Microsoft ends support for Windows Phone... 8.1

[Nowak]

Sauce: https://www.engadget.com/2017/07/11/windows-phone-support-ends/

 

Really, this is more of a formality than anything, but the Windows Phone era is, for all intents and purposes, over.

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It's official: for all intents and purposes, the Windows Phone era is over. Microsoft has ended support for Windows Phone 8.1 just over 3 years after its April 2014 debut. From now on, your WP8.1-toting device won't get software updates or technical help. This doesn't mark the end of Microsoft's mobile ambitions (Windows 10 Mobile is still hanging around), but it does finish a long, sad story in the company's history that reflects the tech giant's shifting priorities.

Of course, there's still their also-struggling Windows 10 Mobile, but who knows how much longer that'll stick around, between the hardware drought and the OS receiving no substantial updates for years.

 

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Windows Phone 7 was launched in 2010 as Microsoft's formal response to the iPhone and Android. This was the release that was going to prove Microsoft could make a truly consumer-focused mobile platform instead of catering primarily to the business crowd. The tile-based home screen and other interface elements were breaths of fresh air, but the so-so device lineup (HTC Surround anyone?) and lack of feature parity (it launched without copy-and-paste text) set the tone. It was always a bit lackluster compared to what Apple and Google were doing, even if there were occasional bright spots.

Case in point: Windows Phone 8. It was a huge upgrade, but no Windows Phone 7 device could run it. Millions of users were faced with the prospect of having to upgrade their handset early to stay current, erasing a lot of Microsoft's hard-earned good will. Windows Phone 8.1 finally provided a truly complete answer to Android and iOS, but it was still a little bit behind and never got the sustained big-name app support that Microsoft had tried so hard to cultivate. And we can't forget the ill-fated partnership between Microsoft and Nokia, including the eventual purchase of Nokia's hardware business. It was supposed to be a match made in heaven (Microsoft got a huge, reliable partner while Nokia got a modern OS), but it mostly led to a lopsided Windows Phone market where third parties always played second fiddle to the latest Lumia.

tl;dr: Microsoft launched Windows Phone 7 in 2010 in response to iOS and Android (the photo I used is from the RTM parade... watch it if you want to see how ambitious Microsoft's mobile plans were 7 years ago, particularly from 11:29 on). It would show to the public that Microsoft could make something consumer-focused, rather than business-focused. However, mediocre devices that were really the same thing with different screen sizes and a lack of features, even basic ones like copy-and-paste, kept it from success, even as the OS gained features and better devices were released. Even big releases like Windows Phone 8 and gaining partners like Nokia did not help the situation much, if at all. In some ways, it made it worse.

 

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That Microsoft ditched Windows Phone entirely in favor of Windows 10 Mobile says a lot. Just as Microsoft shifted from a dependence on Windows sales to a focus on apps and services, the pocket-sized Windows is no longer intended as an iPhone-beater -- it's more an extension of the desktop PC experience.

As I said before, this is more of a formality than anything. Windows Phone 8.1 hasn't seen an update in years, after Windows 10 Mobile was released. However, it was still, for all intents and purposes, still being supported by Microsoft. Now that is no longer the case. The successor, Window 10 Mobile, no longer has a consumer focus; instead, it's meant to extend the desktop PC experience.

 

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Even then, it's fading away as Microsoft cuts its former Nokia staff and has been winding down its mobile plans. Windows Phone produced many fond memories, particularly stand-out devices like the Lumia 1020, but it largely represents a missed opportunity to adapt to an industry where phones, not PCs, are the center of the computing universe.

But of course, that too is a missed opportunity. I feel that sums up the Windows Phone story: nothing but missed opportunity after missed opportunity.

 

Keep in mind that Windows Phone 8.1 currently represents nearly 80% of the Windows Phone market. The remaining 20% is on Windows 10 Mobile, which is still "supported". With Windows 10 Mobile not receiving substantial updates in over a year, being locked into a "feature2" update branch with no plans to bring it out of it, no new phones on the horizon and it losing apps (occasionally regaining them later), and not even being advertised to most people with eligible phones (which aren't many anymore), there's no incentive for Windows Phone 8.1 holdouts to upgrade to W10m. The only real options left on the market now for consumers are the classic iOS and Android duo.

 

As has been the case for years.

[captain_to_fire]

They want to bury the iPhone. The last time I checked, the iPhone is still selling so well it's were most Apple's revenue is coming from. They don't even make a lot of money from iPads or Macs. 

 

2 hours ago, Daring said:

But of course, that too is a missed opportunity. I feel that sums up the Windows Phone story: nothing but missed opportunity after missed opportunity.

If Microsoft launched Windows Phone 7 back when Android is crappy (pre 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich), they'll have big slice in the market share at this moment. Remember when Microsoft screwed with everyone who just bought a Nokia Lumia 800 & 900? They've decided not to release WP8 to existing WP7 phones because of kernel differences. WP7 is using the CE kernel which is actually meant for low power embedded systems whereas WP8 is using the superior NT kernel that allows support for multi core processors and more memory. 

[Nowak]

1 minute ago, hey_yo_ said:

They want to bury the iPhone. The last time I checked, the iPhone is still selling so well it's were most Apple's revenue is coming from. They don't even make a lot of money from iPads or Macs. 

