New York City Cops Will Replace Their 36,000 Windows Phones With iPhones (theverge.com)

The New York City Police Department says it will give up its 36,000 Windows phones and transition to iPhones by the end of the year. The Verge reports: The switch is prompted in part by news in July that Microsoft was ending support for Windows Phone 8.1, which a large percentage of all Windows-powered phones are still using. It's a predictable end to the Windows phone, considering that its market share had already slipped below 1 percent at the time the police department adopted its phones last year. The ill-fated decision to go with the Windows phone was made solely by its NYPD deputy commissioner for IT, according to The New York Post, and apparently did not receive further judgment before implementing the program. The Windows models were Nokia Lumia 830 and Lumia 640 XL, equipped with special 911 apps, case management apps, and the ability to receive assignments. They were purchased as part of a $160 million initiative to modernize the NYPD, which has been around since 1845. The new business for Microsoft's phones was clearly not enough to keep Windows Phone alive.

Comments

I hope they get a discount

[bobstreo]

Or buy older iPhones. Because that's a lot of money...

Re:I hope they get a discount

[avandesande]

They don't say how much they spent. But the Lumia 830 is 3 years old and Lumia 640 XL was dirt cheap

Re:I hope they get a discount

[Anonymous Coward]

Traditionally bulk/enterprise purchasers of Apple products get charged MORE.

Re:I hope they get a discount

[Anonymous Coward]

they should be use nintendo wii u, and send out officer with game pad, license mario themed police software and other first party branding , it is a strategy to make success

Re: I hope they get a discount

[KGIII]

Or Pokemon. Criminals, gotta catch 'em all.

Re:I hope they get a discount

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe they'll just take them from iHipsters, using civil forfeiture laws.

I guess that's like the traditional 'five finger discount'.

Re:I hope they get a discount

[v1]

Traditionally bulk/enterprise purchasers of Apple products get charged MORE.

[citation needed]

Re: I hope they get a discount

[Anonymous Coward]

We order ours from Sprint who charges us $50 each with no minimum purchase, but there is a contract associated.

Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

When Windows phones work so great. /s

Re:Why?

[roc97007]

I never have the opportunity to use Windows Phone, couldn't even say if it had a blue screen of death. I carried a .. what was it called, Windows Mobile 6? ...phone for awhile. (Work phone. No choice.) What I liked most about it is the popup "(blank) has caused an error and will now close". Something that could be easily ignored, right? Punch OK and move on. But the thing that was not named happened to be the audio driver. The phone would not ring or make any alert sound until it was rebooted. And would only ring or beep up until the next "(blank) has caused an error and will now close".

After fighting with that for awhile, it was: never again. No Microsoft personal electronics. So I completely missed out on the Windows Phone 7, Windows Phone 8 debacle. That sounded like fun.

Re:Why?

[youngone]

I had a user who refused the upgrade to Blackberries when they were rolled out, and refused to give up his Windows Mobile 6 (or 7) phone.
He also refused to accept that when he got the "(blank) has caused an error and will now close" error he needed to restart or he would not hear any calls.
All missed calls were the IT department's fault, and he was often aggressive about it, until my boss kicked his office door in (almost literally) called him a total dickhead (or similar).

Re:Why?

[roc97007]

That last part of your post made me very happy. There's a time when you just have to go "excuse me, can I see that for a second?" SMASH "There ya go."

That's precisely what I upgraded to: A blackberry. Still the best keyboard in the business, and the best integration into the intranet.

But then, IT was outsourced on a Friday, BES crashed on a Saturday, and remained down for three weeks while offshore admins proved their absolutely lack of any training whatsoever. By the time BES was back up, I was already on Android.

And it's been ok, but I still miss my Blackberry sometimes. Great keyboard.

Re:Why?

[unixisc]

When Windows phones work so great. /s

The support. Also, as apps are getting yanked from the store, there's less reason to stay w/ it, when they are using features like E911, case management and special assignment apps.

Re:Why?

[unixisc]

The blue screen of death is something that many officers don't want to deal with personally.

I've had 3 Windows phones over the years - a Lumia 520, an Icon and a 550. None of them ever gave me a blue screen of death!

Re:Why?

[unixisc]

If the last police shooting was any guide - where Mayor deBlassio went to Hamburg to join a protest demonstration while cops were morning a female black officer shot dead while she was just sitting in her car, it's blue lives that matter the least to the New York establishment!

Re: Why?

[KGIII]

I like my Windows phone. Nary a problem. Hell, it's the only Windows system I have.

Re:Why?

[__aaclcg7560]

That last part of your post made me very happy. There's a time when you just have to go "excuse me, can I see that for a second?" SMASH "There ya go."

One time I handed a keyboard to a supervisor and told him that I thought it was broken. He took the keyboard, slammed it against my desk three times, scattering key caps all over the place, and then handed back the obviously broken without a doubt keyboard.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Considering those blue lives are harassing the public and the people filming their interaction with the public, and they are doing their best to keep dangerous cops on the payroll, you are right that blue lives matter the least.

Go ask on a cop forum if they will ticket another cop. Professional courtesy they will say. That is corruption at its finest.

All bad cops and those that look the other way should be publicly hanged.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

I know that supervisor very well. He told me that he was just mad because you were trying to plug a ps/2 keyboard into the USB port.

Here is a picture of that supervisor talking to you in your office:
https://noplaceforsheep.files....

Re:Why?

[TheRaven64]

My partner just replaced her Nokia Lumia 1020. I really liked the UI and it never crashed, but it did have an issue where the sound subsystem would fall over and then nothing would play sound, which meant that she had to test the alarm before she went to sleep each night or it have died during the day and be silent in the morning. She replaced it with an Android device because of the complete lack of third-party app support on Windows phone.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

I've been using WP8, 8.1, and now W10M (until it breaks, then I'm off to the land of Java phones). WP8 and 8.1 were more stable than recent iPhones and they were wonderful to use. Then "update" after "update" Microsoft started removing features from the OS for no reason. That started the system's death march.

Re:Why?

[__aaclcg7560]

I know that supervisor very well. He told me that he was just mad because you were trying to plug a ps/2 keyboard into the USB port.

That would be a problem since "plug-and-pray" USB wouldn't become widely available until several years after that incident.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

" offshore admins proved their absolutely lack of any training "

Did we just out a creimer alt?

Re:Why?

[__aaclcg7560]

That would be an even bigger problem since "plug and pray" refers to the ISA cards of the era, and has nothing at all to do with USB, Mr 20 Years IT Miracle Worker, Who Also Happens To Be A Mountain Of Muscle.

You obviously have never worked with the first implementations of USB under Windows, especially when it came to video game controllers. ISA worked fine if you had your jumper settings for the each card documented.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

So a HIGHLY DECORATED VETERAN of the IT WARS with certifications in IT, InfoSec, Linux, and Diet & Nutrition had to "confirm with his boss" that the keyboard was broken? Yeah, that's our creimer.

How about: PLUG IT INTO A KNOWN-GOOD SYSTEM WHERE THE KEYBOARD DOES WORK. IF THE KEYBOARD DOESN'T WORK ON THAT SYSTEM, IT'S RECYCLING TIME?

No need to involve your supervisor. Or were you just trying to score an extra "miracle worker" point? "That creimer, he's amazing - he diagnosed a faulty keyboard by bringing it to me and telling me, 'I think it's broken. What do you think I should do?'"

Re:Why?

[__aaclcg7560]

Miracle workers are never afraid to ask for a second opinion. Supervisor gave me his opinion — and a mess to clean up. Lesson learned from this incident: if something isn't quite broken, break it.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

I have the Lumia 640 (the even cheaper version of the 640 XL mentioned in the article). I'm on the Insider builds program, and I get more updates for it in a typical month than all my Android tablets put together, throughout their entire lifetime.

They're not just fixing bugs, they're keeping it in sync with the Insider version of full-blown desktop Windows 10, so it's more features being added than anything else. There's *definitely* more development efforts put into this "abandoned" OS than my Android tablets. You'd think *Android* was the fucking dead-end.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

They don't blue-screen - they spontaneously reboot, so you don't notice if it just happens to do so while in your pocket.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Miracle workers are never afraid to ask for a second opinion.

Reasonable request for second opinion: "Hey boss, before I drop all the databases and rebuild the cluster from scratch, I wanted to whiteboard the process with the whole team and make sure I haven't missed anything."

Idiotic request for second opinion: "Hey boss, I think this keyboard is broken. What do you think?"

Anybody with about 3 days of IT experience should be able to determine whether or not a keyboard is broken. You remind me of a guy I knew in the Army, who held up his rifle to the platoon sergeant and asked, "Are these sights zeroed properly, sergeant?" Nobody can tell just by looking at it - the only way to tell is to actually mechanically zero the sights following the standard procedure. Handing somebody a keyboard is the same thing: you can't tell just by looking at it, you have to actually run a test. So asking for a "second opinion" is fucking stupid.

Supervisor gave me his opinion — and a mess to clean up.

Yes, he probably smashed the keyboard on your desk only because he couldn't legally smash it over your head for being a time-wasting moron.

Lesson learned from this incident: if something isn't quite broken, break it.

What a dumb lesson. Why am I unsurprised that you drew THAT lesson from the incident? The more reasonable lesson from this is, "don't waste your supervisor's time with shit that he can't answer without doing the same testing and troubleshooting you should have already done."

