Related
Now that we have a way to use native apis with little bit of creativity, does anyone have any information what apis there are available? Or any advice how to figure out the content of missing header files, any tools for the job? I assume that the OEM API documentations are not available anywhere in the net (couldn't find with the Google anyway).
I for one would like to know what resources we have there to use, and evaluate if I can turn my sw ideas to reality.
Any hints would be greatly appreciated!
Just use Visual Studio 2008 with the Windows Mobile 6 Pro SDK installed. Pretty much anything will work. Bear in mind though that any apps relying on interoping means the app will not pass marketplace verification.
Also, the security issue of being sandboxed still applies, so without a lot of hacking it's not certain you would be able to access parts of the system.
..::H.O.W...T.O...N.A.T.I.V.E::..
Hello,
today I had decided to start this thread about native development for WP7.
At the current moment I don't upload/attach any working stuffs to this message. It will happen a bit later, after new DFT ROMs release. This is because it's very difficult to run them for now.
Let's start from current achieved results:
1) It's possible to run any EXE files (after "FullUnlock")
2) Those EXE files can do any operations in the system (after "FullUnlock")
3) It's possible to show some GUI from this applications. But GUI has legacy Windows CE style, it's impossible to create Metro-style applications for now.
How can it be used by community?
We can develop a lot of homebrew applications: like porting emulators, old native applications, video players and etc.
It can be possible to port famous TCPMP player for example and get ultimate playback on Windows Phone 7!
Is it possible to run old Windows Mobile 6.5 applications without modifications?
No, it's not possible. A lot of different APIs are missing for those applications.
Is it hard to modify old Windows Mobile 6.5 applications?
Well, it's almost same like porting to pure Windows CE, but a lot of Windows CE stuffs are "damaged" inside Windows Phone. They just doesn't work right, because nobody never used/tested them before
Photos of sample "WP7 Native test"
Information for developers you can find in the next messages.
So I will release demo WP7 native application, when we fix issues with FullUnlock.
Demo will be as binary EXE file. And as VS2008 project, which can be good start point for other developers.
Now this thread dedicated for discussion, share ideas and thoughts.
DFT, Cotulla
Information about "FullUnlock"
Information about "FullUnlock"
DevUnlock actually allows only to deploy XAP files from external sources.
It doesn't give more privileges.
So we (DFT) developed "FullUnlock". FullUnlock is implemented as replacing some system files by wrappers, which allows any kind of access (disable access checking at all)
We replace LVMOD.DLL which used to check files and data (checksums, certificates and etc) and POLICYENGINE.DLL which implements internal objects access checking.
All written before means that FullUnlock at the current moment only possible by flashing custom ROM to device. In future maybe we can find good ways to do it without flashing, but for now I don't see any ideas how to do it without flashing.
Maybe we can replace DLLs inside \Windows\ directory (put a shadow copy), but I am not sure if it will work really. It's stuffs for future experiments.
It can be possible to do something near by editing policy values, but it need big research to find right way. As it still won't disable file checking, maybe we can add own certificate to right store and then sign files with them.
The last DFT 7720 MANGO ROMs contains FullUnlock, but it doesn't work as expected there few issues. as well some users got issues with debugging on those ROMs and etc. We will continue work under it
So I will release demo WP7 native application, when we fix issues with FullUnlock.
Demo will be as binary EXE file. And as VS2008 project, which can be good start point for other developers.
Now this thread dedicated for discussion, share ideas and thoughts.
For developers
For developers
(users do not read! danger for brain!)
First of all I want to talk about abilities of native code.
Most applications built in inside WP7 are native. But they don't use usual Dialog UI style, they are using some kind of Silvelight scripts. This kind of UI is called "UIX".
Main idea of UIX that DLL files have UIX resources inside which describe whole UI.
Something similar is used inside CE 7.0 Slivelight - there some xml compiler which make binary data and put them as resources inside DLL. I don't know how to decode this binary data.
Seems Zune desktop application also using this framework.
So UIX used some kind of scripts for UI part and callbacks for all actions.
If we decode this UIX format, we will able to change/modify UI as we want, like it was before with regular resources inside DLL. But UIX must be much more powerful.