Out of both of the things Microsoft held a mock funeral for during the RTM parade, only Blackberry came true. The iPhone, meanwhile, buried them x)

[Jito463]

But do you think I can still upgrade my Windows Mobile 6 phone to WM 8.1?

[Nowak]

Just now, Jito463 said:

But do you think I can still upgrade my Windows Mobile 6 phone to WM 8.1?

No.

[Jito463]

Just now, Daring said:

No.

Awwwwww

[Nowak]

Just now, Jito463 said:

Awwwwww

You can't even update Windows Phone 7 to Windows Phone 8.x, what makes you think you could do that?

[Jito463]

Just now, Daring said:

You can't even update Windows Phone 7 to Windows Phone 8.x, what makes you think you could do that?

Because I'm special?

[LAwLz]

2 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

If Microsoft launched Windows Phone 7 back when Android is crappy (pre 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich), they'll have big slice in the market share at this moment.

But they did...

Ice Cream Sandwich was released in October 2011.

Windows Phone 7 was released October 2010.

 

Windows Phone 7 had been out for a year when Ice Cream Sandwich came out, and it was even longer before phones actually started getting the ICS update.

[Jito463]

@Daring

You do know I'm just messing with you, right?  My main phone is an S7 Active.  Although I do still have a Samsung BlackJack II, which does run WM6.  I keep it around as a backup alarm clock, LOL (no joke, I seriously do).

[Nowak]

Just now, Jito463 said:

@Daring

You do know I'm just messing with you, right?  My main phone is an S7 Active.  Although I do still have a Samsung BlackJack II, which does run WM6.  I keep it around as a backup alarm clock, LOL (no joke, I seriously do).

Ah. Well, at least you don't use a phone running a dying OS as your main phone x)

[Jito463]

Just now, Daring said:

Ah. Well, at least you don't use a phone running a dying OS as your main phone x)

No, but I have been forced to switch back to in on a couple occasions, when my primary phone (at that time, an Asus Zenfone 2) was out of commission.  It still works fine as a phone, just don't expect much more out of it than that.

[captain_to_fire]

Just now, LAwLz said:

But they did...

Ice Cream Sandwich was released in October 2011.

Windows Phone 7 was released October 2010.

 

Windows Phone 7 had been out for a year when Ice Cream Sandwich came out, and it was even longer before phones actually started getting the ICS update.

I probably should have said during the times when Android is crappy aka Android 1.6 donut to 2.3 Gingerbread. Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean (thanks to Project Butter) are Android releases that I consider that can go head to head with iOS when it comes to stability and responsiveness. 

 

[LAwLz]

2 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

I probably should have said during the times when Android is crappy aka Android 1.6 donut to 2.3 Gingerbread. Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean (thanks to Project Butter) are Android releases that I consider that can go head to head with iOS when it comes to stability and responsiveness. 

 

Ehm... Windows Phone 7 was released at the time Froyo (Android 2.2) was the latest version.

Gingerbread was released slightly after Windows Phone 7 and then it took an entire year before we got ICS.

 

So for an entire year it was Android Gingerbread vs Windows Phone 7.

[captain_to_fire]

1 minute ago, LAwLz said:

So for an entire year it was Android Gingerbread vs Windows Phone 7.

Most Windows Phone 7 phones are AT&T exclusives. WP7 was lacking the essential apps because the WP7 SDK Microsoft provided to developers are lacking APIs that are found in iOS/Android SDKs. I think decs have to code it using Silverlight. 

 

[captain_to_fire]

3 hours ago, Daring said:

As I said before, this is more of a formality than anything. Windows Phone 8.1 hasn't seen an update in years

Meanwhile... 

 

[LAwLz]

8 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

Most Windows Phone 7 phones are AT&T exclusives. WP7 was lacking the essential apps because the WP7 SDK Microsoft provided to developers are lacking APIs that are found in iOS/Android SDKs. I think decs have to code it using Silverlight.

Yes I agreed. Windows Phone 7 was shit for a ton of reasons. Not just shitty third party support but it also lacked a ton of things which were added way too late. I think it took them over a year to add copy/paste for example.

 

I just wanted to point out that this statement you made:

33 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

If Microsoft launched Windows Phone 7 back when Android is crappy (pre 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich), they'll have big slice in the market share at this moment.

is wrong, because Microsoft did launch Windows Phone 7 back when "Android was crappy, pre 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich".

[mr moose]

So long as they don't abandon the windows phone OS thing altogether (I know some people are convinced they are and others think they're not), stopping support for older OS versions is par for the course.  I prefer my WP over both ios and android.      

 

[NvidiaIntelAMDLoveTriangle]

YEAHHHHHHHHHHH.

[Nowak]

1 hour ago, mr moose said:

So long as they don't abandon the windows phone OS thing altogether (I know some people are convinced they are and others think they're not), stopping support for older OS versions is par for the course.  I prefer my WP over both ios and android.      

You're gonna be forced to adopt either one eventually. The feasibility of a Windows Phone/Mobile device is dwindling fast.

[mr moose]

1 minute ago, Daring said:

You're gonna be forced to adopt either one eventually. The feasibility of a Windows Phone/Mobile device is dwindling fast.

Maybe, maybe not.