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Microsoft To Abandon Windows Phone?

Posted by samzenpus on from the red-headed-step-child dept.

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."

15 of 505 comments (clear)

  1. Er, that likely means they'll be on WP9 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Er, that likely means they'll be on WP9. How long will Google update Android 3.x or even 4.0?

    Trololol samzenpuss, trololol.

  2. Perception is reality by RightwingNutjob · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Microsoft is still dealing with the fact that their flagship products throughout the 1990's are almost universally associated with crashes, poor performance, and overhyped marketing. It bit them with the Zune, and now it's biting them with the phones. You know why XBox is so big? It doesn't have the word 'Windows' or 'Microsoft' in its name, and it had (still has?) its own business unit with its own management structure not tied to Windows.

    1. Re:Perception is Reality by DogDude · · Score: 5, Interesting

      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.
    2. Re:Perception is reality by dissy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm fairly certain the GP was not implying WP8 has any of those problems.
      He said Microsoft has an image problem due to previous products, which is very true.

      Older MS phones had a bad image, requiring reboots multiple times a day due to crashes and poor performance. Phones locking up when receiving calls, missing alarms, and the stylus interface that attempted to mirror the desktop on a teeny screen were all problems older WinCE phones had.

      Windows 95 was famous for not being able to function much longer than a month at a time without a reboot. All of the pre NT series of windows were very unstable, and were very insecure due to the chosen single user design.

      Both of those together created an image in the public mind that Microsoft products crash, are flaky, and can not be relied upon.

      Now, compare that to today. Windows 7 and 8 are pretty stable, and much much more secure than predecessors (irrespective to any comparison to their competition)
      As you say, WP8 has none of those older problems (I am taking your word for that, as I have no experience with windows phones since CE 6 - But at least they didn't stick to the desktop UI!)

      Neither of those facts has yet had enough time to change that older image that has been in place for over a decade. They may not until yet another decade has passed.

      Peoples purchasing decisions are not based on facts, at least not completely (or even mostly) - so such facts as how great the product actually is, is irrelevant.
      The facts from the past have tainted their image so much that purchasing decisions of today are being based on that instead.

      It may or may not be fair (which is a whole other discussion) but that is pretty much what is going on, and why sales are so low.
      It doesn't matter how great the product is today, what matters is their experience in the past and their personal limit on taking a chance of the same result again.

      Personally, if a person or company screws me over and has no remorse at doing so and no indication they want or will change, I refuse to have that person or company as a part of my life.
      If a person or company screws me over enough times, even with all the apologies in the world and the best of intentions, after a point I will be distancing myself from them more as well.

      It's much easier to convince someone to try something completely new, than it is to convince them to try something they have done before and had a bad experience with.

  3. Re:HAHAHAHAHAHA by DAldredge · · Score: 5, Informative

    No you deserve -42 for believing a /. headline about Microsoft. The article says the following at the bottom, "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."

  4. Re:Headline title is sensational by Moggyboy · · Score: 5, Informative

    I agree the headline title is sensational, but have you forgotten what "moving on to the next version of the OS" meant for us idiots who bought WP7 phones? Or for those of us who spent a couple of years skilling up in Silverlight? After the treatment we have been given over the last five years, I for one will not be buying another Microsoft product any time soon, and I would certainly not trust any assurance that WP8 phone owners will receive the next major version of the operating system. Will that new version retain your music collection? Your preferences? Your apps? Will the apps you've written still work? Who knows?!?

    --
    Work smarter, not harder.
  5. Re:Good news by Penguinisto · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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?
  6. Re:WP8 compatibility - forward and backward by Moofie · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And all you have to do is trust that Microsoft will not abandon their existing customers.

    I'll leave the consideration of that track record as an exercise for the audience.

    --
    Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
  7. Re:Good news by SQLGuru · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Even the article says that WP8.Next would have its own cycle......so a WP8.5 or WP9 would still get at least 18 months of support. The summary is just FUD. There was nothing in the article and nothing in their source saying that Microsoft was abandoning Windows Phone as a platform......just that the OS support has a time limit.

  8. Bullshit story and another Slashdot low by mystikkman · · Score: 5, Informative

    Wow, I didn't think Slashdot could go lower but it just managed to do that.

    Next headline: MS to abandon Windows, because Windows XP support Ends April 8, 2014?

    Microsoft will make Windows Phone 9, in fact they even have people working on testing it.

    http://msftkitchen.com/windows-phone-9-testing-begins-also-windows-9-gets-a-mention-from-microsoft

    And Windows Phone 8 phones will be upgradeable.

    http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2416002,00.asp

    And Windows Phone is growing marketshare:

    http://wmpoweruser.com/italy-shows-their-windows-phone-strength-already-15-of-windows-phone-market/
    http://wmpoweruser.com/windows-phone-has-a-16-3-market-share-in-poland-one-of-the-highest-in-the-world/
    http://www.fiercewireless.com/europe/story/analyst-windows-phone-sees-strong-growth-uk-and-italy/2013-01-23
    http://www.wpcentral.com/long-queues-china-nokia-lumia-920-sells-out-two-hours [And yes, that's actually picture of people queuing for Windows Phone)

    And yet we have this bullshit FUD summary, headline and article? No wonder Slashdot is losing readership fast, with barely a few comments for stories compared to earlier.

