>>>>>(UPDATE - Sorry - Thought I had selected Windows Phone category..)
>>>>>
>>>>>I just tried making a sample Silverlight wp7 app in VS2010 (with SDK7.1). Works fine in the emulator.
>>>>>
>>>>>Then I wanted to try it on my phone.
>>>>>
>>>>>Obviously I'm an idiot for thinking I should be able to deploy or debug to my Windows Phone Device (selectable from VS2010) via USB with Zune installed and connected to the phone.
>>>>>
>>>>>I get an error that my phone is not developer unlocked (why?).
>>>>>
>>>>>Further research says I need to go to AppHub to register (why? - I'm trying to publish my app to my phone directly.).
>>>>>
>>>>>I go there and fill in everything until the (apparently) last step - AppHub wants $99/year to register (WHY?? - I'm trying to publish my app to my phone directly!!). I skip that step.
>>>>>
>>>>>OK - I try to use Windows Phone Developer Registration. No way - my AppHub registration is incomplete - I haven't paid my $99/year extortion fee!!!
>>>>>
>>>>>Am I missing something, or is Microsoft the blood-sucking money pit people say it is, and my windows phone development is at an end?
>>>>>
>>>>>I hope I'm missing something.
>>>>>
>>>>>If I actually pay the extortion fee and build/test an app I want employees here to use (not public, not for sale), how the hell do I deploy the application?
>>>>
>>>>A nice walk of 15 or 20 minutes is recommended <g>.
>>>>
>>>>We've all been there with the frustration level. Sometimes it really is better to just let it go and do something else for a while.
>>>>
>>>>(spoken like a true Polonius)
>>>
>>>Time is an issue on this, as the development team at my day job is looking at mobile development direction and budgeting for this year, and naturally it came up as a task today with a report and estimate due date of tomorrow.
>>>
>>>It seems Microsoft is learning to put the screws to mobile developers from Apple.
>>
>>Not familiar with this subject but I took a look at the application submission process. Personally, I'd like to know that any app you wanted to install on my phone - whether I was an employee at your company or not - complied with the requirements of the vetting process (well, OK there are a couple of oddities in there but...).
>> As I understand it there's a $99 annual registration fee but no charge for individual application certification (the latter seems odd but seems to be the case). Minimum download price is $1 but since you get 70c back the net cost to your company would be 30c per user. Do those figures really have any impact on the overall development and distribution costs?
>>
>>Come to think of it .30c per user sounds like a pretty cheap way of deploying the app. What would be the other options - have each employee come by and download via USB from your development machine ?
>
>We turn applications around from requirements to deliverables in as little as a day or 2. More often, we make fixes/upgrades to apps that need to be fielded immediately.
>
>With Windows Phone, that now means we can wait several weeks (from what I'm hearing from people who publish WP7 apps) for an app to make it through Microsoft's certification/validation/whatever process before it is available for download.

They claim an average of 5 days for certification on their web site. Is it really taking as long as you suggest?
(Oh, and I also saw that the subscription is good for 100 submissions for free apps)

>Would you like that as a way to get all your apps to your clients?

If, as you suggest, it takes 'several weeks' to obtain certification then no. OTOH I wouldn't see 5-7 days as being a deterent.....

>The real option would be to treat Silverlight like Silverlight on WP7, and let the phone run web hosted silverlight apps and have the option for local install from the web. Obviously Microsoft does not trust Silverlight, so that isn't going to happen.

Is that official ?

>It is not acceptable, and Windows Phone has come off the list of candidates for mobile development here. It looks like Android is the only usable alternative.
>
>Too bad - I've slowly gotten to accept my Windows Phone.