Joe Belfiore confirms that Windows 10 Mobile is no longer a focus for Microsoft

[Nowak]

Sauce: https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-windows-10-mobile-features-and-hardware-are-not-focus-anymore

 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I told you so.

 

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Microsoft's Corporate Vice President for Windows, Joe Belfiore, has today clarified the company's stance with Windows 10 Mobile and what it's currently doing in the mobile space. In a series of tweets on Twitter, Belfiore states that as an individual end-user, he has switched to Android, and that Windows 10 Mobile is no longer a focus for Microsoft.

The tweet in question:

For the few Windows 10 Mobile users here, this means: don't expect anything more than bugfixes from now until the end of the road for the ailing platform, and that, yes, it's "dead".

 

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Belfiore confirms what we have been reporting in the past; that from here on out, Microsoft will continue to service Windows 10 Mobile with bug fixes and security patches, mainly for the enterprise market who adopted Windows 10 Mobile for work. Microsoft is not planning to bring any new consumer facing features to Windows 10 Mobile, nor is it planning to release any new hardware.

As such, it's safe to assume that Windows 10 Mobile, and Windows phone in its current form, is "dead." Microsoft has now officially stated that it has no plans to continue developing new features for the platform, but will continue to support remaining users with bug fixes and patches through its feature2 branch.

 

No new hardware either. Oh, Surface Phone, we hardly ever knew ye. In fact, we didn't at all.

 

The reason? Apps, or lack thereof, and Microsoft's repeated failures at incentivizing app developers to bring their software to the Windows platform.

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Belfiore even explains why Windows phone is no longer the focus, citing a lack of apps as the main problem. Even after offering to pay for and build apps for third parties, the apps simply never came and as such users failed to adopt the platform in any major way.

If you want to continue to get Microsoft's ecosystem on your phone, don't worry: they've been working hard on bringing their ecosystem to iOS and Android.

 

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So for now, Microsoft is working hard to bring the best of Windows and the Microsoft ecosystem to other mobile platforms. Just this week, Microsoft announced that it is bringing Edge to iOS and Android, along with improving Microsoft's now official Android launcher with further tie-ins with your Microsoft account.

Microsoft's new mobile play is to bring the Microsoft experience to users on other platforms, rather than expect users to make the switch. In reality, the majority of Windows users aren't Windows phone user, but rather iOS and Android users, hence why it makes more sense to bring the best of Windows to those devices instead.

 

Hopefully Belfiore's comments offers some closure to people wondering what Microsoft's doing on the mobile front. This is more or less confirmation that Microsoft is leaving the mobile OS space, at least on phones anyway, and Windows 10 Mobile has no future. Honestly, my best advice for holdouts is: start looking at iOS and Android. Don't be a fanboy and let your biases keep you on a dying platform, lest being left further behind is one of your interests. If so, then rest assured that Microsoft will continue to provide security patches and bugfixes through 2019.

[TheCheese]

Not surprised tbh

[,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,]

windows in itself sucks and when you have it on a mobile phone trying to open ur email then ur email bsod's while ur boss is yelling at u to clean his spicy shit it isnt good. rip microsoft phones u wont be missed

[Misanthrope]

Meanwhile HP be like "Guys....we have like 4 warehouses of these....anyone wants to buy?....Please?...."

[Castdeath97]

 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

I really liked the design of Windows phone and wanted it to succeed. Unfortunately, diverse app support never came even though it's been talked about for years... It's the same story for every release, intriguing new features and concepts, but the core issues just weren't (or perhaps can't be) addressed. 

 

Sort of like Blackberry. The phone aspect of the phone always worked perfectly, unlike their Android and iOS counterparts. Unfortunately that's not where the market was and people wanted more apps even though dropped calls and missed texts become common ground. 

[TetraSky]

That's unfortunate. I quite like Windows Phone 10. It's very intuitive for anyone who use a Windows PC. Not to mention it's not filled with bloatware that you can't remove unlike Android. (Other than Microsoft's stuff, though I realize some people would consider those bloatware)

 

I mean come on, on an android phone, even after a factory reset, you often have multiple apps that do the exact same shit, just because the phone manufacturer wants to push their apps onto you, but the default android apps are still included, so you end up with 2 of many things, like browsers, file managers, theme managers, etc etc etc...

[PlayStation 2]

Lesson learned: don't spread yourself too thin.