We can't use UIX for native application because we don't know how to use it, how to make proper binary data and etc. It's hard to reverse.
But native application can have some GUI with Windows CE style (you can see examples on the photos above)
Another issue: If you call API function "CreateWindowW" you won't see anything on the screen. It seems because shell handle all output, so window doesn't visible.
After some searching I found inside some test ROM nice DLL called "WindowTreeUpdater.dll". After looking inside and decoding functions parameters, it's working!
Basic idea: you create window and call function from this DLL and Window appear on the screen. There seems some kind of proxy engine to output legacy windows on top of shell output.
Nice, it's working...
So we can use usual windows for UI inside native application.
There present standard controls, but they work rather laggy (hey, and looks too).
Basic controls like PushButton, Static, CheckBox, Radiobutton, Icon are working.
About extended controls: (Progress bar, list view, and etc)
they come from Commctrl.dll usually, it was present inside Initial/NODO releases, ut it was removed inside MANGO. I was able to run NODO Commctrl.dll under MANGO after some modifications. But all this controls are shown on screen, but they don't do anything on input. So you can see toolbar, but can't press any button.
CommDlg.dll is missing and never was inside WP7.
There present AYGSHELL.DLL, but most functions are broken. For example, I was not able to create menu bar.
So, a lot of functions are broken, like MessageBox not working.
But we still can create own custom controls and use them for developing.
For example porting TCPMP means that we will need reimplement UI fully - because toolbar doesn't work. slider also won't. Maybe get and reuse some source from ReactOS or NT40 CommCtrl
reserved1reserved1
reserved2reserved2
reserved3reserved3
This is some crazy ****! I like it
for...all...devices!? If possible...damn
I just came...
Holly smoke !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Way to go guys....BRAVO... This is a major breakthrough for wp7 dev
Once again well done DFTeam
You guys are beasts...please keep it up
for...all...devices!? If possible...damn
I just came...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For now it's only for HTC devices with flashing custom ROM
The UIX/UIB scripts are a real pain.. I tried going through them a while back to change the annoying notification system (10 seconds? Really, Microsoft?) and figured it would all boil down to the usual XML-style script that WM6.5 and other MS products use, but the format is newer and there doesn't seem to be an easy way to decompile them.
From what I do know, however, is that it's more of an encoding than a compilation, and can be decoded if we can figure out what all the different headers mean... but that's a serious reverse engineering project.
Keep it up.is it possible to add Samsung device into support list?
Great work! Are there any multitasking restrictions for these apps? presumably because they are not Silverlight they will not be present in the task switcher & the app will be in charge of when the process terminates?
Looking forward to doing some nice low-level operations - hopefully this will open a whole new world for WP7 dev
Sent from my 7 Pro T7576 using Board Express
That's great，，，Thanks
Cotulla said:
For now it's only for HTC devices with flashing custom ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hopefully this will change when you receive the Samsung Focus and try custom ROMs.
Blade0rz said:
Great work! Are there any multitasking restrictions for these apps? presumably because they are not Silverlight they will not be present in the task switcher & the app will be in charge of when the process terminates?
Looking forward to doing some nice low-level operations - hopefully this will open a whole new world for WP7 dev
Sent from my 7 Pro T7576 using Board Express
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would suspect that they won't be killed unless there's an Out of Memory issue (you can see the whitelists for that in the registry), because these processes are not like the silverlight/xna apps that are launched in Taskman.exe. Whether they show up in multitask lists, idk, but they probably won't be killed in the traditional way..
but that's a serious reverse engineering project.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes...
maybe it's precompiled XAML scripts, like inside Managed applications?
Great work! Are there any multitasking restrictions for these apps? presumably because they are not Silverlight they will not be present in the task switcher & the app will be in charge of when the process terminates?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would suspect that they won't be killed unless there's an Out of Memory issue (you can see the whitelists for that in the registry), because these processes are not like the silverlight/xna apps that are launched in Taskman.exe. Whether they show up in multitask lists, idk, but they probably won't be killed in the traditional way..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plain EXE can run without restrictions, but I guess it will be killed at OOM condition still. EXE with window seems all a bit more complex. When I press back button it usually disappear after few seconds. I think window got WM_CLOSE or something at that moment. It should be researched more in the future.
