One of the reoccurring questions that comes up in the user's forums is how does one remove an item from the Ready to Install list in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile. The answer to this question is You do not. There is no functionality in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile to do this.
On one hand this makes sense. The Xbox 360 works the same way. On the Xbox 360 every item you've ever downloaded is added to a list. Should you ever want to redownload it you can either find it in the Xbox Live Marketplace again or you can go to the list of applications you've previously downloaded and grab it again. I like having this option, especially when my xbox only had 20 gigs; it was reassuring to know that if I cleared space on my harddrive that I wasn't loosing content.
On the Windows Marketplace for Mobile user's are not as welcoming of this permanent list as they are on the Xbox 360. Though it seems that most Xbox 360 owners that I've spoken to don't know the list exists and thus don't really evaluate it. From my own viewpoint though while the functionality is identical on both devices I must admit it would be nice to have an additional option to hide items from the Ready to Install List. Perhaps it is because the 3 inch screen on the Windows Mobile device doesn't have as much realestate as the 50 inch HDTV that the Xbox is connect to, perhaps it is easier for me to scroll down the list with my controller, keyboard, or remote than it is to scroll down the touch screen. I'm not sure. But what ever the reason may be I know that I would like the option of being able to hide the items.
It will be interesting to see how Windows Phone 7 handles this. The RTM tools will be released nine days from now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the RTM firmware will be available too. I guess I will know in 7 days.
Tags: Windows Phone, Marketplace