Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 Mobile. Which means Windows 10 Mobile is deader than dead. It also means Microsoft’s foray into the mobile market is over. So much so that Microsoft is actively advising people to switch to Android or iOS.
Windows 10 Mobile has been a bust since it debuted in 2016. We dubbed its arrival a “tech launch failure,” and things didn’t get any better from there. Now, three years on, Windows 10 Mobile is being put out of its misery, with Microsoft ending all support.
The End of Windows 10 Mobile
As indicated in this Microsoft support note, Microsoft’s support for Windows 10 Mobile will end on December 10, 2019. After this date there will be no “new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free assisted support options or online technical content updates”.
The “automatic or manual creation of new device backups for settings and some applications will continue for 3 months, ending March 10, 2020”. And “some services including photo uploads […] may continue to work for up to another 12 months”.
Pour one out for all three people who still use Windows Phone. ? https://t.co/nBSGsmdvGT
— ??? Jony Ive (@JonyIveParody) January 18, 2019
Microsoft makes it clear that your Windows 10 Mobile device will not simply stop working on December 10, 2019. However, because “there will be no updates after that date,” Microsoft is recommending “customers move to a supported Android or iOS device”.
Unlike Windows 7, which has been replaced by Windows 10, the end of Windows 10 Mobile signals the end of the line completely. Microsoft has ceded the market to Android and iOS, and is focusing on developing apps and services for the competition instead.
Choosing Between Android and iOS
This is a crying shame for Microsoft, but also for consumers who wanted more than a binary choice when it came to mobile operating systems. Unfortunately, Microsoft was too slow to realize that mobile was the future, and both Apple and Google filled that void.
Microsoft was never a major player in the mobile market. Windows Phone had its fans, but we said goodbye to Windows Phone in 2014. And everything that has happened since suggests we were right to do so, despite what commenters said at the time.
Read the full article: Microsoft Ends Support for Windows 10 Mobile
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