Microsoft Finally Rolls Out Windows 10 Mobile To Older Phones (engadget.com)

An anonymous reader writes: One year after Windows 10 Mobile was announced, Microsoft is finally rolling out their new OS to older mobile devices, specifically devices running Windows Phone 8.1. Here's the complete list of supported phones: Lumia 1520, 930, 640, 640XL, 730, 735, 830, 532, 535, 540, 635 1GB, 636 1GB, 638 1GB, 430, 435, BLU Win HD w510u, BLU Win HD LTE x150q, and the MCJ Madosma Q501. Depending on where you live and which carrier you have, the update will be handled differently. Microsoft has said "many older devices are not able to successfully upgrade without an impact on the customer experience." For an OS that continues to lose market share [to] iOS and Android, it makes sense for Microsoft to be so concerned about the user experience as it is crucial for the success of Windows 10 Mobile.

Comments

Dodged that bullet

[XnavxeMiyyep]

Luckily my phone is not on the list, or I'd have to disable updates/buy an older one.

Re:Dodged that bullet

[davester666]

The other half is now jumping around yelling "Fans. Fans. Fans." at Clippers games.

JasJar

[ickleberry]

What about the iMate Jasjar, Jamjar, Jambon and those? Will they support it?

Re:JasJar

[gl4ss]

they're stuck on 6.5 forever and htc quit selling/rebranding to them anyways long ago.

They're not concerned about user experience

[penguinoid]

For an OS that continues to lose market share [to] iOS and Android, it makes sense for Microsoft to be so concerned about the user experience as it is crucial for the success of Windows 10 Mobile.

A major factor in user experience is trust. Without trust, you can't use the software at all. With barely any trust, you have to verify that each update won't introduce nefarious anti-features, nor change your settings or other evil things -- and you have to verify it from someone other than the company. Makes it really hard, stressful, and time-consuming to use that software.

Re:They're not concerned about user experience

[Anonymous Coward]

And how exactly do all the iPhone and iPad users do that with their products? How do all the Samsung, HTC, LG, etc users do it? Do you think the millions upon millions of people that use Google Play Services are having a hard and stressful time using it or do they just trust Google because of their ass-covering motto?

This is absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with trust and everything to do with being late to the game with a product that is not disruptive. Windows Phone is not a bad operating system, it is actually quite good but the question is always: Why use X product over the incumbent(s)? Well the answer is because it has a disruptive feature or set of features, this is something Windows Phone lacks. It is the exact same thing as Linux for desktop operating systems, people know about it, it's been trivially easy to both try via Live CD/USB and one-click install for the past decade yet people don't use it because it lacks the disruptive features. You can say it's open source and spread privacy fear but the fact is people don't care about that. Is Microsoft really stealing your banking details? Probably not and since most people do a lot their computing online, transmit data over the public internet and store their "private" communications on the servers of marketing-based companies like Google they don't care that their computing activities might not be 100% private at the OS level. Most people don't browse with TOR, their ISPs can see everything they look at and they don't care.

Whatever Windows Phone (and desktop Linux) currently offer it is not disruptive, it is merely a fallback alternative in case the incumbents fail catastrophically (and based on the relative success of Windows Me, Vista and 8 it seems it's going to have to be pretty major to drive people to desktop Linux) and I don't see iOS and Android making such major missteps anytime soon.

Re:They're not concerned about user experience

[Zero__Kelvin]

"And how exactly do all the iPhone and iPad users do that with their products? How do all the Samsung, HTC, LG, etc users do it?"

They don't use Microsoft garbage, dumbshit.

Re:They're not concerned about user experience

[thegarbz]

A major factor in user experience is trust. Without trust, you can't use the software at all.

For you maybe, but not for the 6 billion other people on the planet who trust their life to just about any 3rd party corporation.

Re:They're not concerned about user experience

[rtb61]

Whilst that is accurate for mobile phones and tablets it is no longer holding true for desktops which are pretty much reverting to the late 1990s and early 2000s power users. So M$ choosing to dick those users about in a shrinking PC market really doesn't make any sense.

