Microsoft: we figured people would hack Windows Phone 7, would suggest that they don't

[img]http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/11/chevronwp7.jpg
[/img]
Hot on the heels of the release of a utility for bypassing the Windows
Marketplace and sideloading your own apps, Microsoft has released a
brief statement on the state of the Windows Phone 7 hacking
community... and we wouldn't exactly say they're too worked up about it:
"We anticipated that people would attempt to unlock the phones and
explore the underlying operating system. We encourage people to use
their Windows Phone as supplied by the manufacturer to ensure the best
possible user experience. Attempting to unlock a device could void the
warranty, disable phone functionality, interrupt access to Windows
Phone 7 services or render the phone permanently unusable."So yeah,
we'd say this is more or less a boilerplate quote: "we figured you'd
hack this thing, we'd prefer it if you didn't, and here's a laundry
list of things that could (but probably won't) happen if you fail to
heed our meek warning." Over the long term, we wouldn't be surprised
if Redmond ended up playing an Apple-style cat-and-mouse game with
these folks, breaking hacks with firmware updates only to have them re-
hacked within a few days' time. Considering the lack of spitfire in
the statement here, we don't see them coming down too hard unless
legitimate, card-carrying, fee-paying developers throw a fit -- and
granted, ChevronWP7 could be a step on the road to piracy, so that
could very well happen.