Yes, what you are reading is true – Microsoft has officially finally announced the burial date for Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile support. In a Microsoft support page titled “Windows 10 Mobile End of Support: FAQ” some questions are answered regarding the eventual end of support for the Windows Phone platform.

LumiaPhone

Under “What should Windows 10 Mobile customers do now?” Microsoft admonished that Windows Phone users “move to a supported Android or iOS device.” Windows Phone devices will no longer receive security update on December 10 of this year. Though users may still be receiving supports from third party Windows Apps, Microsoft will no longer support the platform.

Microsoft’s mission statement to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, compels us to support our Mobile apps on those platforms.

Devices that are on Windows 10 Mobile version 1709 will receive security support patches until December 10 while the Lumia 640 and 640 XL on version 1703 will only last through June 11.

Microsoft as well advises those who still have a Windows smartphone to manually create a backup using the built-in tool before the sunset date. After that, the tool will be phased out.

How To Back Up Your Data On Windows Smartphones

To perform an update

  • Go to Settings > Update & Security > Backup > More Options > Back up now.

What Of Cortana?

As for Cortana, Microsoft has positioned the voice assistant not as a competitor to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, but rather to compliment the platforms. Check out the Source link below to see the full FAQ support page.

Cortana needs to be that skill for anybody who’s a Microsoft365 subscriber. You should be able to use it on Google Assistant [and] Alexa, just like how you use our apps on Android and iOS so that’s at least how we want to think about where it’ll go. – Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO

The 3rd mobile ecosystem

I still don’t like the lack of a viable 3rd force in smartphone world. That war has been fought and won. And Windows Phone lost.

KaiOS is not exactly a smartphone platform. It runs on feature phones, though it can be argued that once a device can run apps, it is a smartphone. For now, the powers that be call KaiOS a smart feature phone platform. It is the 3rd largest mobile platform in the world, after Android and iOS. And Google has made a smart move investing in it.

KaiOS

Feature phones are taking a bold step up in the world. About half of the mobile phones in use in the world today are feature phones, as the smartphone market has hit a plateau. Rather than die, feature phones are evolving to fill the gap.

Are any of our readers still rocking a Windows device? Let us know which device you have and tell us which phone you might be looking at down the road.

Though I never owned a Windows Phone, the early days of Pocket PC first sparked my interest in smartphones and I read so many reviews in Laptop Magazine in my high school years (Yeah, I’m kind of young). I don’t know that I’d be writing this right now if it wasn’t for the platform. Thanks, Microsoft.

Follow TellForce Blog on social media!

Do not forget to follow us on Telegram, Google+, Facebook, and Twitter.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Captcha verification failed!
CAPTCHA user score failed. Please contact us!