Furthermore, I forgot to say: Interesting thing, before MANGO WP7 supports native XAP files too!
There was few files nativeinstaller* which implements native installation. There references inside for setup.dll and _setup.xml like in old CAB files.
But it was removed from MANGO seems
Cotulla said:
For now it's only for HTC devices with flashing custom ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would we be able to install an old application like fpsece for windows mobile? One of the biggest things I miss about windows mobile! I get paid today so I will be making a donation for your hard work! I'm currently using your custom rom on my HD7! Thanks again, and keep up the good work!
支持DFT論壇！支持xda-developers！至於你信不信，反正我是信了！
Webserver (for Mango)
Webserver is now supported for Mango devices!
During NoDo this tool was used much for exploring the "\Windows" directory, but when Mango came none could explore it.
There is probably many new things to find in the new OEM Mangos (that could not be extracted till now (Exception's: ROM dumps))
Source code is available in attachment and should build without any problems (except for the dll reference)
- Follow stem 6 for Microsoft.Phone.InteropServices.dll errors
Install XAP => Navigate to the phone's IP shown in application => Browse and enjoy.
- Change password on first launch (its randomized)
Many thanks to davux for creating the base for this tool.
- Orginal NoDo thread Here
Changelog:
v0.1 - Initial Mango version release
v0.2 (iconizer)
- Thanks MarysFetus aka Suicide Clown for the great icon set and start screen, love em
- Many thanks to GoodDayToDie for informing me that this app can / and will run from now without the <"ID_CAP_INTEROPSERVICES">
- Removed old OEM dll's that where not used (xap size: 812 KB => 250 KB)
//fiinix
Nice works my friends... I Like It
Thankx
@fiinix:
Thx for porting the webserver to Mango !
As I remember the initial version from Davux had an on device execute feature.
Do you plan to implement execute feature ?
Could be very useful for exploring all .exe files in the windows folder.
Greetz
contable
Freaking awesome, man!
One suggestion: I don't believe this app does anything that requires ID_CAP_INTEROPSERVICES (that is, it doesn't need to open any driver handles). I may be mistaken about that, of course. If it doesn't, however, there's a real benefit to removing that capability as people with interop-locked phones could then run it. Note that the library used may try to do things requiring interop even though the app doesn't need it to.
In addition to its uses as a hacker's tool, I also want to point out that this app can be used to store files on the phone for easy transfer between computers. It's less convenient than true USB Mass Storage, but it works (even if you don't have the USB cable with you) so long as there's a WiFi access point that the phone and PC can both connect to.
Oh, and by the way, this app will run happily in the background if you use JaxBot's no-dehydrate hack. You can do other things then, even browsing the webserver from the phone's own browser! Of course, it will also use some resources.
Now slimmer, and no ID_CAP_INTEROPSERVICES
OK, this is just a modification of the XAP file - I didn't even recompile the source (thank you so much for including it, though!)
Things I did:
Removed ID_CAP_INTEROPSERVICES from the AppManifest. This will allow the app to be installed on interop-locked phones. It wasn't using it anyhow.
Removed the OEM-specific DLLs that are only useful if you have ID_CAP_INTEROPSERVICES. They weren't being used, but they made the download and install bigger.
Result: A smaller app that works exactly the same and can be installed on any Dev-unlocked Mango phone.
Really neat. Mind if I design some sort of decent icon for this app?
Regards, Suicide Clown
//Update:
finished the Icon:
Hope you like it.
MarysFetus said:
Really neat. Mind if I design some sort of decent icon for this app?
Regards, Suicide Clown
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, go ahead.
Its the freedom of XDA, do what you want
I added the new NativeIO_Mango.dll to my battery status app instead of the old filesystem.dll. I hope that's okay. Thanks so much for your great libraries.
singularity0821 said:
I added the new NativeIO_Mango.dll to my battery status app instead of the old filesystem.dll. I hope that's okay. Thanks so much for your great libraries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The "NativeIO_Mango.dll" is actually a communicator for "Homebrew.csproj" containing COM+ "IWinSock" and "IFileSystem"
- Homebrew.csproj exists in this projects code.
