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Microsoft To Abandon Windows Phone?
symbolset writes "Microsoft has had some trouble as of late getting adoption of their mobile products. Even Bill Gates has said it was inadequate. Despite rave reviews of Windows Phone in the press it has failed to get double digit share of the smartphone market. Now comes reports from WMPoweruser that WP8 will lose mainstream support in July 2014."
oh christ was my first thought to that....
I'm not a huge fan of Microsoft but I do feel for Nokia and the bus that their staff were thrown under.
I'd be kinda surprised if this is true though, Microsoft are known for flaunting failed products for years to save face. This would be another reason to add to the list for why metro sucks ... it's pretty sad that the whole windows ecosystem was imho designed from the mobile up rather than an extension of the desktop.
This sounds like FUD though and for once it's not coming out of Redmond.
From the original article:
On the other hand the OS support date is reset with any never version of the OS, so a Windows Phone 8.5 or 9 update in November 2013 would bring along its own 18 month of security updates. Microsoft has already promised all current Windows Phone 8 handsets will receive the next major version of the operating system.
8.5 comes this summer. Some of the phones released this summer are already being promised to work with 9.0 which comes out next summer. All windows phones will be able to update to the next version at least which then updates the security updates. Some phones will even go longer. This is not that much different from Android updates. I would speculate 3rd party unlocks will allow updating to 9 on the current 8 phones that the manufacturers don't update.
The harsh truth is it was never a serious competitor which will hurt Microsoft in the future, as its potential customers continue to get burnt....it will end up like the Zune.
Windows Phone 7.5 still works fine. Windows Phone 8.0 works even better (more features). I don't know anybody with a Windows Phone (myself included) that feels that they have gotten "burnt" from the product. Not that it's relevant anymore, but that link you provided wasn't exactly 100% accurate, either. Your "harsh truth" is really anything but.
I don't respond to AC's.
Not going to believe it until/unless they stop selling the phones (and w/o a new version being offered).
All said, Microsoft likely makes enough money from the Great Android Extortion, so even if they stopped distributing WP8 tomorrow morning, they'd still make money hand-over-fist.
(OTOH, how would you think Nokia would react if such a thing happened?)
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Now I know what we all think about actually reading articles around here, but,
Microsoft has already promised all current Windows Phone 8 handsets will receive the next major version of the operating system.
While WP7 is different from WP8, WP8 is based on the common architecture of NT 6.2 which will be used as the basis of current and future Windows OSs. So while WP8 may have broken compatibility w/ 7, the same need not necessarily be true of WP 9 and beyond.
I do agree that Microsoft should have had a way to upgrade WP7 phones w/ WP8. Although I wonder to what extent the carriers or OEMs (like Nokia) might have to say about that. For the OEMs, such an ability would simply mean that new phones not be bought, while for the carriers, it could involve unlocking the phones (which in the US would mean that a carrier, having financed a phone, now has to eat the costs while that phone can be used to switch to a competitor).
That's odd, because I keep encountering apps that worked on older devices that claim they won't work on my Android 4.2 devices. Maybe that's a certification issue rather than a real compatibility problem, but it shows that upgrading isn't 100% perfect.
There's no point in questioning authority if you aren't going to listen to the answers.
You know, windows phone doesn't need articles in crappy tech blogs to inspire FUD.
Windows 8 is a market place dud. Like WebOS before it. No matter how much tech bloggers like you, if the market doesn't like you, pack it up. It would be one thing if they had a niche and made money. Problem is, they're not making money on windows phone. Microsoft cant afford to keep flushing cash away.
How many windows 8s can they afford? They're not a well oiled machine like Apple, nor are they like Amazon or Google and use other lines of business to keep themselves afloat while they try things in other markets.
The major problem Microsoft faces is that outside of enterprise, who *needs* Microsoft?
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.