They didn't have to! -- what they just did was screw themselves in the branding (and that's it).
They've created a new update, Windows Phone 7.8 that will rollout to current Nokia devices and other Windows Phone 7.5 devices.
It will include many of the new UX features, such as the new home page, etc.
But as WP8 is changed so much on a fundamental level, it makes no sense to port that to legacy hardware. They're reenvisioning the OS -- so the current Nokia phones won't support higher resolutions and multicore processors. That's ok! They don't have the hardware!
This is exactly what Apple does -- limited updates for legacy devices.
Only Microsoft was stupid enough to call it Windows 7.8 instead of Windows 8 (for legacy devices).
It's all in the branding and since they're bringing up the major features that legacy devices support, they should have just called it Windows 8. Consumers don't care about the distinction, if it looks like WP8, it's WP8.
No. WP8 introduces an entirely new API for app developers. WP8 apps will not work on WP7 devices. That is going to have huge and painful effect for existing WP users.
Legacy devices means devices from 3-4 years ago for Apple. If I buy a Windows phone today, it won't run the next major version of the OS. I'm just glad I didn't buy a Lumia 900 when my upgrade became available like I planned to.
My original iPad is now legacy barely more than 2 years after it's release. It's last available update is from June 6, 2011. So essentially about 1 year and 2 months of support.
They've created a new update, Windows Phone 7.8 that will rollout to current Nokia devices and other Windows Phone 7.5 devices.
It will include many of the new UX features, such as the new home page, etc.
But as WP8 is changed so much on a fundamental level, it makes no sense to port that to legacy hardware. They're reenvisioning the OS -- so the current Nokia phones won't support higher resolutions and multicore processors. That's ok! They don't have the hardware!
This is exactly what Apple does -- limited updates for legacy devices.
Only Microsoft was stupid enough to call it Windows 7.8 instead of Windows 8 (for legacy devices).
It's all in the branding and since they're bringing up the major features that legacy devices support, they should have just called it Windows 8. Consumers don't care about the distinction, if it looks like WP8, it's WP8.