The battery interop will not talk to NativeIO_Mango.dll (the "Webserver" will tho)
Phone.Battery.GetBatteryAdvanced()
-- goto here
---- DllImportCaller.lib.GetSystemPowerStatusExAdv7(ref str, true);
Homebrew.IO.Directory.GetFiles ( [path] )
-- cctor (static constructor) => Register("NativeIO_Mango.dll", "B0E4E41C-BE1D-4BA2-B8CE-7D632EA1CA37");
---- FileSystem.FindFirstFile ( ... ) & while FileSystem.FindNextFile( ... )
:here
Code:
[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]Registrer[/COLOR].Register(BasePath +
[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]#if[/COLOR] RUNNS_UNDER_MANGO
[COLOR="DarkRed"]"DllImportMango.dll"[/COLOR], [COLOR="DarkRed"]"434B816A-3ADA-4386-8421-33B0E669F3F1"[/COLOR]
[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]#else[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Silver"]"FileSystem.dll", "F0D5AFD8-DA24-4e85-9335-BEBCADE5B92A"[/COLOR]
[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]#endif[/COLOR]
);
Filesystem.dll is not used anymore in Mango version (its a NoDo dll)
"Thanks so much for your great libraries."
- Thank you so much
I could swear it didn't work without the filesystem.dll one time I tried haha. I guess that was something else
Thanks~
perfect! Now we'll look for regedit editing & file transfering. Any ideas?
Fiinix this is just amazing work! Because of you, I've need to rewrite a chapter of my thesis
Let me ask some questions regarding the supplied source code:
There are four folders inside the rar archive:
The Lib folder contains all OEM DLLs from Samsung, HTC and LG.
The Homebrew folder contains all old code from davux that is necessary to open up the sockets, files and registry entries (if needed?)
NativeIO_Mango contains your altered native DLL that can be used under Mango
The Webserver folder contains the actual WP7 application, that glues everything together into one nice app.
From the underlying workings:
Davux tried to build an API that resembles C# Sockets from the desktop. This way the C# Webserver project of jgauffin can be reused in the WP7 application. You removed from Davux's NativeIO project the references to all parts that require the native OEM DLLs (which is why GoodDayToDie stripped the unneeded DLL files and removed ID_CAP_INTEROPSERVICE to allow users without interop-unlock to use the app).
If this is so far correct, I'm wondering how some things in this application could work:
Ok, so you've removed the code that allows access to the filesystem and registry which uses the native OEM DLLs. How is it possible, that this application can access folders outside its Isolated Storage??? The application should not be allowed to access the windows folder nor any other folders? I know only of one folder, that should be read/writeable. Its a folder that heathcliff found in the policies, I think it was some kind of log folder. Or is readable access with WM6 native API to all files possible?
In WMAppManifest.xml stands ID_CAP_NETWORKING. This is necessary for navigating between different XAML pages but also necessary if we want to do something with the native network access. Can this capability removed or will the application break?
To sum up, if these assumptions are all correct, the policy system is partly useless from the moment on, where someone is capable to call native code, that does not require ID_CAP_INTEROP. This would theoretically allow a submission to the Marketplace?
Right now, I'm heavily confused and irritated, please explain me my error in thinking
PS: I tried to build the NativeIO_Mango project. I changed to release target and build. However, it exits with error message regarding the missing _CE_ALLOW_SINGLE_THREADED_OBJECTS_IN_MTA setting. I've added it, but then I get 19 more errors. Each time it is unresolved external symbol.
Hi Rudelm,
I can't answer exactly what Fiinix did, but I can resolve a couple other points for you.
The OEM DLLs allow higher-than-normal app permissions (breaking out of the low-privilege "sandbox" that apps normally operate in). However, there are a few parts of the filesystem that can be accessed even without them, by design. One of those is the Isolated Storage for the app, which obviously needs to be readable and writable by the app. Another one is the install directory, which only needs to be readable so libraries and resources can be loaded (the webserver app doesn't allow you to browse this folder, but I'm confident that it could if it was coded to). The third is the Windows directory, which is also read-only (and many files and folders within it can't be read) but is similarly required because the app needs to be able to load system libraries (including the TaskHost.exe binary that hosts the app DLL). "Normal" apps can't access these folders simply because the Silverlight API doesn't have a function to open or list an arbitrary location on the filesystem (only within the isostore, which it abstracts the path to).
