Applying to two Mphil programs; accepted into one; waiting for results on second.

Hi to all—Summary: Applied to two Mphil programs at Cambridge—a first (preferred) and second choice. Was accepted to the second choice, but have not heard back from my first choice. Questions:
Do departments exchange this type of info on candidates? Will the fact that I was offered a position in my 2nd preferred program reduce my chances of getting into my preferred program? If someone can offer feedback on this topic, please do. Thanks!

They won't cross if they are in different departments. If they were in the same department, it depends, some encourage multiple applications, some dislike it - depends on the department. You should have checked with them beforehand - if it was the same dept and they didn't say clearly.

Hello—It's not the same department, so I assume there is no communication between the two admitting committees. Waiting to hear from the second program. I was asking if anyone knew if being accepted into one program would make a candidate ineligible for another program or if a candidate can be admitted into two programs and then decide what is best, depending on the many variables. Thank you.

You can get 2 offers and you can decide which offer to accept. What doesn't happen is, following offer 1 if you get a College offer, but your College choices were different for Course 2, the course 2 application isn't sent to the alternate Colleges, your single College offer stands for both courses (I'm sure there's a simpler way of explaining that!)

I see what you mean. So, a conditional offer was made for program #1, and the status of program #2 (conditional offer or rejection) must be communicated by Dec 15 (Cambridge's official deadline to communicate acceptance/rejection). Let's see what happens next!
Still not sure if the cond offer #1 is accepted and then, later, prog #2 makes a conditional offer if a candidate can turn down the previously accepted offer to accept the second offer.

Yes, you can turn down No 1 and accept No 2 - are you on the Gates timeline though? They work to a different timeline and sometimes different rules. Dec 15 isn't the universal deadline.