For those looking forward to being able to develop for the new Windows Phone 7 platform, there is something rather significant that you need to be aware of. As Engadget reports, it seems like Microsoft is only allowing apps to be approved by the Windows Marketplace, which users can then install. But this is not as clear as it might sound. While end users will only be able to gain access to applications via the Marketplace, it seems that enterprise users will be dealt a different set of rules as dictated by their workplace.

Much of this sounds a lot like something we might have seen from Apple’s App Store with some minor exceptions. Luckily, for developers on the Microsoft side of things, there are promises to avoid the headaches in terms and policies as to what will be allowed by the Microsoft Marketplace. This said, what neither Microsoft nor Apple appears to be able to address is the lack of migration from one platform to another after dropping hundreds of dollars on “apps.” Clearly, mobile platform spending is a zero sum game.