I don't know what happens if ID_CAP_NETWORKING is removed. It's quite likely the app would break, since that capability may be checked any time the app tries to open a socket (directly as this app does, or indirectly via the Silverlight APIs). You could experiment and do some research to find out, though. It would be interesting to see.
I wouldn't worry too much about apps in the marketplace running amok with native code (even in the low-privileged process, they could still do some harm). The ComBridge Silverlight API that is required to access native code at all is prohibited from use by independent software vendors - only Microsoft and their partners are allowed to use it for Marketplace apps. Somebody tried submitting a Homebrew app to the marketplace (another opportunity for some research, if you'd like to find out more) and discovered that the use of ComBridge is detected and blocked during the submission process.
There we go, a enchanted new version v0.2
- Optimization's from what everybody has told, the best from all worlds
thanks for the explaination!
It seems like a plausible idea that the native code and the WP7 app needs to access some of the folders to work. So the silverlight managed code won't grant access by design to the Windows folder. Can you tell me where this folder for the installation packages is?
Regarding the capabilities: I've checked it with the marketplace capability test tool:
Result Details
[INFORMATION] : Capabilities used by application :
ID_CAP_PUSH_NOTIFICATION
ID_CAP_NETWORKING
ID_CAP_IDENTITY_DEVICE
I've removed ID_CAP_NETWORKING and it immediately stopped working. No dialogue that shows the IP address, only username and password. That is at least good to hear
Regarding the marketplace certification: You could be right, I've also read somewhere that COM is only available to some third parties like Adobe and manufacturers. Maybe I try to submit a little test app that uses interop.
rudelm said:
thanks for the explaination!
It seems like a plausible idea that the native code and the WP7 app needs to access some of the folders to work. So the silverlight managed code won't grant access by design to the Windows folder. Can you tell me where this folder for the installation packages is?
Regarding the capabilities: I've checked it with the marketplace capability test tool:
Result Details
[INFORMATION] : Capabilities used by application :
ID_CAP_PUSH_NOTIFICATION
ID_CAP_NETWORKING
ID_CAP_IDENTITY_DEVICE
I've removed ID_CAP_NETWORKING and it immediately stopped working. No dialogue that shows the IP address, only username and password. That is at least good to hear
Regarding the marketplace certification: You could be right, I've also read somewhere that COM is only available to some third parties like Adobe and manufacturers. Maybe I try to submit a little test app that uses interop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Capabilities Test only checks through managed code and its caller references (Dll references, method usage within dll)
Why the ID_CAP_NETWORKING is needed is because of the WP7 policy system; ID_CAP_NETWORKING allows usage to those resource locations:
Allowance to "WINSOCK", windows socket API
Code:
<Rule Description="Authorization rule for capability ID_CAP_NETWORKING" ResourceIri="$(GLOBAL_RESOURCES)/WINSOCK/CONNECT" SpeakerAccountId="$(SYSTEM_USER_NAME)" PriorityCategoryId="PRIORITY_STANDARD">
- <Match AccountId="$(CAPMACRO_ID_CAP_NETWORKING)" AuthorizationIds="GENERIC_ALL" />
<Rule Description="Authorization rule for capability ID_CAP_NETWORKING" ResourceIri="$(GLOBAL_RESOURCES)/WINSOCK/LISTEN" SpeakerAccountId="$(SYSTEM_USER_NAME)" PriorityCategoryId="PRIORITY_STANDARD">
- <Match AccountId="$(CAPMACRO_ID_CAP_NETWORKING)" AuthorizationIds="GENERIC_ALL" />
<Rule Description="Authorization rule for capability ID_CAP_NETWORKING" ResourceIri="$(GLOBAL_RESOURCES)/WINSOCK/ACCEPT" SpeakerAccountId="$(SYSTEM_USER_NAME)" PriorityCategoryId="PRIORITY_STANDARD">
- <Match AccountId="$(CAPMACRO_ID_CAP_NETWORKING)" AuthorizationIds="GENERIC_ALL" />
<Rule Description="Authorization rule for capability ID_CAP_NETWORKING" ResourceIri="$(GLOBAL_RESOURCES)/WINSOCK/SERVICE_PROVIDER_CHAIN" SpeakerAccountId="$(SYSTEM_USER_NAME)" PriorityCategoryId="PRIORITY_STANDARD">
- <Match AccountId="$(CAPMACRO_ID_CAP_NETWORKING)" AuthorizationIds="GENERIC_READ" />
"Can you tell me where this folder for the installation packages is?"
