There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the Windows Phone 7 at the Microsoft MIX10 conference. The missing copy and paste functionality is one of the most controversial topics as well as the final word regarding Windows Phone 7 multitasking. For a while, app developers and fans alike were holding their breath for the final word, which was difficult to get out of Microsoft considering the fact that the OS is not launching any time soon, the emulator behaves differently from Microsoft’s descriptions and no one has the list of final hardware specs.

The thing is, Microsoft has delivered the final blow on the issue and has confirmed that there will indeed be no system for multitasking in Windows Phone 7 mobile phones. Or at least very limited support for it. This is a direct confirmation and was brought up several times during the conference so it is a hundred percent accurate.

Microsoft has even specified that developers can expect their apps to crash or close if they integrate any sort of feature that requires a multitask function. Seeing as they have announced this to all the initial developers present at the conference, then it means it is really not possible to see multitasking launch with Windows Phone 7 devices. Or at the very least it cannot be expected to be seen working in the traditional sense.

The system is highly capable of multitasking however and it will have some sort of limited first party support for it. For example, Internet Explorer and the Zune player can still run in the background and if the system is not using up resources,  third party apps will be in a “dehydrated” (translation: suspended) state until additional resources are needed by the system. If that happens then the app is automatically closed.

There is hope however, seeing as how Android and Windows Mobile 6 have managed to work while complemented by additional task managers. Just don’t expect the Windows Phone 7 to run Pandora while you play a new mobile game anytime soon.

Jump to Engadget for more about the missing multitasking function in Windows Phone 7.

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