[iRileyx]

Pretty sure I read something about this like a few months ago, just didn't have the confirmation from whoever Joe is.

[suicidalfranco]

> Buy android device

> install arrow launcher/microsoft launcher

> install edge

> install outlook

> install excel, word, powerpoint, onenote

> install groove music

> install skype

> install swiftkey

> install cortana

> xbox app

> install one drive

> install bing search

 

 there you can now keep shilling for MS and be a masochist without a WM device

 

extra steps:

> get root

> remove gapps

> remove pre installed default apps

> turn MS apps into system apps

> wank off at Satya's poster in your room

 

edit:

> install an icon pack that squares everything, and usus flat colours 

[Nowak]

Just now, RKRiley said:

Pretty sure I read something about this like a month ago, just didn't have the confirmation from whoever Joe is.

Corporate vice president of the Operating Systems Group at Microsoft and basically the figurehead for Windows Phone/10 Mobile.

[Connor Price]

As someone who's owned a few Windows Phones, this comes as no surprise. The platform has been going nowhere for a while, which is a shame. The UI was excellent and there was some genuinely good ideas littered throughout the OS. App selection and Microsoft's lack of ambition for the platform is what killed it. Microsoft are even getting rid of groove music which is their Spotify competitor. It's all been downhill from Windows Phone 7 which was actually pretty good. 

[MyName13]

What do you think Microsoft should have done to gain big market share with mobile Windows?

[Taf the Ghost]

It was a priority?

[TheCherryKing]

40 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

Meanwhile HP be like "Guys....we have like 4 warehouses of these....anyone wants to buy?....Please?...."

Hopefully they can be hacked to run Android. 

[Nowak]

Just now, TheCherryKing said:

Hopefully they can be hacked to run Android. 

Won't be necessary, HP has been experimenting with the Elite X3 running Android internally.

[TheCherryKing]

Windows Phone 8.1 was a great mobile operating system. All Microsoft needed to do is get the app developers on board. Instead they developed Windows 10 Mobile which is an ugly, buggy mess. Windows 10 Mobile also has poor app support because their plans for the Android emulation layer failed. 

[TheCheese]

Couldn't you just change up the Android skin to match Windows, I mean then the difference would've been hardware and Windows were not renowned for their build quality

[TheCherryKing]

1 minute ago, Daring said:

Won't be necessary, HP has been experimenting with the Elite X3 running Android internally.

They are?

[Nowak]

Just now, TheCherryKing said:

They are?

Yes, according to the rumor mill.

[Connor Price]

9 minutes ago, TheCherryKing said:

Windows Phone 8.1 was a great mobile operating system. All Microsoft needed to do is get the app developers on board. Instead they developed Windows 10 Mobile which is an ugly, buggy mess. Windows 10 Mobile also has poor app support because their plans for the Android emulation layer failed. 

They scrapped it because people were downloading cracked apk's and sideloading them apparently and they had no way of stopping it. That's when they tried the iOS ports. That didn't really catch on apart from Messenger, Facebook and Instagram. 

[mr moose]

52 minutes ago, Daring said:

 

For the few Windows 10 Mobile users here, this means: don't expect anything more than bugfixes from now until the end of the road for the ailing platform, and that, yes, it's "dead".

 

While I can't speak for the other two, I am sad.  Even though I can't even effectively purchase a new WP, the idea that something of equivalence would be on the horizon meant I didn't have to think about Android or find the extra cash for an iphone.

[Nowak]

2 minutes ago, mr moose said:

While I can't speak for the other two, I am sad.  Even though I can't even effectively purchase a new WP, the idea that something of equivalence would be on the horizon meant I didn't have to think about Android or find the extra cash for an iphone.

Honestly, I'm just glad that Belfiore finally came through and told everyone the truth, rather than those empty "We're still committed!" claims Microsoft kept making. Actions speak way louder than words.

[Shreyas1]

Can’t you just buy a windows phone for cheap and put android on it? Or get it and wait until it becomes one of those collectibles that are worth a lot of money

[Nowak]

Just now, Shreyas1 said:

Can’t you just buy a windows phone for cheap and put android on it? Or get it and wait until it becomes one of those collectibles that are worth a lot of money

There have been efforts to port Android to Snapdragon S4-based devices, but progress has been slow. It's largely driver-related.