[Note: This topic is pre-release documentation and is subject to change in future releases. Blank topics are included as placeholders.]
Windows Phone Emulator is a desktop application that emulates a Windows Phone OS 7.0 device. It provides a virtualized environment in which you can deploy, debug, and test applications. Windows Phone Emulator reduces the need to have a physical device for common application development scenarios. This can reduce the development cost of writing applications for Windows Phone. It also provides an isolated development-specific environment for early application prototypes.
Windows Phone Emulator is designed to provide comparable performance to an actual device and meet the peripheral specifications typically required for application development. However, it is expected that applications deployed to Marketplace be tested on an actual Windows Phone device.
Windows Phone Emulator is designed to provide comparable performance to an actual device and meet the peripheral specifications typically required for application development. However, it is expected that applications deployed to Marketplace be tested on an actual Windows Phone device.
Features
Windows Phone Emulator runs applications created for Windows Phone OS 7.0. Windows Phone Emulator enables the following features:
- Emulation of device peripherals
- Emulation of processor, RAM, display, and graphics processing unit (GPU).
- Persistent store
- Networking
- Audio
- Keyboard
- Restoration to user-saved state
- Deployment
- Debugging
Requirements
For information about hardware and software requirements, see Setup and System Requirements for Windows Phone Emulator.
Backward Compatibility
Windows Phone Emulator is not backward compatible with Visual Studio 2005 or Visual Studio 2008. Also, it cannot load Windows Phone OS images earlier than Windows Phone OS 7.0.
Networking
Networking support is integrated with the Windows Phone Emulator. Networking is enabled by default. Therefore you do not have to install network drivers for Windows Phone Emulator or configure networking options in most environments. For information about how to use Windows Phone Emulator on a development computer that uses a proxy for Internet access, see Troubleshooting Network Connectivity on Windows Phone Emulator.
GPU Emulation
Windows Phone Emulator includes emulation for a graphics processing unit (GPU), if a GPU is present on the development computer. You need GPU emulation to support game applications that are based on XNA Framework. Some Silverlight application scenarios depend on GPU emulation for optimal performance. For more information, see Optimizing Performance of Windows Phone Emulator.
Hardware-assisted Virtualization
You can improve the performance of the emulator in some scenarios by using hardware-assisted virtualization. For more information, see Optimizing Performance of Windows Phone Emulator.
Media Support
Windows Phone Emulator supports the VC-1 format for video, and the .wma format for audio. The H.264 video format is not supported in the Windows Phone Emulator installed with Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP Refresh.
Configuration Options
The Windows Phone Emulator installed with Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP Refresh supports the following configuration options:
- Changing from portrait to landscape mode
- Changing the zoom setting to fit the emulator to your desktop screen
Related Topics
