HTC Touch HD2 has been touted by reviewers and owners alike as an open device that can pretty much run any modern mobile operating system, from Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional to 6.5.3, Android 2.1 (Eclair) to Android 2.2 (Froyo). Windows Phone 7 was announced a few months after the phone came out in late 2009, and since then, owners and modders have hoped that Microsoft would release a WP7 upgrade for it one day.
[RELATED_ARTICLE]Microsoft shattered that hope, saying the HTC Touch HD2, though quite well-endowed, doesn’t meet some of the basic requirements it has outlined for Windows Phone 7 devices. That of course doesn’t stop modders from trying to create a compatible ROM that runs on the HD2, and attempts have been made before, meeting with limited success. Now, with WP7 truly and officially released and with various ROMs undoubtedly floating around in developer circles, it was just a matter of time that someone went ahead and actually did the deed.
The XDA developers’ forum is one of the premier mobile developer forums in the world, and it comes as no real surprise that they would be the first to show off what looks like a well-fitting fully-functional WP7 ROM running on the HTC Touch HD2… check out a video of the Touch HD2 running WP7 below, and notice the snappy performance, very nearly comparable to the licensed WP7 device, the HTC Surround. The functionality is all there, with Microsoft Office, Zune etc., all showing up.
In related news, HTC has released an Android 2.2 (Froyo) upgrade for the HTC Legend, complete with HTC Sense.