Re:Why?

[__aaclcg7560]

Anybody with about 3 days of IT experience should be able to determine whether or not a keyboard is broken.

Including a keyboard that mostly works except when it doesn't? Intermittent failures are hard to troubleshoot.

Yes, he probably smashed the keyboard on your desk only because he couldn't legally smash it over your head for being a time-wasting moron.

Really? I thought he was just being an asshole.

What a dumb lesson.

No, a practical lesson. When you have a PC with a intermittent failure, you can wait for it to fail or break it to request reimaging.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

"Including a keyboard that mostly works except when it doesn't? "

Then go get another one from those storage closets that take two weeks to clean up. There has to be at least one keyboard in there.

"Intermittent failures are hard to troubleshoot."

It's a keyboard, not an MRI machine. It's the cable. You rolled over the cable with your reinforced office chair's stainless steel wheels.

Speaking of which, what's the office chair budget like for your group?

"No, a practical lesson. "

...in avoiding being fired? Yeah, how DO you manage that?

Re:Why?

[__aaclcg7560]

Then go get another one from those storage closets that take two weeks to clean up.

At a video game company? No. My supervisor had to buy a replacement and a few spare keyboards on his lunch break.

Speaking of which, what's the office chair budget like for your group?

No clue. Why?

Yeah, how DO you manage that?

I do my job.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Including a keyboard that mostly works except when it doesn't? Intermittent failures are hard to troubleshoot.

And what sort of "troubleshooting" were you gonna do for that keyboard? Were you going to replace the cabling? Check every solder and circuit inside the case? Jesus, creimer - do you really not get economics? If it costs $15 to replace the keyboard, and it costs the company $30 of a tech's time to "troubleshoot" / "fix" the problem, then the proper response is to immediately swap out the keyboard, and only spend further time on "troubleshooting" if/when a new & known-good keyboard fails to work properly.

At times, reading your posts, I understand how your old supervisor probably felt - I would like to smash my keyboard over your head, too.

Really? I thought he was just being an asshole.

I thought he was teaching you a valuable lesson or some such bullshit. Now he was being an asshole?

No, a practical lesson. When you have a PC with a intermittent failure, you can wait for it to fail or break it to request reimaging.

Wait, you reimage your PC every time you have a keyboard issue? Are you fucking stupid? And if a user is having an issue with their hardware, then any company that's going to force the user to wait while idiotic techs "troubleshoot" and "reimage" instead of just fucking issuing a new piece of hardware immediately deserve "miracle workers" like you.

Re:Why?

[__aaclcg7560]

If it costs $15 to replace the keyboard, and it costs the company $30 of a tech's time to "troubleshoot" / "fix" the problem, then the proper response is to immediately swap out the keyboard, and only spend further time on "troubleshooting" if/when a new & known-good keyboard fails to work properly.

It was a $60 keyboard and I was the $16/hr tech who was looking at it.

Now he was being an asshole?

Destroying company property.

No, a practical lesson. When you have a PC with a intermittent failure, you can wait for it to fail or break it to request reimaging.

Wait, you reimage your PC every time you have a keyboard issue?

You need reading glasses. I wrote "PC," not "keyboard," with an intermittent failure. Those tend to be software-related. These days you can reimage a PC at the user's desk while they're out for lunch..

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

"At a video game company?"

So, they fill the storage closet with what, exactly? They don't use keyboards at video game companies?

Do you fart out your scripts in Morse code?

"My supervisor had to buy a replacement and a few spare keyboards on his lunch break."

Then why didn't you ask for one?

"No clue. Why?"

Oh, I don't know:

https://www.staples.com/Staple...

Supports up to 250 lbs based on 5-10 hours of use per day

Unless they buy your office furniture from a veterinarian?

"I do my job."

Which apparently consists of wasting time on Slashdot, shitposting all day long, and not being able to figure out how to borrow a keyboard from a coworker.

Oh, sorry, they confined you to solitary, so that would require getting up (15 calories), lumbering over to the elevator (45 calories), catching your breath from that run (10 calories), and asking someone else for help. Which your ego won't allow.

Re:Why?

[__aaclcg7560]

Supports up to 250 lbs based on 5-10 hours of use per day

I have that chair for my home office. Never had a problem with it. Enterprise-level office chairs tend to cost twice as much, if not more. I've never broken a chair, if that was you were implying.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

"You need reading glasses."

You need writing classes.

" I wrote "PC," not "keyboard," with an intermittent failure."

Who gives a shit? The whole thread so far was about a keyboard that wasn't smashed over your head. Why switch focus, unless it was to obfuscate the story?

"an intermittent failure. Those tend to be software-related. "

Uh, what?

"while they're out for lunch."

You've been out to lunch for a while now, creimsy.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

It was a $60 keyboard and I was the $16/hr tech who was looking at it.

And the person who was sitting there unable to work because they had no keyboard - how much money did you waste by leaving him without a keyboard while you "asked for second opinions"? And your supervisor, how much of his pay did you waste asking him for a second opinion? Also - no, it wasn't a $60 keyboard. Your company (remember, you only work for big enterprise companies!) buys them at a significant volume discount. So more like a $20-30 keyboard, and you wasted several hours of the user's time leaving him with no keyboard, a bunch of your own time, AND your supervisor's time. If you spent more than 10 minutes just bringing him a new keyboard, you failed.

Destroying company property.

You just finished calling that a "valuable lesson," and now you call him an asshole for smashing the keyboard. Sounds like you're tripping yourself up with your lies again, Caramel Apple.

You need reading glasses. I wrote "PC," not "keyboard," with an intermittent failure.

We were talking about your idiocy with a keyboard, then you suddenly swapped to talking about some theoretical PC issue needing a reimage. Don't blame me because you can't defend your original point and decided to move the goalposts.

These days you can reimage a PC at the user's desk while they're out for lunch.

Really? You sure about that? Because just a couple months ago, you assured us that reimaging a system takes a *minimum* of 4 hours - which means you're tied up for some portion of that, and the user is without a computer for a minimum of 4 hours. Which means, realistically, that you've fragged their productivity for an entire business day, maybe longer if you fuck up the restore. Which, being creimer, you're very likely to do.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

No one asked if you have "problems" with your chair. We are telling you that you are exceeding the weight limits for that chair, and until it collapses and shoves an air cylinder up your fat ass, of course you won't see a "problem".

Re:Why?

[__aaclcg7560]

And the person who was sitting there unable to work because they had no keyboard - how much money did you waste by leaving him without a keyboard while you "asked for second opinions"?

IIRC, It was the keyboard for my own system. That would explain why my supervisor had to out to a buy a replacement and spare keyboards.

Don't blame me because you can't defend your original point and decided to move the goalposts.

You're moving the goalposts by not paying attention.

These days you can reimage a PC at the user's desk while they're out for lunch.

[...] Because just a couple months ago, you assured us that reimaging a system takes a *minimum* of 4 hours - which means you're tied up for some portion of that, and the user is without a computer for a minimum of 4 hours.

Another example of why you need reading glasses. I wrote "these days" as in 2017, not in 1997.

Re:Why?

[__aaclcg7560]

We are telling you that you are exceeding the weight limits for that chair, and until it collapses and shoves an air cylinder up your fat ass, of course you won't see a "problem".

If you have reading glasses, you would have noticed my statement that I've never broken a chair.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

IIRC, It was the keyboard for my own system. That would explain why my supervisor had to out to a buy a replacement and spare keyboards.

So you recall this anecdote, but you aren't sure whether or not it was your own keyboard, or a user's keyboard? More bullshit ret-conning, Creimer? Sad.

You're moving the goalposts by not paying attention.

No I'm paying attention quite closely - you were talking about keyboards, and then suddenly made a leap into "PCs", hoping I'd not notice the sudden shift in focus as you moved the goalposts. You want to talk PCs, that's fine - but up until this point, we've been discussing your inability to even swap out a keyboard in a timely fashion.

Another example of why you need reading glasses. I wrote "these days" as in 2017, not in 1997.

You wrote the linked comment in 2014, not in 1997. And I've seen you make other comments here that largely affirm the same thing: that it takes several hours to reimage & restore a desktop. So, try again, creimy.

Re:Why?

[__aaclcg7560]

You wrote the linked comment in 2014, not in 1997. And I've seen you make other comments here that largely affirm the same thing: that it takes several hours to reimage & restore a desktop.

That was the PC refresh project at eBay in 2011-12. User data wasn't stored on the network and had to be copied from the old system to the new system, which took a minimum of four hours to complete. The actual imaging of the new system took 20 minute.

So, try again, creimy.

What's next?

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

What's next?

I don't know, creimy. What is next in your constant litany of lies and misdirection?

This is just more revisionist history from you. A comment you wrote in 2014 is suddenly only applicable to a project you worked on 3 years earlier. And now, 3 years after you wrote the comment, it's suddenly applicable to some non-specific thing that happened in 1997 - what that is, we may never know.

Tell me - do you lie this much to your employers? I can't imagine how you stay employed with these constant demonstrations of your lack of integrity and honesty. Maybe that's why you're working as a digital janitor for a body shop instead of getting paid well for doing actual engineering work - they're the only ones dumb enough to hire you.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Great, and your linked post had nothing to do with 1997 either.

