In an interview with BusinessWeek, Microsoft’s Senior Director Todd Brix confirmed recent suspicions that Microsoft has been providing free hardware as well as financial incentives to entice developers to the Windows Phone 7 platform. Financial incentives include cash for their commitment to the platform as well as a little assurance that if things go south, their time won’t have been completely wasted.

“We are investing a lot to attract developers big and small to Windows Phone 7 to let them understand what the opportunity is and provide as many resources as we can to help them be successful on our platform. We’re open for business and we want to work with them.”

- Todd Brix

Microsoft has a massive mountain to climb to push a brand new platform like Windows Phone 7 into a market where developers are primarily finding success in the iOS or Android platforms. It is going to take a lot of work on Microsoft’s part to gain momentum and developer support for a new OS that won’t have a defined user-base until months after the launch has occurred. For developers it’s hard to know whether their developmental work will pay off and whether or not WP7 will mature enough to become a lucrative platform to develop for.

What Microsoft is doing to entice developers certainly isn’t wrong, nor is it necessarily a bad sign for the future of Windows Phone 7. They are simply giving devs the tools they need to make their work successful, while throwing a little cash at developers to relieve some of the insecurity involved with developing for a brand new platform. At this point, Microsoft needs to be doing all they can to stack the Windows Marketplace’s roster because when compared to the iPhone’s massive selection and Android’s quickly growing market, they are going to need all the help they can get.

[Via BusinessWeek]

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