Windows Phone 8

Also known as WP8, Windows Phone 8.0

second generation of Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system

Key facts

Developer: Microsoft Corporation
Os family: Windows 8
Working state: Discontinued
Source model: Closed-source
General availability: October 29, 2012 ; 13 years ago ( 2012-10-29 )
Final release: Update 3 (Build 8.0.10532.166) / April 14, 2014 ; 12 years ago ( 2014-04-14 )
Update method: Firmware over the air
Package manager: XAP, APPX
Supported platforms: 32-bit ARM architecture
Kernel type: Hybrid ( NT kernel )
License: Proprietary software licensed to OEMs
Preceded by: Windows Phone 7 (2010)

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Article

Windows Phone 8 is the second generation of the Windows Phone mobile operating system from Microsoft, released on October 29, 2012. It runs on the Windows NT kernel and is the successor to Windows Phone 7. It was the first Windows platform for mobile devices to be closely related to, and match the version number, of a desktop counterpart, in this case Windows 8.

Like its predecessor, it features a flat user interface based on the Metro design language. Windows Phone 8 replaced the Windows CE kernel used in Windows Phone 7.x with the Windows NT kernel found in Windows 8. As a consequence of this, all Windows Phone 7.x devices cannot run or update to Windows Phone 8, and new applications compiled specifically for Windows Phone 8 are not made available for Windows Phone 7.x devices. Windows Phone 8 devices were manufactured by Nokia, HTC, Samsung and Huawei.