\Applications\Install\9bfacecd-c655-4e5b-b024-1e6c2a7456ac\Install\
Nice, thanks for the policy entry. Where did you find it?
Regarding the installation path: I thought you ment a special path to the place where the compressed xap is deployed or something like that before installation. But now it is clearer to me why the application is able to access Windows, installation dir and isolated storage
I've tried to upload a small app with native code but as GoodDayToDie said, the marketplace will see that it contains access to native API and that my account isn't allowed to do that.
So the world is safe again, I'm calmed down now hehe
The policy is from a ROM dump: BasePolicy.xml (Currently got "WP7 Mango Build 7661" dump), i think its this one i downloaded: [DUMP]WP7.1 Build 7661 "Mango"
Some more clearance: \Applications\Install\{ The application Guid }\Install\
- Each application has its own isolation storage:
\Applications\Data\{Guid}\Data\IsolatedStore\
I don't know if it's possible but can you add access to /My Documents?
voluptuary said:
I don't know if it's possible but can you add access to /My Documents?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to say but the basics of this app allows only access to \Windows (dll reference location) as used for extracting of xap files, xml and dll (reverse engineer). You will probably need WP7 Root tools.
Full Article
http://justinangel.net/Win81APIs
Bluetooth 4.0 RfComm and GATT support
Point of sale: Barcode scanners and Magnetic card readers
Smart Cards
Lock screen Image Apps
VPN support for Metro apps
Scanner APIs and apps
Support for any External / USB device
Native PDF rendering in apps
Multiple screens projection support in apps
XAML/WinJS: New resolution scaling support / Super-high resolution tablets
Camera: Low-lag cameras / HDR
New Metro App Types: Appointments, LockScreen, Contacts and GeoLoc
New App Type: GeoFenced activation
New App Type: Lock screen call
New App Type: Appointments Provider
Text-to-speech
Read-write access to Camera roll, Saved pictures and playlists
XAML/WinJS: new SearchBox control
XAML/WinJS: Hubs for SemanticZoom
XAML: DatePicker and TimePicker
XAML: Flyout, MenuFlyout and SettingsMenuFlyout
XAML: AppBar simplification
XAML: DataBinding Improvements
Globalization: Currencies, Numeral systems and Numerical formatters
Other minor but important Win8.1 features
Be aware: these are new WinRT APIs, not Windows RT features. WinRT != Windows RT (I usually abbreviate the latter as "WRT" to avoid confusion and for similarity with things like WP8).
With that said, since WinRT is the only official API for developing WRT apps, and since Win8.0 and WRT_RTM support the same WinRT APIs, it's reasonable to assume that the same APIs are coming to WRT and therefore apps using these API features will be available on WRT devices.
Another interesting point is that WP8 uses WinRT as well (though only a subset of it). Hopefully at least some of these new APIs also become available on WP8.1; the obvious candidates are things like alarms and Bluetooth and such, though it'd be great to get *any* kind of VPN support in there...
"Support for any External / USB device"
Does that sound like unsigned (or testsigned, whatever) kernel mode code to anyone else?
Edit: Should probably read the thread closer, this is WinRT stuff.
It's not kernel mode. More accurate would be the ability to write (sandboxed, low-privilege) user-mode drivers using WinRT. That's still cool - it's the first official driver API of any kind, and from a security standpoint I'm way more comfortable about installing WWinRT apps than actual NT drivers - but it probably won't help with unlocks. It does mean you can talk directly* to USB devices, though, which is cool in many ways.