Re:They're not concerned about user experience

[Zero__Kelvin]

Why would I be angry that you are a dumbshit?

News at 11

[MightyMartian]

There have been reports that all eight owners of older Windows phones have mixed feelings about this upgrade.

Consistent naming?

[Midnight Thunder]

Windows Phone, Windows Mobile, Windows CE? While I believe the last one is relegated to embedded devices, what is the right name for the Microsoft OS for the phones, since I always seem to hear a new variation?

Re:Consistent naming?

[cbhacking]

Windows Phone NNN for v7.0 - 8.1. Commonly abbreviated WPX (WP8)
Windows Mobile NNN for 6.5 and down, though MS did try re-branding 6.5 as Windows Phone right before WP7 shipped. Abbreviated WinMo or WMX (WM6)
Windows 10 Mobile (note the order) for the new version. Abbreviated Win10 Mobile or W10M.

Yes, it's terrible and stupid. Microsoft branding sucks and pretty much always has. Sometimes I want to know where they *find* these idiots.

None have anything to do with Windows CE (WinCE) except that the CE kernel was used for legacy WM and for WP7.x. WP8.x and W10M use the NT kernel, same as on PCs.

W10M at least makes more sense than calling the previous versions "Windows" did; it not only uses the same APIs and same kernel, but can actually run same of the same, unmodified, apps. It also supports USB (or Bluetooth) keyboard and mouse (WP8.x supported USB keyboard but no mice at all) and can display to an external screen if it has the right hardware (Continuum for Phone). Windows 10 Mobile is, in many ways, the same OS as Windows 10.

the punishment phone

[xeno]

I picked up a Win8 phone back while working at MSFT, in an effort to be a good corporate citizen. Never really used it much, so it stayed in pretty good clean shape. When one of my teen kids broke or screwed up their phone (all too often), it was handy to have a spare they could use. It was also handy to have around when they misbehaved by spending too much time or data using their phones; swapping this one in curtailed their usage just by being itself. Fewer apps, limited access because they aren't bought into the Live/msft account ecosystem, generally iffy UI, etc. I find it very useful. They don't appreciate that.

TL;DR: My kids refer to the spare Windows phone as "the punishment phone"

Re:the punishment phone

[b0bby]

I don't call it that, but that's how I use mine too. In fact, my oldest is using it right now since she lost her iPhone. She's saving her pennies to get another iPhone asap. I can't convince them to go Android, but if it's their own money I don't really care.

Re:the punishment phone

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

My kids refer to the spare Windows phone as "the punishment phone"

Lol, so true, so true.

I was speaking with my son the other night and he wants to replace his Galaxy S6.

I said, "What about a Windows phone?" and then we both just laughed and laughed. It was like I'd told the funniest dad-joke ever.

New Headline

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

"Microsoft Finally Rolls Out Windows 10 Mobile To Older Phones, Both Customers Said To Be Excited"

Out of the hundreds of people I know (including many who work at Microsoft) I know of 2 people who have Windows phones. One loves his phone, the other is looking to move to a iPhone because the Windows App Store is a "barren wasteland" (his words, not mine).

Why not?

[ilsaloving]

What's better than having privacy invasion and telemetry you can't shut off?

Why, Privacy invasion and telemetry being sent over a limited, metered pipe that you have to pay through the nose for, of course!

Re:Why not?

[Bing Tsher E]

If you get a Nokia 535 from Virgin Mobile, you have a Windows phone, that costs $40. And you can go on an unlimited data/voice plan for $35/mo with no contract. The unlimited data is, of course, throttled at 3 GB. But it's a relatively low cost way to do a smartphone.

I use a Moto E on Virgin Mobile now. It was another $40 smart phone. I like it better than the Windows phone, but now that the Nokia will be upgradable to Windows 10 I might try it again for a bit. It's only $35 to put a month on it again and I can let the Moto go lax for that month.

And Windows Phone users rejoiced.

[Chris Mattern]

Both of them.