kitchen closed
When I was a Windows Mobile user one of the best thing was I could pick up a custom ROM from xda-developers that was not filled with bloatware that the carriers usually add to the Stock ROM. OEMS’s like HTC and even Microsoft turned a blind eye to ROM cookers and the xda-dev became the one stop shop for all your custom-ROM needs. There were a lot of Chefs and apprentice chefs ( if you will ) and ROM cooking was what the in crowd did on xda-developers. Lets face it if people were forced to use the stock-ROM , they would have dumped windows mobile ages ago... HTC who was new to the smartphone industry, has created some amazing device over the years but if it wasn’t for xda-developers , I don’t think they would have had the success they enjoy now.
Fast forward to today .. now WP7 is around the horizon and Windows Mobile is no more .. WP7 is a new OS and there are limitations, there is no access to file system and side loading of apps. The once open Windows Mobile is no longer a part of the WP7 OS. Will this also spread over to the ROM cooking scene ? I think it already has. According to @conflipper, who is a high profile Source for HTC ROMs ( He is the owner of http://shipped-roms.com )
cease and desist email just arrived from HTC legal team. They want http://shipped-roms.com to shut down.
Its all but confirmed that no existing Windows Mobile including the HTC HD2 will get a WP7 upgrade, but Windows Mobile users were confident that the Hackers and Chefs at xda-developers will find a way and at the very least an unofficial WP7 ROM will one day be posted at xda-developers. But with the recent crack down of ROM sources , how long before xda-devs are forced to shut down the Kitchen ?
I dont think the ROM-cooking community will die just yet, if they are evicted from xda-devs , they will most likely go underground .. What do you guys think ? Will we ever see a WP7-ROM on xda-dev for devices like the HD2 ?
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Whilst a C&D cannot be good, I’m currenly using the stock ROM on my HD2, and have been for months now. It’s significantly faster than some of the “optimised” ROMs, and it does just work.
Cooked ROMs are not the reason for WM having so many users.
I believe the Open nature of WM was one of the reason many users stuck to the OS over the iPhone, Cooked ROMs were a part of it.
I agree with you on the fact that its not the only reason or the single most important reason.
Many of the issues with WP7 are something MS had a choice about.
a) Implement in v1, without much polish, and then polish it later
b) Make v1 perfect but limited, and then add features.
The first is what MS usually do, and from what most people say, it’s not what they like. The latter, is the Apple approach. Many pointed out how lacking the iPhone was in features when it first launched, yet it was clearly successful. MS are trying to take that approach, and I suspect consumers will prefer it.
I think cooked ROMs are brilliant. You could use older phone with new features. Cooked ROMs are a main reason for using WM! No cooked ROMs, no WM for me! WP7 seems like more than a iphone :-(
WP7 seems like more than a iphone , in some aspect it does .. but I am quite excited about WP7 and will be in the line to pick up the device when it launches .. even if they have to sacrifice some of the open-ness .
I dont see myself as a hardcore power user ( I use an iPhone as my main device ) and I can live with some of the limitations with WP7 as long as developers will develop apps and games for the playform
I’ve been a windows mobile user since 2000 when it was just the iPaq 3600. Ever since then I’ve had a window device, I’ve tweaked them, changed the start screen so many times it was almost compulsive. I feel that the main strength of windows over the years is the extreme flexibility in changing the way you can modify it to the users likes. Sometimes its just a nice background or its a cooked ROM. I’ve been flashing my phones for years now and love it. I’ve probably flashed my HD2 36 times or more just since April when I got the thing.
Just like the iPhone, there were those who weren’t satisfied with the “stock” layout. Within a very short time it was already jail-broken.
There will always be a community of those who want to take something stock and modify it, just human nature I guess. Never satisfied.
I know that there are copy-right issues involved, but its not like they are out to make any money on what they are doing. If anything it creates a “buzz” and following of the product.
Long live XDA-Developers! In what ever shape they evolve into.
Wouldn’t be the first time Micro$oft shot themselves in the foot
Why are you blaming Microsoft ?? C&D was issued by HTC .. read before you comment .
I still think WP7 ROM for HD2 will come out on xda-developers.com
Yes I have no doubt about it.
Also, I use a Custom ROM on my HD2 and there is no comparison with the Stock ROM. The custome ROM I’m using is very stbale and super fast. I also have many useful features that you don’t have on the stcok ROM.
COme’on. The Stock ROM for the HD2 still use an oldfashioned WM 6.5, whereas all custom ROMs include WM 6.5.x, no volume imitation, New Manila with RSS Hub widget, etc, etc.
The first thing I have done with my mobile was flashing it. I have E-ten M800 and all users know why it must be flashed;) The cooked ROM is excelent. It is completly new phone with cooked ROM.
Long live XDA-Developers!
I have a HTC Pure…and I can’t wait to get rid of it’s stock ROM. It is using more than half of my phone’s memory and with what? with a bunch of uninstallable game demos and a bunch of uninstallable AT&T apps. I don’t want any of it.
I believe the lack of ROM cooking is the mayor worry and precaution I have towards WP7. I certainly won’t run to buy one once it’s available until I see something really good that outweighs losing the ability of ROM flashing.
The thing with WP7 is there are limitations to the amount of apps / memory that the carriers can fill up on WP7 ( I don’t remember the exact limit, if someone do plz add it here ) , so crapware carrier apps wont be much of an issue with WP7