A couple of months back we had a small debate on whether or not the soon-to-be-released Windows Phone 8 will be running the NT kernel from Windows 8.

We didn’t have much to go on back then, but it seems that now we have an excerpt from an unrevealed document which clearly says that Windows Phone 8 will achieve platform parity with Windows 8.

What does that mean? It means that Windows Phone 8 will be using the Core System from Windows 8 such as a stripped down Windows system that boots, manages hardware, along with other features that Windows 8 obviously has.

Here’s what was posted on the Russian smartphone forum:

“Windows Phone” Apollo “brings together platform parity with Windows 8, experience parity with Windows Phone “Mango”, and a set of new features and functionality developed for Windows Phone “Apollo”.

Platform parity means that the phone OS is now based on the Windows NT kernel instead of the Windows CE kernel. Windows Phone “Apollo” uses the Core System from Windows 8, which is a minimal Windows system that boots, manages its hardware and resources, authenticates and communicates on a network, and can be managed at a basic level.

The final significant changes of note are the adoption of ESENT, also known as Jet, for the database engine, and the managed-code runtime. Rather than using the. NET Compact Framework from Windows Phone 7, Windows Phone “Apollo” uses the Core CL produced by the Developer Division at Microsoft. “

Sure, all the apps that will be running on Windows Phone 8 will still have to be signed by Microsoft, but at you’ll have full compatibility with Windows 8.

We know this isn’t exactly official confirmation that Windows Phone 8 (also known as Apollo) will indeed be based on the NT kernel of Windows 8, but at least everything from the excerpt sounds legit and makes sense.

Will Windows Phone 8 indeed be based on Windows 8 NT kernel?

Source: [4pda.ru via wmpoweruser]