Given the ability to handle unrecognized devices, I'm guessing that apps will be able to register for specific USB IDs (in the same way that they can register for URI schemes and file extensions now) so that the app will auto-start when you connect a device, or so you can search the store for apps which can handle a specific device. This is big. The lack of third-party NT drivers for obscure hardware on RT has been an impediment (one of many) to progress on the platform. Asking people to write their own drivers is probably not going to fly for really complex hardware unless it's also quite popular, but I can see people doing things like writing an ADB app; there's no reason I know of why that needs to be a kernel driver.
* I'm assuming that the new WinRT APIs basically call into a generic NT driver that does the actual device IO. So, it's not literally directly talking to the device in the sense of sending bits down the USB port from your software, but it's still a lot closer to the metal than we could officially get before.
GoodDayToDie said:
* I'm assuming that the new WinRT APIs basically call into a generic NT driver that does the actual device IO. So, it's not literally directly talking to the device in the sense of sending bits down the USB port from your software, but it's still a lot closer to the metal than we could officially get before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is probably just a Metro wrapper around the old well-known WinUSB API: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff540174(v=vs.85).aspx
And there is a strange question in the article:
Despite the plethora of new VPN APIs, an open question remains as to whether WinRT Win8.1 apps will work by default on VPNs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
VPN works fine on RT. At least I can connect to our company VPN with the built-in client and access all our internal resources, for example Sharepoint from the Internet Explorer.
Confusion of "Windows RT" and "WinRT" again*. VPN works "fine" on Windows RT, or on Windows 8, for desktop apps. However, WinRT apps, on either Win8 or WRT, are known to have problems tunneling through VPNs. These new APIs will hopefully help with that, but the question remains whether WinRT (Metro) apps will work *by default* over a VPN, or not.
* I swear, the entire Microsoft branding department, or at least any of them who can't provide proof they didn't argue against this idiocy, need to be stood up against a wall, slapped in the face, by everybody who ever got those two mixed up, and then fired. Much like Windows Phone... at least the complete retard who came up with "Windows Phone 7 Series devices" got the boot, but the result was merely slightly less awful and it hasn't gotten better since.
Being able to write drivers in WinRT level sounds very interesting indeed. I wonder how much integration into the OS will those drivers have, especially, if they are to remain active even when the parent app is not running.
I just hope they bring the entire IO interface of .NET on WinRT. That way we would be able to write drivers from scratch if we really wanted to...
I just want to access to COM ports. Seriously that was a dumb decision on microsofts behalf to block it. Only security threat it poses Tcp also poses so that can't be the reason.
I guess with raw usb access you can try a custom driver to a usb adaptor.
Hi,
Please resolve my basic queries in regards of Windows Phone:
Like Rooting in android and Jailbreak in iOS, is there anything in Windows Phone as well?
Android apps are .apk. Like this, what about Windows phone apps?
In case of android, some of users install apk from different sources (apart from Play Store). Can it be done in Windows phone as well?
In comparison to android phone, how Windows phones are secure?
Can we install .exe file in Windows Phone? and
In comparison of Android, why should we consider windows phone?
Regards
GNS
Google search engine is your only friend.
1. There are a handful of devices that can be rooted at this time. Some of them have custom ROMs available to them as well.
2. Windows Phone apps are .xap (old filetype), .appx (current filetype), and .appxbundle (package of .appx and other required files).
3. Yes, apps can be sideloaded from the computer, installed via Device Portal over the internet, and some are directly installable by executing them.
4. Windows Phone is currently the most secure mobile OS.
5. Maybe?
6. It's a personal choice if you use it or not. Each OS has it's pros and it's cons. You can get one pretty cheap, around $30-50. If your intrigued, buy one and play with it.
1- Developer unlocking (allows amateur apps, very easy to do) and interop unlocking (allows breaking the sandbox -hence "interoperation"-, mostly unrestricted editing of system files, comparable to root, is done via an exploit in the OS)
2- .xap, .appx, .appxbundle
3- Some applications can be installed by simply opening their file on the device, some (mainly WP8 .xap) are installed with an application deployment tool (requiring a PC). But generally speaking the practice of manually distributing apps is not very popular.
4- Both OSes have exploits, and both are updated. Windows Phone/Mobile has an advantage in practice, but only because most devices are 1st party and Nokia/Microsoft have great lifetime cycles on their products.
