Windows Phone 7's visual style, so it makes sense for Microsoft to move the platforms at least as close together as Apple has done with Mac OS X and iOS and their common APIs, Objective-C-based Xcode development environment, and interface approaches.
This article, "Leaked Windows Phone 'Apollo' details: Security at last?," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more of Galen Gruman's Mobile Edge blog and follow the latest developments in mobile technology at InfoWorld.com. Follow Galen's mobile musings on Twitter at MobileGalen. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.