"Re-imaging a system takes a minimum of four hours. You have to track down the location of the system. You have to browbeat the user into surrendering the system for most of the day. You may have to backup multiple user profiles (some systems have 200+ users and 50GB+ of data). "

People had 200 users and 50GB on machines that you had access to in 1997?

Re:Why?

[__aaclcg7560]

This is just more revisionist history from you. A comment you wrote in 2014 is suddenly only applicable to a project you worked on 3 years earlier. And now, 3 years after you wrote the comment, it's suddenly applicable to some non-specific thing that happened in 1997 - what that is, we may never know.

You're the one making reference to a comment in 2014. I can see why you're confused. Without reading glasses, you're easily confused.

I can't imagine how you stay employed with these constant demonstrations of your lack of integrity and honesty.

My employers don't care about what my Slashdot trolls think. Now go off and lick your balls somewhere else.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

You're the one making reference to a comment in 2014. I can see why you're confused. Without reading glasses, you're easily confused.

I'm making reference to your own comment in 2014, which said it takes a "minimum of 4 hours" to reimage a system, which directly contradicts your assertion that you can reimage a system "on the user's lunch break." Which is, in and of itself, irrelevant to the fact that you were so dumb you couldn't figure out that a keyboard was defective without asking your boss. This entire thread is you trying to avoid the hassle of having integrity and consistency in your wildly fanciful anecdotes.

My employers don't care about what my Slashdot trolls think. Now go off and lick your balls somewhere else.

The question wasn't whether they care about what I think; it was whether or not they get tired of your constant lies and misdirection which highlight your unscrupulous lack of integrity. You spend all day defrauding them while shitposting here, and your entire comment history is littered with inaccurate, inconsistent, conflicting claims. When this is pointed out, you launch into blowing smoke, then dismissing the person pointing it out as just a troll.

And for the record - I don't lick my balls, I have a wife who does it for me. I'd recommend that you try it sometime, but... without you being willing to spend a lot of money, no woman's ever going to get her mouth near that sweaty, sour-meat-smelling taint buried under that panniculus.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think it's called a grundle.

Re:Why?

[__aaclcg7560]

I'm making reference to your own comment in 2014, which said it takes a "minimum of 4 hours" to reimage a system, which directly contradicts your assertion that you can reimage a system "on the user's lunch break."

Let's say that 2014 comment was about reimaging and not data transfer. Shouldn't you be calling me out on taking a minimum of four hours to reimage a system?

If you're familiar with reimaging systems (which I seriously doubt), it only takes 20 minutes to reimage a system if the user data is already stored on the network. Stick in a USB stick, reboot the system, and reimage over the network.

And for the record - I don't lick my balls, I have a wife who does it for me.

Your bitch licks your balls. Most people don't brag about practicing bestiality. Is there a reason why you married a dog and not a goat?

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's say that 2014 comment was about reimaging and not data transfer. Shouldn't you be calling me out on taking a minimum of four hours to reimage a system?

Why the fuck would I care how slow you are at your job? You don't work for me, your laziness isn't my problem. And that's beside the point - YOU claimed it takes a "minimum" of 4 hours to do a reimage.

If you're familiar with reimaging systems (which I seriously doubt)

No, paid monkeys handle reimaging at my company. I don't use Windows except as a server OS - and that, rarely. My dev systems are automatically configured using puppet, which is fired off with a single vagrant command. My desktop configuration is also managed with puppet, and any non-code artifacts are stored in Dropbox.

Your bitch licks your balls. Most people don't brag about practicing bestiality. Is there a reason why you married a dog and not a goat?

Dude, the local 3rd grade bully called, he wants his insults back. I guess this means I'm hitting a nerve - you getting frustrated like this is cute!

Re:Why?

[__aaclcg7560]

Dude, the local 3rd grade bully called, he wants his insults back. I guess this means I'm hitting a nerve - you getting frustrated like this is cute!

No, I struck a nerve instead by exposing the flaw in your argument. Otherwise, you wouldn't have defended yourself the way you did. Does your wife know that you call her a ball licker in public?

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

For guy who's never even kissed a girl, you talk a big game. Have you even SEEN your balls since the Clinton administration?

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

I've never broken a chair.

Of course not, you never sit on "a" chair, you always double up!

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, such a positive and healthy view you have of relationships with women! What the hell did Shirley do to you?

" Is there a reason why you married a dog and not a goat?"

Yes, because your uncle was still fucking the goat at the time. Although why he has to cover it in honey and dress up as Do-Bee is a mystery.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

" Enterprise-level office chairs tend to cost twice as much,"

Yeah, but in the case of your ass, they mean Enterprise as in NCC-1701.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Here, I re-imaged the dick pics with brighter colors and more red on your gland.

See table of content here, we are back in business with the YMCA takedowns!:
https://tinyurl.com/ya7u8n5s

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, I struck a nerve instead by exposing the flaw in your argument.

The flaw in my argument, which was... what, exactly? That you were a buffoon who couldn't diagnose a keyboard failure? That you seem to enjoy wasting hours of time reimaging devices for no purpose? That you are a kissless virgin who will die alone?

Otherwise, you wouldn't have defended yourself the way you did.

With facts & logic? Yeah, truly, that's the mark of a desperate man, to argue using those techniques rather than the ol' patented Creimer Shuck & Jive.

Does your wife know that you call her a ball licker in public?

Sure, do you think she cares? We enjoy a healthy sex life - I've licked her genitals, too, creimer! Imagine that - two people who love each other, and who enjoy sex with each other! I know it may seem difficult to fathom, but trust me, there's no shame or horror involved. I've licked every inch of my wife's body, and she's licked nearly every inch of mine. I regret nothing, and I'm ashamed of nothing. I guess I should expect this sort of trolling from you, though, given how thoroughly fucked in the head you are - thinking that sex between two consenting adults is some sort of horrible shameful act that people should keep hidden from the world is exactly what I'd expect from you.

Re:Why?

[ls671]

What are you mumbling about "Enterprise-level office chairs"? I have never heard of that term. Did you just make it up?

Oh wait, let me google it! Enterprise-level office chairs: Oh I see, I am sorry, here is the first result when searching without quotes:
https://gizmodo.com/spocks-hom...

If quoting the term when searching Google, e.g. "Enterprise-level office chairs", your post is the only result Google provides. So, maybe you made it up after all!

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Enterprise-level goof!
https://tinyurl.com/ya7u8n5s

Re:Why?

[unixisc]

Androids have the problem of not being upgradable if one is talking about versions earlier than Lollipop. If one has one of those older tablets w/ Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Icecream Sandwich or Kitkat, one is SOL.

In fact, the minimum acceptable version of Android out there in the market is Marshmallow. Both my Android devices are Lollipop: I wish there was a way to upgrade them to one of the subsequent versions. Unfortunately, Verizon controls the upgrades, and I'm not a whiz at rooting phones

Re: Why?

[unixisc]

IMO, Windows 10 Mobile happens to be better than Windows 10 desktop, which just crawls on my dual core Pentium w/ 4GB RAM and 500GB storage.

Re:Why?

[roc97007]

Ok, I would not have put it that way. But agree that since keyboards are a commodity item, there shouldn't be a lot of time wasted on testing. Just dump it and get another out of stores.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Speaking of which, what's the office chair budget like for your group?

No clue. Why?

Ballmer once threw an office chair in a hissy fit.

If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[david.emery]

It will be absolute proof of the old saying, "No one gets fired for buying Microsoft."

The most charitable excuse for this is "IT understands how to work with Microsoft products." Of course, that's the IT flea wagging the Police Dog.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[93 Escort Wagon]

No kidding. That was such a breathtakingly stupid decision she honestly deserves to lose her job because of it.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[roc97007]

I wonder how much she got from Microsoft.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[TWX]

If the proprietary applications mentioned in the article summary are derivatives of their desktop or tablet cousins, then I could understand the business argument in favor of attempting to keep with the same platform, especially depending on development costs for the Windows Phone versions of those applications compared to possibly much higher costs for developing whole new applications for either Apple's phone or an Android model. It may well be possible that the costs for the applications was low enough to give some justification for trying Windows Phone generally.

That said, if the platform was already on life support then I hope they got a screaming-good-deal for their attempt. Several years ago we faced attempting to upgrade to the latest Novell Netware or migrating to Active Directory. Netware had been in-service in the organization since the 3.x days when there was no network between sites other than for the AS/400 connectivity, so we had a long and successful history with it, but it was clear that Netware was not seeing the new development that it needed, and the time between a new version of Windows coming out and full Netware client support was getting worse with each new release. As much as we'd been successful with Novell in the past, it was clear that future success with them was strongly in-doubt, and we ultimately left.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[MightyMartian]

Porting an application from the desktop to the phone is no trivial matter, even if the APIs are similar. Yes, internal data structures and probably a fair bit of the under the hood code remains the same, but your interface, where a good deal of effort of such software goes, is going to be overhauled.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Anonymous Coward]

it was an IBM saying but whatever...
why not android phones... although it's your tax monies lol...

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[TWX]

Sure. But if there's anything I've learned in dealing with enterprise IT, it's that some things are greatly trivialized. It's possible that the sales person for the software vendor didn't themselves understand the difficulty and thus the project was quoted or bid for less than it should have actually cost. If the customer gets a quote that makes it seem cheap then it would be no surprise to consider it.

