80 percent of Windows phones just lost support

Windows phones, you remember those, right? Well, there are still a few around even though new phones haven't been released, at least from Microsoft, in a while. For those few there are some unfortunate news from Microsoft.

Microsoft has announced this week that Windows phones with Windows Phone 7, Windows Phone 8, and Windows Phone 8.1 are no longer officially supported. Windows 10 devices do retain official support but they are in the minority.

According to The Verge, who calls this the end of Windows phones even though most of us probably considered the platform dead after Microsoft abandoned the Lumia brand, only 20 percent of Windows phone have the latest Windows version, Windows 10, installed.

As four out of five phones running Windows are no longer getting support or updates it's clear that there's no coming back. Even though Microsoft still will look after Windows 10 users even in mobile it is clear that the Mobile First, Cloud First strategy that CEO Satya Nadella revealed in 2014 didn't come to fruition.

Microsoft has recently been investing and focusing more and more on applications on competing platforms, namely Android and iOS that account for approximately 99.5% of new smartphones.

Written by: Matti Robinson @ 13 Jul 2017 16:26

KillerBug

Quote: Even though Microsoft still will look after Windows 10 users even in mobile... Actually, that isn't really true. A lot of i3 users will stop getting all support (even security updates) in about a year...microsoft decided the graphics drivers for those chips won't be supported by the creator's update and will stop all updates for those who don't get the creator's update. They would still be getting updates until 2022 (Oct 2012 release of Win8 +5years full support +5years security support) if they had not "upgraded" to windows 10. Considering that even some 'i' series systems have lost support, it's no surprise that they are cutting off support to antique phones.

17.7.2017 21:50 #1

SergoT

Can you i.e. upgrade iphone 4 to the latest OS? The answer is no due to hardware limitation, etc. The same applies here. I have Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 830, both running Windows 10 Mobile. But even these models are not getting the newest Creator OS update. So what? These two phones are 4-5 years old. Our days many people changing their phones every 3-4 years. The Verge is always making those weird assumptions.

18.7.2017 11:13 #2

Semperfipal

I've had a Lumia 650 Windows 10 phone for about six months now. It beats the crap out of the Android phone I had for over a year. I know my Win phone doesn't have all the apps that are available, but I only used a few anyway. The Win 10 works just fine for me and for the price of $.99 cents for a pre-owned phone is not a bad deal. Some day I'll have to move on, but for now it fits my needs.

"Do not underestimate the power of an enemy, no matter how great or small, to rise against you another day." - Atilla

20.7.2017 10:03 #3

KillerBug

Originally posted by Semperfipal: I've had a Lumia 650 Windows 10 phone for about six months now. It beats the crap out of the Android phone I had for over a year. I know my Win phone doesn't have all the apps that are available, but I only used a few anyway. The Win 10 works just fine for me and for the price of $.99 cents for a pre-owned phone is not a bad deal. Some day I'll have to move on, but for now it fits my needs. If that's $0.99 total then it is a good deal; if such prices were common we would see Android ported to them by now like with the WebOS devices. If it is $0.99 with a contract that covers $200+ of a phone price, then it is a terrible deal.

20.7.2017 19:26 #4

Semperfipal

Originally posted by KillerBug: Originally posted by Semperfipal: I've had a Lumia 650 Windows 10 phone for about six months now. It beats the crap out of the Android phone I had for over a year. I know my Win phone doesn't have all the apps that are available, but I only used a few anyway. The Win 10 works just fine for me and for the price of $.99 cents for a pre-owned phone is not a bad deal. Some day I'll have to move on, but for now it fits my needs. If that's $0.99 total then it is a good deal; if such prices were common we would see Android ported to them by now like with the WebOS devices. If it is $0.99 with a contract that covers $200+ of a phone price, then it is a terrible deal. It's not a contract phone, and it really was $.99 I only get 1GIG a month data on a 4G network, after that it slows down, but I don't care that much about data use. At home I use the Wifi option, that way I never reach my 1GIG limit. My needs are making/receiving calls, same with texting and misc use of MS Edge browser, although I did add a Google Chrome Browserj, I don't like the Edge Browser. I'm sure for some people it would not be ideal, but we're all different with different needs, expectations. Right now I'm satisfied with the unit.

"Do not underestimate the power of an enemy, no matter how great or small, to rise against you another day." - Atilla

20.7.2017 19:54 #5

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