5- No, at least not computer programs (apps still contain a .exe binary, but most power users never touch or even see them directly)
6- It's all a personal opinion I like the fact 99% of apps support external storage out of the box, the clean UI, and the app gap isn't a big deal as everything I need to do is covered!
I'm a relative beginner too so some of the above may not be exact...
I'm going to assume you're asking primarily about Windows 10 Mobile (W10M), not the legacy Windows Phone (WP7.x and WP8.x) OS family. Although the underlying OS is very similar between WP8.x and W10M, the answers to some of your questions change.
Yes, all W10M devices can now be jailbroken/rooted (we don't have a single term for it right now; if you say "rooted" people will know what you mean). On W10M, there are two critical elements to rooting a phone: the ability to run unsigned (or at least non-MS-signed) code outside an app sandbox, and a way to launch an application with high privileges. We can now do that for all W10M devices, including WP8.x devices upgraded to W10M.
As others have said, the extensions are .xap (Silverlight / XNA apps, used for WP7.x and some WP8.x apps, still supported on W10M), .appx (WinRT, used for W10M and some WP8.1. Used for "Universal" Windows [Phone] 8.1 and Windows 10 [Mobile] apps, such as W10's "Universal Windows Platform"), and .appxbundle (just a collection of .appx files and their various resources / requirements). As with .APK files, they are just ZIP archives and can be opened by 7-Zip or anything else that knows the format (unless they are DRM-encrypted, which ones from the Store often are).
Yes, W10M supports sideloading. It's actually easier to enable on W10M than it is on Android (it's an easily-found option in Settings). By default you're limited to 20 sideloaded apps at once, but there are ways to bypass that.
Against external attacks, W10M is extremely secure. There have been no easily-exploited vulnerabilities (like Stagefright for Android), so far as I know. The app store is also better curated that the Play Store, and you can fully control the privacy settings of individual apps. Also, unlike with Android, Windows phones continue getting updates long after release, especially if you use the free preview / Insider programs to get your updates before your OEM or mobile operator bother to approve them (which sometimes never happens, both on Android and Windows, but on Android the only way around that is to go with a custom ROM; on W10M Microsoft makes it possible to still get updates).
Very much depends what you mean. In one sense, yes, of course; all W10M executables (both system and app) are EXE files (.XAP files may contain only a DLL that is loaded by a system EXE; newer apps include their own EXE). EXEs intended for desktop PCs generally won't run, though, because they use the x86 or x64 instruction sets, and the phone uses the ARM (actually THUMB2) instruction set. These are completely different "languages", and ARM CPUs cannot understand x86 machine code without an extremely slow interpreter in the middle. Additionally, the phone does not support the "Windows desktop" user interface at all, so you can't run any graphical programs (except "immersive"/"Metro-style"/WinRT/whatever-they-re-calling-it-this-week) ones. Command-line interface programs can be run (if they're compiled for ARM processors, and the phone is jailbroken) but there's not (yet) any translation layer for running x86 apps, even command-line ones, on the phone.
A more consistent UI across phones. Better control over when apps run and what they do (which often gives better battery life). Much better update support, even for "unsupported" phones. Pretty good performance even on really low-end phones; a cheap Windows phone will run much better than a cheap Android phone. Better security. Higher-end Lumias have some of the best cameras ever put in phones. Continuum for Phones (connect to a real monitor, and optionally USB keyboard and/or mouse, and run apps on a bigger screen). Easy access to pre-release builds, if you like trying out the bleeding edge features and such. Integration with all the Microsoft services (Exchange and Office365, Skype, OneDrive, etc.), although you can still use Google mail/calendar/etc. Tap-to-pay with high-end Lumias. Many apps can be used on both PC and mobile Win10 but you only need to pay once. Easy to re-flash your phone if something goes catastrophically wrong (commonly called "soft bricked", i.e. you can't even factory reset anymore), although they don't get into that state any more often than Android phones. Specs-for-specs, Windows phones are often cheaper than Android ones. Doesn't send a bunch of personal info to Google (of course, maybe you don't trust Microsoft any better, but at least their primary business isn't advertising).
... there are lots of reasons, just as there are lots of reasons to prefer iOS, or to prefer Android. Without more info about what you find important in a phone, it's hard to guess what stuff you'd care about.