In that sense it almost doesn't matter if it really was harder than that, depending on the nature of the contract. I have seen vendors manage to screw themselves over if they over-promised and the contract did not leave a lot of wiggle-room. Doesn't happen often, but it's glorious when it does.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[youngone]

She'll be getting a pussy pass on this one

I don't think it's a pussy pass she will get, she has inherited privilege due to several generations of money and the political connections that come with money.
She is a friend of the Mayor's daughter, which explains how she got the job in the first place, despite having no experience.

Re: If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Anonymous Coward]

you are not wrong https://thenypost.files.wordpr...

Re: If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Anonymous Coward]

"Commissioner Bill Bratton on Wednesday named Jessica Tisch, the billionaire heiress who served as director of policy and planning for the counterterrorism bureau, to be deputy commissioner of information and technology."

Just going to leave it here..

Re: If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Anonymous Coward]

What are her qualifications for the job? She has a law degree and MBA from Harvard.

Also,

“Jessica has a progressive point of view on the role data systems and technology should play at the NYPD,” Bratton said in a statement.

Whatever that means.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Anonymous Coward]

No kidding. That was such a breathtakingly stupid decision she honestly deserves to lose her job because of it.

When was the last time you heard of a government employee being fired for incompetence? In the private sector, she'd be gone yesterday and yet we pay these people more than the average private sector worker and give them pensions to boot. Way to go taxpayers.

Re: If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Anonymous Coward]

Because Android is a nightmare in the enterprise. Still cannot reliably even deliver an email profile to it via MDM and the strong security options come from third, third parties.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Anonymous Coward]

Whose penis will she let pass through?

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[unixisc]

The thing that surprises me here is that neither the NYPD nor Microsoft decided to work on migrating Windows Phone 8.1 to Windows 10 Mobile - the latter iirc which is already a default on the 640XL. Not sure about the 830, though.

I do think that the decision to go w/ iOS was a bad one, though. They just went through the experience of being sole sourced w/ Nokia/Microsoft and are now going sole sourced w/ Apple. They should have picked Android, which would have given them a vendor choice of Google, Samsung, Blu, Sony, LG et al. They could have then cut a deal w/ one of those vendors, or even w/ Google.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[unixisc]

The article mentioned that they were using Microsoft's video surveillance software, but nothing about the underlying platforms. Were they Windows XP or 7 or 8? Since at the time they introduced it, the phones were based on Windows Phone 8.1.

If it was based on Windows 8/8.1, then you're right - there would have been the common underlying code base, w/ the major effort on the UI. But if it was based on Windows 7 or earlier, then there would be nothing in common, since Microsoft totally overhauled the UI. But while the NYPD is at it, they might as well replace their Windows computers w/ Macs

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Anonymous Coward]

And how much she will now get from apple.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Anonymous Coward]

No, the person deciding to replace existing non-Apple phones with with iPhones, that's the person who really needs to be fired.

Re: If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[KGIII]

It's progressive. That means data bits aren't binary and all data has equal value. CHMOD? Check your privilege, shitlord.

Re: If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[cyber-vandal]

Name any drop in replacement for Microsoft infrastructure.

Re: If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[cyber-vandal]

Maybe they want phones that get long-term support. The iPhone 5 released in 2012 is still getting updates. Any Android phones from 2012 still officially supported?

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[stooo]

It is always a bad decision to use MS products.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[thegarbz]

That was such a breathtakingly stupid decision she honestly deserves to lose her job because of it.

That depends on the cost.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Pascal Sartoretti]

I wonder how much she got from Microsoft.

Probably nothing concrete, it would have been too dangerous for her and for Microsoft.

But maybe she received the promise of a very lucrative job in case things would turn bad. Just ask Stephen Elop.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Anonymous Coward]

That was such a breathtakingly stupid decision she honestly deserves to lose her job because of it.

Not really. It can be argued that having Window's phones lessened the impact of unauthorized third party apps from being installed and creating problems for the phones affecting their performance, as well as limiting their use for things outside of work obligations and the distractions that go with that,

36,000 phones represent a lot of hours that is required to support phones, so anything done to minimize that probably lessened the total cost of the phones themselves. My bet is by time you put the iphones and the Windows phones side by side and compare equally all things, the Windows phones will turn out to have the lower TCO for the police department.

.

Re: If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[TheRaven64]

CHMOD? Check your privilege, shitlord.

uid == 0?

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Trailer Trash]

My guess is that Microsoft would take care of her, if they haven't already.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Talderas]

Not really. It can be argued that having Window's phones lessened the impact of unauthorized third party apps from being installed and creating problems for the phones affecting their performance, as well as limiting their use for things outside of work obligations and the distractions that go with that

It can be argued but poorly and it's really just comparable to security by obscurity. If your organization is deploying mobile devices without MDM then you are definitely asking for a higher TCO from support issues. Use the right MDM and pretty much most of the issues you speak of are not.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Duhavid]

Unless the apps were Metro, Microsoft's "overhaul" of the UI in just about any version of the OS, ( excepting the NT/2000 to XP update ) does little to change the underlying "stuff" you need to do to "paint" the app on the screen. And even the NT/2000 to XP update did not invalidate the older apps. Metro deliberately breaks all that in order to attempt to force developers into their version of the "walled garden" model that Apple has.

Re: If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[0123456]

Yes. Let's give the cops completely insecure phones. What could possibly go wrong?

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Anonymous Coward]

I always wonder if the people who type these things ever used windows phone.

After realizing Microsoft abandoned their product, I switched to android. There are so many things I miss it's almost unbelievable.

Can't copy and paste from virtually anywhere? Oh.. I thought that was a normal thing... Can't reschedule meetings or reminders from the notifications in the default calendar app? Oh okay... Oh you need to restart my launcher again... uh sure, I guess that's normal. Oh wait, I don't get a badge telling me I have a new e-mail either? And I can't pin different mailboxes to the home screen? Oh and I can't pin the calendar there either without it looking like garbage?

Pretty much everything I've had problems with has an excellent third party solution-- a testament to androids vastly superior flexibility. But when you are running a locked down organization like a police department, the last thing you want is device customization and flexibility.

Out of the box all the windows phones I've owned have been faster, not in the OS sense, but in the "number of actions to complete a task" sense. It was the hallmark of the OS to make it easy and fast to do basic tasks. Almost everything in android takes longer, even if the phone is WAY faster, simply because OS and UI decisions were not designed around "the least number of actions" for the user.

For example- checking my e-mail on windows phone (not on lock screen since that's a security risk). Unlock phone, look at screen. I'll see not only if I have mail, but who sent it and a preview of the message. I can tell what department the message is from or what importance it is since the different mailboxes are pinned to separate tiles on the home screen.

Android? Unlock phone, click on app, (click back to "all accounts" since if I responded or read any mail from a different account it's reverted to that account instead of all accounts), note that all e-mail appears together and NOT triaged into separate accounts like on windows phone meaning it takes more time to see what department or what importance the e-mail is. It's not a dealbreaker, but it's like stepping back in time.

This is a small price to pay to have a phone that actually works (now that windows has given up), but it's way worse for my use pattern.

Honestly, if windows phone comes back, it will be hard to give up the flexibility of my new phone, but I'll probably do it since the reason I carry the phone (messaging, e-mail, calls) is just better on the windows phone. I'll keep the android as the much more fun toy to play around with.

Re: If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm root. I'm root. I'm root.

Re:If Jessica Tisch keeps her job

[unixisc]

But only while they still have active support. If Microsoft is winding down their Lumia business and seems to have Windows 10 Mobile on the ropes, it's valid to look at alternatives. Nonetheless, iPhones look like a bigger risk for an organization that's building a lot on it than, say, a recent version of Android. They should have looked at a deal w/ Google.

Since 1845?

[Zaelath]

Wow, that's a long time to be running a modernization initiative.

Re:Since 1845?

[geoskd]

Wow, that's a long time to be running a modernization initiative.

Thats because every decision that has been made up to this point has been of the same caliber as the decision to go with windows phone, and now iPhone.

Their first choice when getting rid of Windows phone was blackberry, because somebody told them Blackberries were the best phone there is. Alas, they couldn't actually figure out how to buy them, so iPhone it is.

Re:Since 1845?

[zlives]

"somebody told them" ... is management without knowledge a requirement for IT upper echelons now?

i mean it has been highly recommended forever, since actual working knowledge of technology is a detriment to the level of management you can rise to, it seems race to the bottom has accelerated.

Re: Since 1845?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, the guys want to keep the typewriters. You were OK when we said we still needed the telephone books.

Re:Since 1845?

[unixisc]

Ain't those the things that they decide they have no budget for in terms of personnel, and which they therefore decide to outsource to an IT company, who then shovels it to Bangalore? If that was the process here, I'm surprised that they recommended iPhone

I know it's New York, but...

[GerryGilmore]

...just whoindahell could be dumb enough to think that Windows phone would ever last? Hell, us North Georgia Rednecks(TM) stayed away from them in droves! Christ, that one sale must have been half of all Windows phone sales. What maroons!!

Re:I know it's New York, but...

[MightyMartian]

Someone who got conned by an MS sales pitch, that's who.

I eagerly await the "Windows Phone is the best phone over, and only iSnobs and Android fruits care about apps!" The Microsoft phone defender is almost as pathetic as the Blackberry defender.

