Microsoft To Shut Down App Store For Windows Mobile

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Microsoft To Shut Down App Store For Windows Mobile

Posted by Soulskill on Friday March 9, 2012 @01:52AM from the if-an-app-store-falls-in-the-forest dept.

angry tapir writes "Microsoft will soon shut down the app store for Windows Mobile, the phone platform it is phasing out. Starting May 9, users of Windows Mobile phones won't be able to browse, buy or download apps to their phones from the Marketplace, Microsoft wrote in a letter to customers. The move doesn't affect users of Microsoft's new mobile OS, who will continue to be served by the Windows Phone Marketplace."

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Windows Mobile? by BiggestPOS · 2012-03-09 01:52 · Score: 5, Funny

I'm sure both users are going to be really upset.

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What, me worry?
1. Re:Windows Mobile? by Oswald+McWeany · 2012-03-09 01:54 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Well- I'm sure they wouldn't have done this before running it past Gates and Allen. So the two users are probably fine with it.
  
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  "That's the way to do it" - Punch
2. Re:Windows Mobile? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-09 01:56 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  I still actually use Windows Phone 6.2 by HTC. It is actually really good phone and more open than any other phone platform, as you can run binaries for whatever source. Symbian used to be like this too, but it looks like everyone went the app store route in recent years.
3. Re:Windows Mobile? by mws1066 · 2012-03-09 01:59 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  You can run unsigned code on Android. There's an option you can enable in the settings. Then you can just drop a .apk onto the device via USB, wifi, whatever, and install it manually.
  
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  Nothing is more dangerous than a programmer with a screwdriver.
4. Re:Windows Mobile? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-09 02:23 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  If the launcher process on your Android keeps crashing you should take it back. Android apps crash less than iPhone apps so if yours is having issues its because your phone is fucked up. Citation for trolls
5. Re:Windows Mobile? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-09 02:27 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I am no fan of Windows 3.1 (Android interface).
  What does that even mean? This is actually the second time I've seen this reference made in the last two days, and it is legitimately bothering me, in a "if it wasn't for my horse I never would have spent that year in college" kind of way. I'm literally staring at my phone right now trying to make the connection, and I just can't find it.
6. Re:Windows Mobile? by Tridus · 2012-03-09 02:30 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  It means they want to disparage Android in some way, but can't do it on the basis of sales since it's infinitely more successful then Windows Phone (and Windows Mobile for that matter, but unlike WP7 Windows Mobile was actually relevant in the market at one time).
  
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  -- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
7. Re:Windows Mobile? by zrbyte · 2012-03-09 02:54 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  It had an app store? Wow.
8. Re:Windows Mobile? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-09 03:44 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  At&t doesn't lock them down lake that any more. On my latest phone, a galaxy 2S skyrocket, it's just a matter of enabling it in the settings.
9. Re:Windows Mobile? by hairyfeet · 2012-03-09 04:02 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Yeah you THINK its funny, but we are about to get a ring side seat for the biggest trainwreck since....hell i can't even think of a trainwreck that big. Its gonna finally put those MS Bob and WinME jokes to rest, let me put it that way. I mean have you TRIED metro? Its a fricking smart phone UI that MSFT expects users to run on a fricking non touch enabled desktop! Even the Yahoo product shill who answers everything with "Buy it now! you should really buy it! Seriously buy it now!" after trying it said 'Uhhhh...you should probably wait until you have something touch enabled and get it then" which for her is "My eyes! the goggles they do nothing!" and all because every single mobile attempt by MSFT has been a disaster. I mean for the love of God they are gonna have Windows 8 on ARM! You are gonna have a version of Windows that won't actually run Windows programs! Do you have ANY idea how massive the returns on all those "Windows tablets" is gonna be?
  I think this just proves what I've been saying for ages, Ballmer is a shitty CEO that has zero common sense, much less vision, and that the mobile division should have been spun off so they wouldn't be held back by the lumbering PHB dominated desktop division as it would have protected them both from that dreaded buzzword "synergy". I mean his whole damned plan hinges on developers being so damned stupid they'll waste their time developing Metro apps just so they'll have something to sell on the WinARM app store! When we all know that for anything more complex than a fart app you're gonna have to write two versions, one for x86 and one for ARM as those two platforms are as different as night and day when it comes to IPC and memory constraints. And all so Ballmer can go "and with this we'll FINALLY get a big chunk of the pie now owned by Apple and Google and we'll be as sexy and hip as they are! yes we will! We really really will! STOP LAUGHING AT ME!"
  Allow me to end with this heartfelt apology to the Appleites: Remember when we all laughed our asses off when you were stuck with the Pepsi CEO, you know, the one that went from one lame idea to another, with just this big sprawling mess of fail? yeah well..I'm sorry alright? Jokes over, ha ha...its not funny anymore! Hey fairs fair, you got Jobs back, can we have Bill back please? The sweaty monkey has gone crazy!
  
