Microsoft, ChevronWP7 developing WP7 homebrew support

Last week, the ChevronWP7 team met for two full days with various members of the Windows Phone 7 team. They discussed homebrew support for the platform, why it's important, the groups of people it affects, its direct and indirect benefits, and how to manage any risks. The results were positive, according to the ChevronWP7 team.

"With that in mind, we will work with Microsoft towards long-term solutions that support mutual goals of broadening access to the platform while protecting intellectual property and ensuring platform security," the ChevronWP7 team wrote. "In the meantime, a forthcoming Windows Phone 7 update will fix a bug that the ChevronWP7 unlocker tool took advantage of; the tool will cease to work thereafter. To fill this short-term gap, we're collaborating with Microsoft on an interim solution that will continue to support homebrew developments after the update. We will share details of this when it has been finalized."

Two months ago, ChevronWP7 was discontinued less than a week after its release. ChevronWP7's three developers, Long Zheng, Rafael Rivera, and Chris Walsh were approached by Brandon Watson, Director of Developer Experience for Windows Phone 7, and decided to kill their app. In return, Microsoft agreed to allow them to become more involved with the shaping of the homebrew scene on the Windows Phone platform, but emphasized that ChevronWP7 would not be the way to do so.