Re:I know it's New York, but...

[roc97007]

...just whoindahell could be dumb enough to think that Windows phone would ever last? Hell, us North Georgia Rednecks(TM) stayed away from them in droves! Christ, that one sale must have been half of all Windows phone sales. What maroons!!

...which makes me wonder if money or some other lucrative object changed hands.

Re: I know it's New York, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

This. My org went with O365 and Windows Phone because Microsoft has been practically dumping this hardware for years, and they did the exact same thing with Avaya hardware.

I honestly don't know whether the decision maker thought they were getting a good deal, or whether they just didn't care because they knew someone else would deal with the fallout.

Re:I know it's New York, but...

[Kjella]

...just whoindahell could be dumb enough to think that Windows phone would ever last? Hell, us North Georgia Rednecks(TM) stayed away from them in droves! Christ, that one sale must have been half of all Windows phone sales. What maroons!!

Well, assuming this was a great modernization I assume she's coming from a world of mostly Microsoft laptops/tablets/servers and that this was her and their first real adventure into smartphones. They probably have a good business relationship and don't mind being a Microsoft shop. They needed a platform to run their custom apps, how many apps the app store has is less of a concern and they probably got a good discount. And Microsoft has in general offered 5+5 years of support on the desktop, they've rarely left their business customers hanging. In isolation the business case might have looked decent until you take a big step back and realize the platform is dying and there's a very real chance Microsoft will pull out of the market entirely and mobile phones aren't like laptops where you just tank them up with your OS image. I'm not saying it was a good decision but I can understand how you'd make a near-sighted decision like that.

Re:I know it's New York, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

...just whoindahell could be dumb enough to think that Windows phone would ever last? Hell, us North Georgia Rednecks(TM) stayed away from them in droves! Christ, that one sale must have been half of all Windows phone sales. What maroons!!

The Windows phones can have their batteries replaced without much effort. Can't do that with Apple phones, and you are on the upgrade treadmill.

Re:I know it's New York, but...

[unixisc]

With Android, they might have discovered some phone maker who provides that. In fact, had they put down a stake stating that Android 6 would be the basis of their platform, and built around that, that would have given them the maximum flexibility. They could have gotten phones from anybody that was inexpensive enough, but good enough to support their entire app suite

Re:I know it's New York, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

I eagerly await the "Windows Phone is the best phone over, and only iSnobs and Android fruits care about apps!"

Of course it wasn't the best phone ever, but what you iSnobs forget is that not everybody is able or willing shell out $700+ for a phone. The windows phone was a decent piece of "good enough" hardware for a very reasonable price. It's the same segment of the market as budget Android and other "good enough" phones for people who don't need the iPhone and are cost conscious. Meanwhile the Federal Reserve reported that most Americans couldn't come up with $400 cash in an emergency without recourse to credit cards or other short term and high interest borrowing (i.e. payday loans). So here's my take as a Windows phone owner: I got a very decent phone at a rock bottom price that does everything I need it to with zero percent financing for two years. The amortized handset cost me less than $3 per month. I could buy an iPhone easily but I chose not to because I don't need it and I refuse to pay what Apple is asking for it. Personally, I think that many iPhone owners, especially young people, are being financially irresponsible. They're drowning in student debt, maxing out their credit cards and walking around with the latest iPhones at $700+ a pop. One thing is for sure, they better not come whining to me when they're old and have nothing saved because I will have no sympathy.

Re:I know it's New York, but...

[Bert64]

The "good enough" android phones have applications to run on them, as well as a future upgrade path... Windows phones do not.

Re: I know it's New York, but...

[v1]

It's just the nightmare event of when someone from upper management pops their head around the door at the IT department and say "Oh hey guys, heads up, we just signed a contract for this new tech you're going to need to support for the next three years, look for my email with details on what we bought!" When upper management makes tech purchasing decisions whilst keeping themselves 100% insulated from their techs, that's what happens. A smooth sales pitch nullifies all technical and critical review, and you end up saddled with a contract to use and support ineffective, overpriced crap. Sales reps have a well-known technique for rushing the deal, and seem to have a knack for convincing the PHB that "everything will be fine, you don't need to consult your IT over this, they'll LOVE it!"

I've been on the receiving end of that myself. Uppers made the decision to change out all their big multifunction printers without consulting IT at all, we just got an email notifying us "We just signed a contract with local printer supplier and they will be installing them next week, be sure to be there to talk with their tech about what changes we need to make!" It turns out their printers were incompatible with central print management, and the techs said "All we need to do is go to each computer and insert this CD and set up / configure each printer..." *sigh* "Clear my schedule for the next week I guess? And you better be damn sure you have your groups, permissions, and names all sorted out in advance and not interested in changing them with any frequency!"

Re:I know it's New York, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

Christ, that one sale must have been half of all Windows phone sales. What maroons!!

Well, there probably wasn't much of a cellphone signal on the deserted island anyway.

Re:I know it's New York, but...

[david_thornley]

I never have understood this obsession with user-replaceable batteries. The battery in my 5S, which I bought when it came out, is slowly losing its capacity. Even if I go with Apple, $80 over more than three years isn't much.

Oh no

[niff]

There goes the 1% market share that Windows Phone had...

I wondered about that

[filesiteguy]

As one of the last ten people on the planet with a Windows Phone (950xl and Elite X3) but using an Iphone 7+ also, I wondered about the decision. Sure, there may be a great UI and decent app, but there's so many things that Microsoft does better on Android and Iphone that just don't work on Windows Mobile 10.

we all know the end was near when dunkin donuts removed the app from the Windows store.

Ahh, it is only taxpayer dollars!

Re:I wondered about that

[MightyMartian]

Didn't have to wait long for the vague "The Windows phone is so superior!"

Windows Phone offered nothing that the other major phone OSs didn't offer. Exchange integration is present on pretty much all major mobile platforms now, and since MS is marketing versions of Office for these other platforms, well, there's even less reason to consider Microsoft's offerings.

Microsoft is walking away, you can stop defending there next iteration of their failed mobile strategy. Unless you're a shareholder, in which case you should be hopping mad at at the sheer stupidity of the amount of cash and resources dedicated to something everyone knew was doomed.

Re:I wondered about that

[mrbester]

"there's so many things that Microsoft does better on Android and Iphone that just don't work on Windows Mobile 10"

Doesn't seem like a ringing endorsement to me. If anything, it's the exact opposite of what you accuse filesiteguy of.

Re:I wondered about that

[93 Escort Wagon]

Didn't have to wait long for the vague "The Windows phone is so superior!

That isn't even remotely what he said - did you actually read his comment?

He said he questioned the initial decision to go with Windows Phone, even though he's "one of the last ten people on the planet with a Windows Phone".

Re:I wondered about that

[filesiteguy]

No, but I will state that I think 2017 is teh year of the Linux desktop!

Um, if you read the comment, I stated I liked WM10 better but realize it is dying. In fact, check out the speed of opening an HTML email on Outlook under Iphone vs. Windows Mobile. The Iphone is faster using the same WiFi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNyaTOtlhzs

Re:I wondered about that

[jezwel]

Windows Phone offered nothing that the other major phone OSs didn't offer.

They announced that a new Windows phone OS on ARM would be able to run native Win32 apps, which could be interesting if it is ever released. There's demand for device consolidation to a single piece of hardware, and still a lot of legacy Win32 apps out there.
Shrinking by the minute I would guess, and/or capable of being provided by virtual desktops otherwise, so maybe they've canned that too.

Re:I wondered about that

[Anonymous Coward]

You seem insecure. Maybe get some help.

Re:I wondered about that

[Thumper_SVX]

Thing is; Windows Phone WAS a good platform. I have run WP as my primary work phone for 3 years now, literally just replacing it over the weekend with an Android device because (a) I destroyed the screen at a conference last week and (b) it was just getting long in the tooth and battery was not great after all this time.

I actually had the Lumia 830. It was pretty solid, had a decent and easy to use interface, and took one hell of a beating in the time I owned it even before its shattering experience. Damn thing was a trooper that got me 3 days of battery when I first got it (down to one day, now). I used it for tethering all the time as well.

So I can give you some examples of some things that the WP does better... not vague. They're all about integration with desktop apps. No-one does it better than Microsoft except (perhaps) Apple, but my experience with iPhone which granted is a bit older now was only loose integration between the phone and apps on the desktop. One example I always loved was the fact that OneDrive actually works REALLY well. Files I wanted for work were right there, my emails were right there... and when I wrote a handwritten note in OneNote on my tablet, it was also right there on my phone. I use OneNote daily and the fact that I could write notes in a meeting, then be able to pull up and refer to those notes on my phone without having to pull my tablet out of my bag was an incredibly valuable feature that I appreciated. Yeah, you can do that in Android with OneNote as well, but back 3 years ago OneNote for Android didn't exist. Same went for my photos that were immediately (pretty much) available on my desktop machine.

The phone was also really good and on AT&T (same as my personal Android phone) was able to pick up good DATA signal even when my Pixel wouldn't (and the prior Moto X). I rarely saw a time when I was unable to get signal. Phone calls were crisp and easy... and I was as surprised as anyone when I discovered this older phone actually did support VoLTE while my Pixel that's only a year old still seems to only have spotty support for it... if any.

