If you're a Microsoft development partner, you may be getting a device from Redmond sometime this month. But what Microsoft really wants you to look at is "Metro" -- no, not the document format which seems to have disappeared but Metro the interface that exposes application notifications through tiles on the phone's desktop.

Metro the phone interface is part of the Design Resources for Windows Phone that Microsoft is hoping development partners will adopt.

Metro also introduces a new application runtime based on Silverlight 3 and, to some degree, elements of Silverlight 4. Native Windows CE applications will no longer run on the platform, says Brandon Watson, director of developer experience for Windows Phone 7. Applications will be written in a hybrid version of Silverlight 3, which includes elements of Silverlight 4. And there are no plans to support HTML 5. A mistake?

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