Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Aims To Offer Windows 10 Upgrades For All Windows Phone 8 Lumias
An anonymous reader writes News suggesting that Microsoft plans to offer Windows 10 upgrades for all its Windows Phone 8 devices broke today. "It's our intention to enable a Windows 10 upgrade for Lumia Windows Phone 8 smartphones," a Microsoft spokesperson told VentureBeat. "At this early stage in the development process, and given the vast portfolio of Windows devices worldwide, we can't predict that all devices will be upgradeable, but it is our intention that the Lumia smartphone line be upgradeable to Windows 10."
The first line has garden path construction that first parses as " ... Windows Phone 8 devices broke today."
Next, the summary doesn't include the word "free." If the offer isn't free, then it's just "Microsoft plans to offer try to sell a new product to its existing customers."
Actually after clicking through to the original article, I think this is the case. Basically I think Microsoft is saying "we hope to make it possible to sell Windows 10 to Windows 8 users, but the old hardware might prevent us from doing that."
This isn't news. At best, this is just press spin. At worst, it's just part of the Windows 10 advertising campaign.
Not a long time ago, I was just a normal internet user that surfed various news sites like Sladshdot, reddit, or wsj.com. I read a story, perhaps clicked onto some links it contained, and I was mostly happy with my life.
Then, one day, I surfed Slashdot. It was one of those days you will remember for the rest of your life. So, as I surfed Sladshdot, the title of a story got my attention. I read the summary. The topic seemed interesting, so I decided to read further. I read:
Read on below for the rest what Bennett has to say.
Usually I don't read first line of a story which contains the user who has submitted it. On that day, I didn't neither. As I've only read that bottom line, I asked myself: who is this misterious Bennett? I decided to click onto the "Read the comments" link to read more of the story that was, as it seems, written by some Bennett. During reading, I was already impressed by the clear and detailed but still concise structure of the text. As I finished reading, I was convinced it was the best story I've ever read on Sladshdot, or any comparable news site. I asked myself: perhaps this misterious Bennett has contributed more frequently than just once?
To find that out, I went to Sladshdot's search bar and searched for "Bennett". I clicked the second entry, and it began with:
Frequent contributor Bennett Haselton writes
I searched for the "Read on" line, and I was happy when I found it. As it seemed, he was a frequent contributor. However the story was on a topic completely unrelated to the topic of my article. Would the other article still be as insightful as the first? And the other stories in the search result? Would they be also by Bennett? Or someone else? I decided first to be happy to have found such an insightful article, and decided to make a photograph of me, before I read the second story.
I still have that photograph of me and I can see the hope and the satisfaction in my eyes, the hope that the other stories are also written by this brilliant author called Bennett, and the satisfaction of having read such an insightful article. As I've read the first couple of stories by Bennett, I couldn't believe what my eyes saw: all the stories were as insightful or even more insightful than the original story I read. I asked myself whether the spectators in the Globe theatre would have felt the same way when they watched a piece by shakespeare: Witnessing history of writing. I realized Bennett is one of histories great writers.
As I've finished reading all contributions by Bennett Haselton on Sladshdot, I went back to the first Bennett story, and read them a second time. I sat three days straight, missing all social events during that span, only reading Bennett's stories, and reading them again and again. During that time my eyes opened to the fact that my whole life, I've known nothing. Bennett's stories explained every aspect of very complicated things in such detail, that I formed something in my mind. First, I couldn't describe it what it was, but years later I know that, for the first time of my life, I formed something called "opinion" on a topic. Previously, I've only adopted opinions from others, but Bennett's stories enable people to make their opinions for themselfes, to form them. With his stories, Bennett gives you the material to form your own opinion on your own. I know you will say that you can form your opinion on your own, and that you don't need Bennett for that. I
disagree with you. What you call opinion, is in reality just ideology you imitate from others. You don't form your opinions, you don't have them.
Every time Bennett writes a new story on Sladshdot, I take a free day and spend it reading the story
about Windows phones, anyway?