Yeah, Android has loads of apps for every need and much of the reason I liked the WP at first can now be done just as easily on Android. But it still feels kludgy and less integrated. I had all the apps I ever needed on WP because they were released early... the rest of them are just window dressing I really didn't need. Again I admit my iPhone experience is a few years old at this point so I can't speak to how well integrated it is, but I would note that from everything I'm reading it's integrated great with MacOS but not so much Windows (which is where I primarily "live" these days).

Most of WP's problems the last year or so have been more BECAUSE the platform has languished than any problem with the platform itself or the hardware. I just replaced my 830 with a Galaxy S7 Active. Yeah, it's an older phone but it's still solid with virtually identical specs to my Pixel. You know what? I think the hardware in the 830 is generally better. It felt like a more solid device and was well designed for day to day use. And was a VERY slim phone with a removable back... something virtually no Android devices do. Yeah, I didn't have a spare battery but I could've gotten one. And here's the other part; WP boots incredibly quickly... like power button to login of less than 10 seconds. It always impressed me especially when my Pixel takes more than twice as long.

It is a shame WP languished so badly. It started very well... but given when Microsoft brought it to market they were always going to have a really long uphill struggle to make it work. They needed a killer app or a killer phone to really get the excitement going, but Microsoft's history up to a few years ago meant the geeks were never going to give it a chance, and Apple had pretty much sewn up the average consumer crowd (and the hipsters...). Thing is; Microsoft is not the same company it was under Ballmer and I actually see them doing some pretty cool st

Re:I wondered about that

[Anonymous Coward]

The OneDrive and OneNote apps work fantastic on Android and sync immediately, as you described. I came from WP and went to Android and was surprised at how much better the MS apps are on Android than they were on WP.

Re:I wondered about that

[Zero__Kelvin]

Somebody should have told her the Dunkin Donuts app was going away. This is clearly not a phone for cops.

Re:I wondered about that

[Yunzil]

Windows Phone offered nothing that the other major phone OSs didn't offer.

Apart from an interface that isn't terrible you mean?

Re:I wondered about that

[unixisc]

Fully agree w/ you. My first smartphone was a Nokia Lumia 520 - the entry level phone in its time. Typing on that phone was a breeze: it had suggested words above the text box, but didn't get in your way, unlike the dumb phones that would try to guess what you were typing, and force you to follow the next character from what it had in its dictionary. Also, for comparison, at the time (around 2012), I tried both iOS and Android's typing interfaces, and they were a lot less smooth then (they've since caught up and are today at par). As a result, I started texting using that phone, something I never did previously.

The killer app you talk about is OneNote - although as AC above mentions, it's now also there on iOS and Android. But OneNote through its examples demonstrated some great things that could be done on this phone, like managing a shopping list, or a tour (noting things like ticket confirmation numbers, places to visit, et al). That phone also had HERE maps, which was great for navigating outside the US (although today, all 3 maps - Google, Apple & Bing - are at par, and there are things like Waze that improve the experience). And like you said, OneDrive integration was awesome!

Going from Windows Phone 8 to Windows 10 Mobile gave a more streamlined experience: there weren't multiple map apps - just the Bing one, and it integrated better w/ the desktop initially. But that's now gone: if you open Messenger on the desktop, even if it has the same Outlook login as your phone - your phone messages no longer appear on the desktop - as they previously did.

Honestly, Microsoft should sell the Windows Phone/Mobile platform to another company, and let them make something out of it, since Microsoft itself is incapable of it.

What will they do with the old phones?

[Anonymous Coward]

There has to be sensitive/compromising information on each phone. Full resets + actual wiping of the data, seems like a daunting task. If even 1% manage to remain un-wiped, that could still be a lot of information about some people in the wild. Alternatively, scrapping them (i.e. breaking them) seems like a waste too, if the phones still work.

Re:What will they do with the old phones?

[HornWumpus]

Phones from October 2014. In their rush to beat up everybody involved, the editors forgot to mention when they bought the phones.

That's a decent run for a bunch of cheap phones. Just shred them, zero residual value.

Re:What will they do with the old phones?

[ChunderDownunder]

The second model, the Lumia 640XL, is still officially supported by Windows 10 Mobile.

Would sell for $50 or more on ebay.

Re:What will they do with the old phones?

[HornWumpus]

How much would tech time be to wipe them and run the ebay auctions? Remember these are government employees, don't expect effort.

Re:What will they do with the old phones?

[unixisc]

Other thing that I wonder - did they use SD cards on the phones - for things like pictures, police data and so on? If yeah, the iPhone decision makes even less sense, since they won't be able to re-use them there. I can't imagine them not using it - the maximum internal storage any of the Lumias had was 32GB.

Full resets of Lumias are not daunting tasks - they may take a little while, but after one is done, it's as good as new. Only thing here - since they went for iPhones, these phones are useless. There had been talk about getting some Android versions on these phones, but not sure that that's still active. The cops might just toss them to family/friends/relatives or anyone remotely interested

Re:What will they do with the old phones?

[unixisc]

Wiping a phone takes about 15 minutes - that's been my experience w/ Lumias. Never used eBay, so can't comment on the auctions.

Re:What will they do with the old phones?

[HornWumpus]

15 minutes. Optimistic government worker ratio of 1 guy working, 3 guys watching makes that an easy person hour. Real world will be significantly higher.

In NYC, there is no way the average loaded government worker cost is less than $100/hour. For someone capable of wiping a phone, double that.

Government spending

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a perfect example of wasteful government spending. Would any company in the world spend that much money on a short-lived program? A real company, accountable for its financial decisions would either slowly roll out another version as phones died and could not be supported, or figure out how to pay for extra support while developing an alternative.

Also, any IT guy worth 2 cents would never have chosen Microsoft phones for a fleet.

Re: Government spending

[Anonymous Coward]

A real company, accountable for its financial decisions would either slowly roll out another version as phones died and could not be supported,

You have no idea how real companies work, do you? They could make that decision. Or they could decide that the hassles of people on different systems added more of a burden, and switched them all at once.

or figure out how to pay for extra support while developing an alternative.

Great idea, throw good money after bad.

I get it, you want to pretend this is somehow a government problem, but actually, they can be more answerable and accountable, or a private company can be more wasteful and inefficient.

Both Dilbert and Beetle Bailey have real life behind them.

Re:Government spending

[fluffernutter]

If the police force has a budget to spend on technology, they have to spend it. Now. If they don't spend it, they lose it next year; so it doesn't really matter how short lived the program is to them. I don't understand it either, but that's how finances work in any large company.

Re:Government spending

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't understand it either, but that's how finances work in any large company.

Wrong. Zero based budgeting.

Re:Government spending

[AHuxley]

Re "... in the world spend that much money on a short-lived program?"
Governments like to know where their staff are, what they are doing and saying.
Some features had to be supported.

Re:Government spending

[unixisc]

This is a perfect example of wasteful government spending. Would any company in the world spend that much money on a short-lived program? A real company, accountable for its financial decisions would either slowly roll out another version as phones died and could not be supported, or figure out how to pay for extra support while developing an alternative.

Also, any IT guy worth 2 cents would never have chosen Microsoft phones for a fleet.

When they were in Nokia's hands, the Lumia did have a fair bit of marketshare, only that both Apple and Samsung increased the gap against them. Given that the phones had a shared ecosystem w/ Microsoft's mainstream Windows, and that Microsoft had overhauled Windows w/ the metro UI to look like the phone, it made perfect sense for a company to build a fleet around them.

Let's look at the apps that a company could use that Microsoft provided. There was Office - including OneNote and Outlook: OneNote alone made this phone worthwhile, and at the time, Microsoft wasn't aggressively promoting Office on Android or iOS. Then there was maps - both Bing and HERE maps. There were other apps like unit converters (now integrated in the calculator), currency converters and so on. Also, at the time, typing was a lot smoother on Windows Phone 8.1 than on the contemporary versions of either iOS or Android (both have caught up since). If the reason one wanted a phone was something to have their office data on, as opposed to playing Pokemon Go, this was a good phone. It did have some major shortcomings though - Uber was barely supported, Lyft wasn't, nor were there any VOIP apps, and this last, IMO, was a killer. Yeah, one could use Skype, but I've never found it smooth to use.

Also, at the time, Ballmer was at the helm and he was fanatical about this platform, so Microsoft was solidly behind it while he was around. Things changed once he was gone and Nadella took over.

Great quote from TFA

[93 Escort Wagon]

I loved this...

"Nobody purchases 36,000 phones based on the judgment of one person," a source said. "I don’t care if you’re Jesus f--king Christ, you get a panel of experts."

Re:Great quote from TFA

[avandesande]

I guess the phones were supposed to last forever? They got several years of use out of them. I don't see what the big deal is... not like it's a billion dollar software project that completely failed.

Re:Great quote from TFA

[93 Escort Wagon]

Read TFA - they just started two years ago, and have been in the process of deploying them since then. 0-2 years is not "several years" by any stretch of the imagination.

Re:Great quote from TFA

[Dunbal]

And the panel listens to the best sales pitch of one person.

Re:Great quote from TFA

[Anonymous Coward]

And it will probably take just as long to port, and test their apps to the iOS platform and then deploy the phones. Id say on average the currently deployed phones will probably then see 2-3 years of service which is a pretty typical life of a phone. So it will seem like they get a pretty decent return on the investment.