    The partyline biased moderation, calling people with alternate viewpoints shills and chasing them away into karma hell can only last so long before the echo chamber gets tired of listening to itself and packs it up.

    Reminds me of this story http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/02/16/2259257/draconian-drm-revealed-in-windows-7

    Even the mainstream tech media noticed that. Interesting read: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2009/02/oh-the-humanity-windows-7s-draconian-drm/

    I doubt any one would care now, with most people having written off Slashdot as the hiding place of anti-Microsoft trolls and zealots living in their alternate reality. Posters like bmo, symbolset, tuple666, Zero__Kelvin, LordLimeCat, Jeremiah Cornelius, UnknowingFool, rtfa-troll, binarylarry, MightyMartian, drinkypoo, pieroxy and a whole bunch of others have ruined Slashdot beyond repair and seem to suffer from this affliction: http://linux.slashdot.org/story/09/07/25/1757253/linus-calls-microsoft-hatred-a-disease

    This place was always anti-MS but reasonable and informative comments used to get modded up a few years ago, not anymore.There are enough things to bash Microsoft with, why make up lies and spread FUD?

    Of course, the real blame is on moderators for modding up these kind of posts and marking others rebutting replies to them as troll and flamebait.

    Last one out, switch off lights.

    1. Re:Bullshit story and another Slashdot low by jazzmans · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My mod points ran out yesterday, so I can't mod you up.

      But, and this is coming from a linux and android fan, Your post is spot on!

      FUD sucks no matter where it's coming from, and this (OP and thread) is totall sheit.

      Mod Parent Up!

      --
      Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans. No-one sees motorcycles
    2. Re:Bullshit story and another Slashdot low by recoiledsnake · · Score: 5, Informative

      They changed the kernel in WP7 from WinCE to the WinNT kernel(the same lineage as in Windows 7/8) in WP8, which is a pretty big changes and left the old OEM hardware drivers of WP7 incompatible with WP8. Since the next WP version will be using the same kernel, it's not hard to imagine WP9 working on WP8 devices.

      --
      This space for rent.
  9. Bullshit story and a Slashdot low by mystikkman · · Score: 5, Informative

    Wow, I didn't think Slashdot could go lower but it just managed to do that.

    Next headline: MS to abandon Windows, because Windows XP support Ends April 8, 2014?

    Microsoft will make Windows Phone 9, in fact they even have people working on testing it.

    http://msftkitchen.com/windows-phone-9-testing-begins-also-windows-9-gets-a-mention-from-microsoft

    And Windows Phone 8 phones will be upgradeable.

    http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2416002,00.asp

    And Windows Phone is growing marketshare:

    http://wmpoweruser.com/italy-shows-their-windows-phone-strength-already-15-of-windows-phone-market/
    http://wmpoweruser.com/windows-phone-has-a-16-3-market-share-in-poland-one-of-the-highest-in-the-world/
    http://www.fiercewireless.com/europe/story/analyst-windows-phone-sees-strong-growth-uk-and-italy/2013-01-23
    http://www.wpcentral.com/long-queues-china-nokia-lumia-920-sells-out-two-hours [And yes, that's actually picture of people queuing for Windows Phone)

    Picking up some loyal users who seem to like it :
    http://wmpoweruser.com/pcmag-readers-choice-awards-2013-windows-phone-wins-mobile-os-category/
    http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/01/customer-satisfaction-of-windows-phone-on-the-rise-according-to-survey/

    And winning some awards
    http://www.wpcentral.com/nokia-lumia-920-struts-its-stuff-and-takes-prestigious-innovative-handset-award-2013
    http://wmpoweruser.com/nokia-lumia-920-wins-engadget-smartphone-of-2012-user-vote/

    And yet we have this bullshit FUD summary, headline and article? No wonder Slashdot is losing readership fast, with barely a few comments for stories compared to earlier.

    The partyline biased moderation, calling people with alternate viewpoints shills and chasing them away into karma hell can only last so long before the echo chamber gets tired of listening to itself and packs it up.

    Reminds me of this story http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/02/16/2259257/draconian-drm-revealed-in-windows-7

    Even the mainstream tech media noticed that. Interesting read: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2009/02/oh-the-humanity-windows-7s-draconian-drm/

    I doubt any one would care now, with most people having written off Slashdot as the hiding place of anti-Microsoft trolls and zealots living in their alternate reality. Posters like bmo, symbolset, tuple666, Zero__Kelvin, LordLimeCat, Jeremiah Cornelius, UnknowingFool, rtfa-troll, binarylarry, MightyMartian, drinkypoo, pieroxy and a whole bunch of others have ruined Slashdot beyond repair and seem to suffer from this affliction: http://linux.slashdot.org/story/09/07/25/1757253/linus-calls-microsoft-hatred-a-disease

  10. Bullshit comment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    No wonder Slashdot is losing readership fast, with barely a few comments for stories compared to earlier.

    This is absurd. Slashdot's growing at an astounding rate in both the troll and fanboi demographics.

  11. Re:Good news by Dr+Max · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They aren't abandoning windows phone. If the story poster had read the story, he would of seen they are stopping support for windows phone 8 in 2014, but considering windows 9 will be coming out fairly soon, that is hardly a problem. Does this guy think that Microsoft has abandoned windows because they stopped support for XP?

    --
    Rocket Surgeon.