More juicy peach for Windows Phone developers who are enjoying Mango - we know our Daniel Rubino is with updating his entire device inventory to the developer build. First off, build 7712 is now being pushed to developers (kudos to Jay Bennett with providing us with the above screenshot), be on the lookout for update notifications on Zune to move on from 7661.
Here are some instructions posted by Cliff Simpkins, in the official announcement over at the Windows Phone Dev blog:
- Make a copy of the backup you took when you updated to the Mango Beta 2 pre-release (which I’m sure you did) and put it in a safe place, if it isn’t in one already
- Return to http://Connect.Microsoft.com (we’re using the same program you were invited to join last month) and download the freshly posted files, which includes a new Zune client and a new UpdateWP executable
- Head to the Control Panel and uninstall the Beta 2 software (Zune client and UpdateWP) and tools (WPSDK) that you installed last month
- Install the new software and tools that you just downloaded from Connect
- Fire up the new Zune client beta (4.8.2134.0) to check for the new update
- Zune will then update your phone from 7661 to 7712
We recently covered the rumors surrounding the 7712 build that developers will be receiving prior to the public release of "Mango", one must note however that this build isn't final, which is 7720. For those wondering as to why this is the case:
"First, the phone OS and the tools are two equal parts of the developer toolkit that correspond to one another. When we took this snapshot for the refresh, we took the latest RC drops of the tools and the corresponding OS version. Second, what we are providing is a genuine release candidate build, with enough code checked in and APIs locked down that this OS is close enough to RTM that, as a developer, it’s more than capable to see you through the upcoming RC drop of the tools and app submission. It’s important to remember that until the phone and mobile operator portion of Mango is complete, you’re still using a pre-release on your retail phone – no matter the MS build."
As well as an update to "Mango" that developers are running to get their apps ready for consumers, Microsoft have also refreshed the second beta of the Windows Phone SDK. Why the refresh? check out the following goodies:
- Application platform APIs are now locked; you can feel confident to start getting ready for submitting your apps next month.
- Emulator now has a nifty screenshot capability built in, allowing you quickly snap quality images of your app without the need of separate tools or cropping time. The images are great for use in app submission process or to share on your blog or with folks such as my team (hint hint).
- The profiler has been greatly improved and provides memory profiling.
- As of this drop, you can install NuGet into the free version of the WPSDK tools. I find NuGet to be one of my favorite productivity boosters and I’m happy to see the extension supported in the free tools.
- The drop includes an initial peek at the Marketplace Test Kit; with the RC release, you’ll be able to use the included version of this toolkit to test your XAP file against the same certification testing tools that we use when ingesting apps for the Marketplace. For this refresh, it’s there but not fully functional; but more on this in a future blog post.
The SDK RC (release candidate) is expected to surface in the next month. So there we go folks, Mango goodness all around. Let's hope this speed of development continues.
Source: Windows Phone Developer Blog, thanks to everyone who tipped us!