Re:Great quote from TFA

[GerryGilmore]

That makes it even worse! If this decision had been made, say, 8 years ago it might make a tiny bit of sense, but 2 YEARS ago!!! That is eye-wateringly stupid!

Re:Great quote from TFA

[Anonymous Coward]

Not that I agree with the original decision, but assuming its a US carrier supplying - they may well have been on a "2 year rolling refresh" deal with the carrier, and as such are not paying any more to flip the fleet at this point.

From the point of view of the phone platform vendors, that puts them under some pressure, as NYPD could change likely to Android next time if they so chose (my best guess is the Win Phone Apps will be ported to iOS via Xamarin, and as such are relatively easily ported to Android in the future.

The real indicator is in 2 years time does NYPD refresh to iPhone, or do they change again ?

Re:Great quote from TFA

[Bert64]

And by the time the current iphones become obsolete and need to be replaced, they will be able to replace them with new iphones and continue running the same applications. They won't need to drop everything and start again.

Re:Great quote from TFA

[houghi]

I have seen it for more phones. CTO wanted new phones for all of the company, so it would be easier to maintain. Gives the order for 30.000 phones. Ordered in Belgium as they would be unlocked. Also went to a reseller as SonyErricson or any other manufacturer refused to sell to him directly. The reason was that they where in several European countries and they wanted one deal. That was a no-go for those companies.

This was before smartphones.

Re:Great quote from TFA

[avandesande]

Amortized even for just a year the cost of the windows phones are still less than i-phones which are ridiculously overpriced and non-serviceable.

Multiple people deserve to be fired for this

[chromaexcursion]

Not just Jessica Tisch, who absolutely should be fired for this.
She's deputy commissioner of information technology. Where in the world was her boss when she made this decision?
Failure to act is still accountable.

Re:Multiple people deserve to be fired for this

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, punish her with the dreaded golden parachute.

Face recognition false positive

[Anonymous Coward]

Will not recognize al-quaeda operatives in NYPD, politically correct.

Makes sense

[fluffernutter]

Makes sense. Large organizations don't want their employees to have control over their devices, and that comes built in with iPhone.

Re:Makes sense

[Strider-]

I know you're trying to be facetious, but what you're saying is actually quite true. Assuming they deploy the enterprise management tools and so forth on these phones, they can lock them down so that only selected interfaces are available, white-listed applications, etc... I don't know enough about android to know whether the options are as locked down. You do not want your officer being able to install the latest, and compromised, version of a solitaire game in a unit that also has access to police records etc...

Re: Makes sense

[evan galasso]

I think you're right, Android isn't a choice because of too many choices.

Re:Makes sense

[Anonymous Coward]

When Windows Phone came out, then they had Kid's corner or somesuch, and parents could control what kids did on their phones. I can't recall, if Android or iPhone had this at the time. I have a fair assumption, that Windows Phone offered similar stuff for enterprise deployments, along with a gratifying dearth of apps for it (I'm not sarcastic about this). There's a possibility, that the vendor of all that bespoke software was a Microsoft-only shop, and that could have tipped the balance in favour of Windows Phones.

Fast-forward to today: Android now also offers such enterprise settings of management in all modern versions of its OS — if what a relative of mine and their offspring have with actual and hardened limits to the kid's screen time. Combine that with a phone vendor willing to ensure timely updates to their phones' firmware, ad-blocking and other security in the browser (a wise IT manager would do that), and then you're set.

GNU Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

They should get GNU Linux phones. Oh wait, there still is no such thing I forgot.

Re:GNU Linux

[unixisc]

You mean Replicant? I haven't seen one either!

New plea

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't taze me Siri.

Gay Mafia controls NY

[Anonymous Coward]

The Homophobic police commissioner was afraid of turning his department gay, so he mandated that they use the Windows Phone, which self destructs if it sees a penis. However the Mayor Cock of NY is heavily financed by the homosexual lobby, so he has mandated the adoption of the faggot friendly IPhone.

The only benefit of this new phone that I can see is there will be no police officers taking lewed pictures of female private parts through surreptitious means. However I do see that the NY cellular infrastructure will be clogged up by billions of dick pictures floating through the ether.

Any way you look at it, this is a victory for but sex loving New Yorkers.

NHS

[Anonymous Coward]

They are not as bad as the NHS (national health service) in the UK which is still running unpatched Windows XP on nearly all their critical machines.

Hmm I wonder what the metropolitan police is running. They have low resolution blurry cameras which are so useless they can't even ascertain the race of a suspect. It's amazing that the UK has only one fifth of the violent crime rate in the US. Maybe they are just missing it.

Re:NHS

[OneHundredAndTen]

They are not as bad as the NHS (national health service) in the UK which is still running unpatched Windows XP on nearly all their critical machines.

Unsurprising, coming from a country that insists in cutting off its nose to spite its own face. Over, and over again.

Re:NHS

[Anonymous Coward]

"on nearly all their critical machines."
That is not (even slightly) true.

Wow!

[nospam007]

So Windows phones lose 95% of their user base?

Re:Wow!

[Anonymous Coward]

So Windows phones lose 95% of their user base?

It seems silly that Microsoft developed their OS in such a hybrid fashion, basically overriding complaints from their user base. But then again, that's probably why because they couldn't guarantee that their mobile market would flip so they hedged their choice by making a hybrid.

Those Phones can be upgraded to Wondows Phone 10

[williamyf]

That is NOT a long term solution (of course), but at least gives the NYPD time to better weight their options...

If the "Custom Egineered APPs" stop working if you go from 8.1 to 10, you have to hang not only the rich hag, but also the programers/coders who "Engineered" these APPs.

My guess is that the phones will be upgraded to WinPho10, and the Rollout of new iPhones (or whatevur) will be gradual, just as the rollout of the original WinPho ones took two years.

Times are changing

[manu0601]

For decades now, one could not be blamed by choosing Microsoft, even if it was badly suited for the job. It seems even that is changing.

Will they get the new iphone or an mix of 7 and 8?

[Joe_Dragon]

Will they get the new iphone or an mix of 7 and 8?

They had to change platforms when Dunkin Donuts le

[Anonymous Coward]

Nothing else would be so compelling!

36,000 phones?

[Applehu Akbar]

I didn't know there were that many Windows phones out there in the wild. With this return, that will make this the first smartphone to enjoy negative sales.

have no fear.

[Anonymous Coward]

im sure this will turn into another LA School board fiasco for apple.

"ill-fated"? How?

[DogDude]

In what way was it an "ill-fated" decision? There article didn't say that the phones didn't work, or didn't do what they were supposed to do. I fail to see the problem with using un-popular technology.

Android alternatives

[unixisc]

That's what I wondered as well. They'd have had a choice of phone vendors - not just Samsung, but a whole bunch of others - Google, LG, OnePlus, Xiaomi, Blu... For their specialized software, they could have worked w/ Google and worked on a deal to get a particular Android version - say Marshmallow - on any phones they obtained.

Re:Android alternatives

[Anonymous Coward]

OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Blu are out of the question. The first two operate out of China, and Blu has such security issues, that Amazon suspended sales of its phones. Consider, for example, why ThinkPads and other Lenovo kit are now evaded by U.S. government agencies (except NASA, but they have good reasons and good auditing).

While Android is really great at having heaps of security-related software and a host of browsers that each offer different levels of security, then Android has historically suffered (and in some cases still suffers) from terrible support cycles, with vendors and operators not doing anything at keeping the devices' firmware up-to-date.

Current Android (from 8.0 on) is likely to have a much better track record. HMD Global oy, for example, is promising and delivering timely updates to all of its Nokia phones with Android.

Re:They had to change platforms when Dunkin Donuts

[unixisc]

Other app I noticed that disappeared was Fandango. Incidentally, Microsoft has ended the LinkedIn app for Windows 10 Mobile, and recommended people to use the browser. While all this happened, Lyft introduced their app for this phone years after Uber did, and Waze is still there.

Re:Those Phones can be upgraded to Wondows Phone 1

[unixisc]

The Lumia 640XL came with Windows 10 Mobile. I'm not sure that the 830 supported such an upgrade. But Microsoft has stopped developing Windows 10 Mobile any further - from now on, they'll be just on maintenance.

Re:"ill-fated"? How?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah - it may not be that big a deal and not have cost the department much other than App porting via Xamarin.

Another Stupid Mistake

[Anonymous Coward]

Come on NYC, you already did the Windows Phone mistake which everyone stated NOT to buy but you did anyway. Now you are going to make another major mistake. iPhones are great for end users, kids, music, games, pictures, that is it. Android dominates the world and works with everything. Example: NYCPD will need to use their GIS data or something and the GEO function with the GIS data, but it will only be available on Android. Most apps are written for Android. All business and government should know this by now. I have contracted for a few companies over the years and they made the iPhone mistake and spent millions fixing it. 2 gov agencies and 12 private businesses I have worked for have make this mistake with the iPhone. Come on NYC don't make the mistake I don't want my taxes paying for Android Phones next year. Wow who is running that IT department? -WS

Incorrect assumption

[stooo]

>> In the private sector, she'd be gone yesterday and yet we pay these people more

That's incorrect. It's not the public sector overpaying, it's the private sector underpaying.
The correct wording would therefore be:

In the private sector, she'd be gone yesterday and yet we pay the people in private companies much less despite an insecure job.