I'd say "who cares about Windows Phones" because that's kinda not the problem here. It's not Windows Phone 8 that the 10 upgrade is sorely needed on. Windows 8 (the desktop OS) is the failure that needs to be fixed here. Precisely because a computer isn't a phone.
Of course the market is small. They aren't denying that. They are trying to grow it, which is why they are "sinking cash" into it.
I don't know that. You don't know that. Android is 5 years old. The focus of Android is down market. The focus of Apple is very up market. I can see an obvious gap developing of the next 5 years at the mid price points. Other possibilities are more corporate oriented devices moving away from BYOD.
The focus of Android is down market.
Well, no, and also no. The only market Google is actually focusing on is up market. That's why the Nexus line is flagship devices. The down market will take care of itself. Google does tinker around with mid-level STBs occasionally, but they aren't the cheapest ones and they aren't very serious.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
What the fuck are you talking about? Windows 8 runs just as good as Windows 7 on hardware released pre-Windows 8. Haven't noticed any issues at all on any of my systems that ran Windows 7 prior to Windows 8.
Stop spouting bullshit.
Unlike what, all the "innovation" going on with Android and iOS? Really? "Innovative" business models maybe, like forcing ISVs to basically zero margins to subsidize the OS's R&D by taking 30% and offering a cut of that to the OEMs.
My other UID is three digits.
From TheVerge ...
Microsoft doesn't plan on making the same mistake twice: the company has made a public pledge that all of Nokia's Lumia Windows Phone 8 devices will be upgraded to the mobile version of Windows 10 when it's released. Responding to a customer's question on the topic, Microsoft tweeted, "We plan to upgrade all Windows Phone 8 devices to Windows 10 in the future." Microsoft's next big operating system remains in early development, so the company obviously isn't revealing details as to when that update will arrive.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/1...
My daughter got a Lumia. It's pretty nice hardware for the price. I've seen it for $89 recently. I can't comment about the OS though, but my daughter likes it.
No other site covers Microsoft so much.
If you think Slashdot is bad, you should see this one :- www.microsoft.com
What about the once-flagship Nokia Lumia 900? Oh sure, nevermind; that phone will always be stuck at Windows Phone 7.5. As TFA says, only Windows Phone 8 will be upgraded. Pity those fools that trusted Microsoft and their %$#@! Windows Phone when they bought their new, first ever released (non-linux, non-symbian) Nokia Lumia, complete with new and shiny Windows Phone 7.5. It would be very interesting to learn the stats on those buyers' subsequent smartphone purchases, assuming that was possible.
And that's what this announcement is all about, keep on buying WP8 phones because they won't be obsoleted by Win10 like WP7.5 was. With enough weasel words that they don't actually promise anything.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
I'd say "who cares about Windows Phones" because that's kinda not the problem here. It's not Windows Phone 8 that the 10 upgrade is sorely needed on. Windows 8 (the desktop OS) is the failure that needs to be fixed here. Precisely because a computer isn't a phone.
I have a wonderful cell for sale if anyone is interested. The radio is absolutely excellent and rarely drops calls even in remote locations. The hardware has not given me any issues at all over 5 years of use and the battery is interchangeable by the user! Really it is called a Samsung Omnia 910. Trouble with the phone though is the OS which is essentially useless for web surfing with html 5 multimedia content.
The offending OS is unfortunately a Windows mobile mashup of xp and double unfortunately even though it will easily run an early Android release the carrier has the thing locked down to the point where there is no way to change the OS.
"Someone buy my phone PLEASE!"
To quote a famous comedian.
This message was not sent from an iPhone because Peter Sellers really was a deviated prevert without a dime for the call
Who does voice calls anymore anyway?
People who don't pay several hundred dollars per year to a cellular carrier. This includes land line users and (by extension) people who call land line users. It also includes users of $7/mo pay-as-you-go flip phones, for whom multitap composition of SMS is a serious chore and T9 isn't much better.