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  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
There was an app store for WinMo? by bemymonkey · 2012-03-09 02:03 · Score: 5, Interesting

Holy crap, I used WinMo for years and never knew. WTF?
1. Re:There was an app store for WinMo? by Voyager529 · 2012-03-09 06:03 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  There was, and the issue was the fact that it was about the worst implementation of a mobile app store I've ever used (and I've used Apple's, Google's, Amazon's, and the WP7 implementation).
  The first issue was the inherent problems of getting software for Windows Mobile in general. Windows Mobile 5/6 came at a time of some ludicrously awkward and diverse-in-a-bad-way hardware. Some devices had a resistive touch screen. Some had a keyboard. Some had both. Some only had hardware dialpads. Some had 2 hardware softkeys, others had four. Some had 240x320 displays, some had 240x320 displays, some had 480x640, some had 480x800. Some had barcode scanners. Some had IR ports. Some had Bluetooth. Some had Wi-Fi. Some had GPS. Some had a CompactFlash slot. Some had 200MHz CPUs and 64MBytes of RAM, others had 1GHz CPUs and 512MB of RAM. Try - just TRY - developing for a platform where you can't make a single assumption about input *or* output. There were essentially two ways that developers overcame this hardware diversity. The first was to develop for a handful of specific models. While this streamlined support and produced a standard of compatibility, it was problematic for the developer (whose market was limited by the phones available) and the customer (who either couldn't get a piece of software, or had to choose a particular phone/PDA based on the necessity of an application). The second route that could be taken was to have a developer extensively test as many handsets as possible, and develop the UI to compensate. While this made applications mostly consistent, I'm sure I don't have to describe the nightmare of testing (and debugging) dozens of handsets, and implicitly the fact that programs of this nature were typically much larger as the installation CAB file had to include all the different permutations. Even this second route led to the first to some extent. Some developers (notably SPB and Jeyo) sidestepped this a bit by making extensions to the OS itself and leaving the input/output/display to WinMo to figure out, but others like DeLorme had applications that would technically function (street maps for all of the USA for my laptop, and an export function for my phone so I can GPS for free without a data plan? yes please!), but in the most arcane way possible no matter what hardware you threw at it.
  So now that the nightmare of developing for WinMo has been established, consider the pathetic history of selling software for WinMo. I remember working at Staples, having a revolving rack of PDA software, priced from $9.99 to $49.99, that shipped on SD cards. Back then, the PDA software market used the retail model that PCs used, because back then, smartphones were considered portable desktops that did the core subset of PC functionality. The concept of buying apps on the fly made little sense when data was transferred over a serial cable, and later USB, from Outlook. On the flip side, the developers of mobile OS software were following the PC model as well; many listed their stuff on Download.com/Tucows/Softpedia, each of which had a mobile section. Other companies like Handango and PocketPCFreeware.net catered to the mobile crowd exclusively. This was, of course, in addition to developers hosting their own websites, taking care of their own transactions, and providing their own e-mail support.
  When Apple came out with the App Store for the iPhone, it wasn't entirely breaking new ground. Apps had been sold for mobile devices forever, Steam modeled a successful software distribution channel, Apple had plenty of success with selling songs and movies in their media store, and Installer.app and Cydia had been enabling the installation of software on the iPhone for nearly a year before. The iPhone and the App Store did help make a critical change in the way that the smartphone was thought of: no longer was a mobile phone the extension of a desktop that facilitated the sending and receiving of e-mail and integrating one's Outlook contacts with their phone. The Smartphone started to be looked at as its own pla
Still late to the game by mws1066 · 2012-03-09 02:03 · Score: 5, Insightful

The real question is how successful M$'s next app store/phone offering can possible become. Google and Apple are quite extensively entrenched in the market - Microsoft has its work cut out for it. They are VERY late to the game. I think the only place their phones likely will excel is in corporate settings, becoming kind of the new Blackberries. iPhones aren't corporate enough, Android phones aren't supported enough for corporate cronies to like them, so they COULD possibly fill that particular niche.

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Nothing is more dangerous than a programmer with a screwdriver.
1. Re:Still late to the game by afidel · 2012-03-09 03:35 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Nope, we know that WP8 will be based on the W8 ARM kernel and will run Metro apps, see here.
  
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  There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Re:forced user by rootnl · 2012-03-09 02:40 · Score: 5, Funny

After passing the problem through marketing, designers and handing it over to the project manager, who in return ordered a project leader, I can confirm your problem is solved. You will now be able to use the keyboard on your mobile to enter text on your computer.

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We are the people our parents warned us about.
A bit off topic by Gazzonyx · 2012-03-09 03:07 · Score: 4, Insightful

A bit off topic, but please stop referring to Microsoft as "M$". It looks really childish and makes people think you're a troll.

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If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.
1. Re:A bit off topic by Gazzonyx · 2012-03-09 03:23 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I run Linux. I'm the president of my local LUG. I have patches in Samba. Just because I think that saying "M$" looks childish doesn't make me a shill.
  
  --
  If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.
I think the last sentence should read... by jrumney · 2012-03-09 03:30 · Score: 5, Insightful

The move doesn't affect users of Microsoft's new mobile OS, who will continue to be served by the Windows Phone Marketplace."
Translation:
The move should serve as a warning to customers considering purchasing a Windows Phone 7 phone about future support prospects, with the impending release of Windows 8 based phones.
Just one more way of many that Microsoft/Nokia have screwed up their marketing message
1. Re:I think the last sentence should read... by roc97007 · 2012-03-09 03:59 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  > The move should serve as a warning to customers
  ...and developers.
  
  --
  Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Re:Forgiving Microsoft by s73v3r · 2012-03-09 05:37 · Score: 4, Insightful

Microsoft is forgivable for several reasons
None of which really make up for the shit they did.
MS has no commitment by Nyder · 2012-03-09 08:38 · Score: 3, Insightful

You know why MS can't break it into the markets that Apple is dominating?
They have no commitment, no follow thru. None at all.
Zune? gone. Windows Mobile shit? gone. each generation didn't work with the next, and since they have no problem scrapping things, no one wants to commit.
MS Kin? Not supported when released.
MS tablets? they have those? rofl!
The only thing MS has had any commitment to is their main software. Windows OS and Windows Office. If MS showed the sort of commitment they put to those items in any other market, they might actually do okay.

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