Let me guess.

[thesupraman]

They are buying Apple because they are American? ;)

Got to keep those jobs in china and cash in Ireland, after all! go America!

Still, knowing how procurement contracts work, I am sure a few people in the system are running their hands together and ordering new boats.

Re:Those Phones can be upgraded to Wondows Phone 1

[stooo]

>> Windows 10 Mobile ... an upgrade.

What are you talking about ?
W10 an upgrade ??????

iPhone is luxury item

[Anonymous Coward]

In case you did not know.

Re:iPhone is luxury item

[Anonymous Coward]

A $200 Android phone is better than a $1000 iPhone 8 when you're buying 36,000 units. Also it's a good idea to buy from multiple vendors to mitigate any risk like with the windows phone. I bet someone's getting paid $$$$ kickbacks for choosing the iPhone.

cool

[Anonymous Coward]

now all we need is the windows ten phone os to get the hell off earth and the universe gets better

Re:"ill-fated"? How?

[Anonymous Coward]

The phones can't receive updates or support anymore. Maybe can't install new apps either, not that the Windows phones ever had many apps that didn't come with the phone.

But it probably had Minecraft since Microsoft bought them -- except Minecraft is Java so probably not.

Although since the vast majority of Android phones can't do updates, hard to see how updates is an issue.

Jessica's response

[Trailer Trash]

http://nypdnews.com/2017/08/de...

Interesting part:

"The contract entered provided for the smartphones at no cost. It also allowed for the NYPD to replace the smartphones with devices of our choosing two years later, also at no cost."

She also claims that they're already neck deep in Windows, so the Windows phones were easier to roll out. Plus, iOS and Android didn't allow "us to cost-effectively utilize prior investment in custom Windows applications."

As others have noted, she's a political appointee. It would be interesting to find out why or how the contract provided for the smartphones at no cost.

Re:Jessica's response

[cmdr_klarg]

http://nypdnews.com/2017/08/de...

Interesting part:

"The contract entered provided for the smartphones at no cost. It also allowed for the NYPD to replace the smartphones with devices of our choosing two years later, also at no cost."

She also claims that they're already neck deep in Windows, so the Windows phones were easier to roll out. Plus, iOS and Android didn't allow "us to cost-effectively utilize prior investment in custom Windows applications."

As others have noted, she's a political appointee. It would be interesting to find out why or how the contract provided for the smartphones at no cost.

Free phones, plus free replacements 2 years later, plus the functionality to run your custom Windows applications? I think I would have made the same decision, provided that testing confirmed app functionality.

Re:Jessica's response

[rajafarian]

Doesn't Bing pay people to use it, too?

Re:Jessica's response

[0123456]

I know a lot of people who've switched from Goolag to Bing in the last few weeks. It's hard to say this, but Microsoft actually appears to be one of the least evil big tech companies right now.

Re:Jessica's response

[DogDude]

It's hard to say this, but Microsoft actually appears to be one of the least evil big tech companies right now.

It's been that way for a long time. Google, Apple, and Facebook all make money from selling your data to the highest bidder. Microsoft doesn't.

Re:Jessica's response

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple does not sell data...and yes Microsoft does sell data. what the fuck do you think Windows 10 is?

Re:Jessica's response

[khz6955]

@Trailer Trash: "The contract entered provided for the smartphones at no cost. It also allowed for the NYPD to replace the smartphones with devices of our choosing two years later, also at no cost."

Do you have a link to the exact contract and do you know who was responsible for developing the original apps that would have to to be totally rewritten for Windows 10?

Re:Jessica's response

[Trailer Trash]

@Trailer Trash: "The contract entered provided for the smartphones at no cost. It also allowed for the NYPD to replace the smartphones with devices of our choosing two years later, also at no cost."

Do you have a link to the exact contract and do you know who was responsible for developing the original apps that would have to to be totally rewritten for Windows 10?

I don't. This piece was just ass-covering by her, posted to the NYPD's propaganda site with no way to comment or find out more info. You'll notice it ends with a snarky line.

The circle continues

[mwfischer]

IT director / executive makes overwhelmingly bad decision, costs organization millions, gets bonus.

Film at 11.

NYC (Fed?) govt only buys Microsoft

[Anonymous Coward]

I went to NYC government job fair, and all they ever use in every department is .NET. Because Microsoft. I guess it's nice to standardize around a single technology, but that's not the reason they made this decision. The only reason they ditch Windows Phone is because Microsoft ditched it first.

Police, Soldiers

[Anonymous Coward]

The founding fathers would likely have looked at our police and made snide comments about quartering soldiers and standing armies. They certainly seem to dress up like soldiers.

That we have police at all is seemingly almost accidental. Bob Peel across the pond came up with a metropolitan police force as a cost-saving measure to night watchmen. He armed them with clubs and wooden rattles, which were later replaced with whistles. When the US imported the concept, we gave them all guns, because of course we did. So now we have all the populace with guns, and some group of state actors permitted to carry and (implicitly) to use these guns to kill citizens. Nothing about this situation strikes me as being particularly good. Probably if we're going to have these police guys around, we should consider making that a part of the Constitution.

We need to all sit down and figure out who gets to kill people in this country. The Constitution says we need a militia, which is one of those phrygian-cap Republican ideals that the Founders were enamored of. Every man a soldier, farmer, citizen. The libertarians then and now eat that up with a spoon. The problem is it's retarded; a professional trained army will beat the militia any day, and specifically they were beaten in 1816 when the Capitol burned. From then on we started being serious about this military game, but we couldn't admit the failure of the ideal. So now we have standing armies, an armed populace, and another group of gun-toting state actors keeping the rest of us in line.

At some point we should really consider trying to make that whole Constitution thing match reality. Possibly some sort of injection of sanity would help. Probably what needs to happen is to make police just as liable for killing a person as you or I. Either that or we should all disarm (cops first). Disbanding the military would have the benefit of being consistent with the Founder's ideals, and save tons of money. Or maybe we can recognize that militias are a shit idea and rewrite the 2nd to cover personal defense only. Either way we should probably stop pretending there's not a serious problem with violence in this country, or that we're remotely compatible with the Founder's ideals, or that those ideals were necessarily wholly good to begin with.

It would also not be a completely stupid idea to ditch the death penalty and just say the State has no business killing its citizens. Especially since our track record there is an appalling slaughter of innocents.

Used Windows Phones ...

[PPH]

... will be available on Copart. In the biohazard section.

Re:"ill-fated"? How?

[Anonymous Coward]

found the other Windows Phone user

Re:Those Phones can be upgraded to Wondows Phone 1

[nasch]

If the "Custom Egineered APPs" stop working if you go from 8.1 to 10, you have to hang not only the rich hag, but also the programers/coders who "Engineered" these APPs.

How are the developers supposed to know when they write the app that it won't be compatible with the next version of the OS? Assuming they're not doing anything they're not supposed to like using unsupported APIs and such.

Re:"ill-fated"? How?

[Anonymous Coward]

Its no longer supported, can no longer reliably source replacements etc. Ill fated seems correct.

I worked IT at NYPD...

[Anonymous Coward]

Two companies had NYPD wrapped around their finger -- Microsoft and IBM. You couldn't propose a solution unless it was dominated by IBM and Microsoft hardware and software.

The Windows Phone decision was probably made by Dep. Commissioner Jim Onalfo (incidentally, whose son Curt used to coach the Kansas City MLS franchise). Onalfo was completely compromised by those two companies. One day, someone should dig into the resources expended by NYPD with those two firms.

The mind boggles

[Anonymous Coward]

It is bad enough to have it thrust down our throats as a desktop/server excuse for a computing environment, but phones? Who the actual fucks brother/sister supported that failure and how much did he/she get to implement it?
I can't understand why a cop needs a "smart phone" as opposed to a "dumb phone". If their radios are offline then making a cell call seems important enough, but to have angry birds? fuck no.

At least the article got it right

[robmorton]

I was so tired of every article saying Windows Phone was dead and the phones that the NYPD bought were no longer able to upgrade. Both models can easily go to Windows 10 Mobile (or what ever MS wants to call it). While I do not think the decision to go with Windows Phone was a wise one, they have no reason for a complete rip and replace at this point in time. It can be done over time.

Re:Those Phones can be upgraded to Wondows Phone 1

[williamyf]

No, neither phone came with Win10. Both phones can be upgraded.
Citation needed?
Here you go:
http://www.gsmarena.com/micros...

http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_...

Re:Those Phones can be upgraded to Wondows Phone 1

[unixisc]

You're talking about desktops, where Windows 7 to Windows 10 was not an upgrade. But for phones, Windows Phone 8 to Windows 10 Mobile was definitely an upgrade, albeit a rather minor one.

Re:Those Phones can be upgraded to Wondows Phone 1

[unixisc]

Okay. But the last time the Microsoft Store had them, I noticed just 3 models - the 950/XL, 640XL and 550. So thought that the 640XL came preloaded w/ it. Incidentally, the upgradable phones won't go as far as Windows 10 Mobile Creators Update: only the ones that started w/ Windows 10 Mobile - the 950 and 550 will

In the private sector

[Anonymous Coward]

...she would fail upwards (get promoted, that is).

Not the

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry, __aaclcg7560, I'm not that AC who you have been arguing with.