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Microsoft Exec Says Windows 10 Mobile is No Longer a 'Focus' (engadget.com)
From a report: Microsoft's Joe Belfiore informed Twitter users that new features and hardware for Windows 10 Mobile "aren't the focus" any more. There will be fixes and security patches, of course, but you shouldn't expect more than that. As for why the platform has been all but dropped? The executive boils it down to one main reason: the difficulty of getting developers to write apps. Microsoft tried paying companies to produce apps and even wrote them itself when creators couldn't or wouldn't get involved, but the number of users was "too low for most companies to invest." Why build an app for a relatively small bunch of Windows phone owners when there are many more Android and iOS users? Belfiore himself switched to Android for the "app/[hardware] diversity." It's a bit more complicated than that, of course. You can point to a few other factors in Windows' fate on phones, such as slowness in responding to Apple and Google as well as an inconsistent hardware strategy (you could rarely count on getting a timely sequel to a handset you liked). Whatever the reason, it's safe to say that Microsoft isn't just acknowledging that Android and iOS hold a clear lead -- it's quashing any hopes for a comeback, at least for the foreseeable future.
If it's the same codebase, then no special work is needed for Windows 10 Mobile, it gets carried forward by work on Windows 10.
If it's the same codebase, then there is no "apps shortage", every Metro app written since Windows 8 should work just fine. That was the point of Metro, no?
If it's *not* the same codebase, then it should be called "Windows Phone".
1. Make phone with shitty UI.
2. Make you bread and butter funtion and look like the hated phone UI. To make people like the phone.
4. Stop making phone.
5. ?
6. Profit.
What are you talking about? Even if you were being honest and never ever used apps you would make up about 0.00001% of smartphone users.
The issue is that your work requirements are not everyone's work requirements. For example: email and calls. Yes. But I travel sometimes for work which means: At least a browser to book hotels, flights, rental cars. It means cab hailing apps sometimes. It also means a VPN app so I can get access to the company network when I'm on the road.
Now here's where apps help: Airline apps to check-in, book, upgrade, gate information. Hotel apps to check-in/check out, request service, get directions. Car rental apps to avoid the lines. I can do 100% of all those things with a browser and phone calls. It's much faster and more convenient to use apps.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Imagine how much sympathy we all have for Microsoft having to face a target market completely locked in by one or two competitors.
As a developer myself, I watched the clusterfu#! of Microsoft launching, then dropping, platform after platform... And every time they did that, I thanked myself for not investing in the previous platform!
Want to guess how much that made me want to invest in their next platform?
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.