Microsoft officially surrenders on Windows Phone

Microsoft officially surrenders on Windows Phone


Microsoft is giving up on its effort to convince people to run Windows on their smartphone, at least for now. In a series of tweets, Windows executive Joe Belfiore said that the company will continue to fix bugs and security issues but won't add new features to Windows 10 Mobile. Plus, he said, he has personally moved to an Android phone.

Why it matters: The phone versions of Windows have been a virtual nonentity for a while now, but this announcement confirms that Microsoft is moving on as well.

"Of course we'll continue to support the platform.. bug fixes, security updates, etc.," Belfiore said Sunday on Twitter. " But building new features/(hardware) aren't the focus."

He added that Microsoft tried hard, but just couldn't get enough users, which in turn made it tough to get support from app makers.



Flashback: At a company event celebrating the completion of Windows Phone 7 in 2010, Microsoft's mobile team held an extremely ill-advised "funeral" for the iPhone.

 

As much as I dislike certain design choices in WP, losing another player in this market doesn't sound funny.

 

Agree with you 100%

Sent from my SM-N920C using Tapatalk

 

Maybe MSFT must embrace Android w/ MSFT apps just like Bill Gates and others at MSFT said. I am sure Android with Live Tiles will be a deal breaker for me.

 

It a shame for my Nokia 1020 it has an 41MP Sensor and a real xenon flash, But it`s stuck on Win8 Mobile, I wish i could install Android.

John.

 

I also agree, sad to hear another competitor go.
Since I'm soon gonna be in a market for a new smartphone, there's basically nothing to choose from, just Android... Kinda lame.

 

Microsoft Launcher for Android (formerly known as Arrow Launcher) doesn’t involve live tiles. It is, however, a pretty good launcher in its current form (currently my second favorite Android launcher after Nova Launcher Prime), and it integrates well with both Bing and Cortana for Android.

 

I didn't say anything about android launchers in fact I said custom made android by MSFT should come with Live Tiles.

I updated my non supported Lumia to insider preview to get RS2 and now no more upgrade path for me, so another few years and I should move on to different ecosystem either Android or iOS or others..

 

I have been using Android 95% of the time for years, I never liked Windows Mobile so my Nokia 1020 has sat unused, I have never had an iPhone.

John.

 

I assumed you were talking specifically about the launcher because Windows Phone had live tiles on its launcher (i.e., the home screen).

I think “custom made Android by MSFT” would be a sales disaster just like Amazon’s Fire Phone is. Nobody wants an Android smartphone that can’t access Google Play. I think a much better approach would be to sell a “Microsoft phone” with all of MSFT’s Android apps preinstalled and set as defaults, but still with Google Play to avoid the “app gap” argument that killed Windows Phone.

 

I switched back from iOS to W10M after app gap on App store due to region based restriction (India) on iOS. So, I had more apps on Lumia than iOS. Tried my hand on S7 and others as well, didn't like it as well. Maybe I'll take a look after couple of years.

They failed once on AOSP IIRC Asha 5xx series. Of course, Google Play will be present just like S8 MSFT edition phones.

 

RIP Windows Phone: Microsoft officially pulls plug
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech...rosoft-makes-officially-pulls-plug/747686001/

https://twitter.com/joebelfiore/sta...rosoft-makes-officially-pulls-plug/747686001/

 

My primary phone will continue to function for some more years. Atleast I have time looking for alternatives Android or iOS.

 

I for one believe those impossible-to-uninstall-on-most-smartphones Google services shoved down our throats is a problem. F**k Google Play, Yalp Store all the way!

 

Ditto. That's why I still hold on to my Blackberry.
And since there are basically left only two smartphone OS'es, I think some antitrust suits would be just right. Just like what happened with Windows back in the day.

 

@killkenny1 I wanted Blackberry Priv very much, but inability to remove Google services and other pre-installed junk was pretty much a deal-breaker. Also, the perspective of being stuck on older Android versions - which is the case for most smartphones with locked bootloader - ain't stellar either.

 

Antitrust might get a bit difficult when you technically don't need the Google suit. Side-loading support on Android is required after all.

BTW, if you hate the current Android per-device ROM model, look into Anbox, which puts Android userland in a container to run within a GNU/Linux environment. On hardware with good FLOSS driver support this approach might work sometime in the future.

 

Ha Ha, Just saw this.


John.

 

Except the Microsoft edition of the S8 is not 'custom made Android' by MS, it's just a bog-standard S8 that MS store staff will help you install their apps onto.
MS themselves state 'Neither the hardware nor the software is different from other Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices'.

As @Mitlov correctly states, if MS did try and create a truly custom Android ROM (as opposed to simply pre-installing some of their apps onto a handset), Google would simply refuse certification and it would die a quick and embarrassing death due to lack of apps.



As for the idea of anti-trust suits against Google, the fact is they don't do anything with Android that could fall foul of it.
They don't require the installation of any of their apps for a company to use Android, which is where MS had trouble back in the day - they literally make the OS available to anyone with no restrictions or even licencing fees. On top of which, they don't restrict the installation or use of any alternative apps to their own services, users can have any other e-mail provider, web browser, sat nav, music streaming service etc that they want.

Simply being widely used is not enough to warrant anti-trust accusations, it's what companies do with their market-share that decides it.

 

I see your point. But for example, if I want to uninstall Chrome or Hangout on Android, I can't do that, and I don't like that.

 

My gut says that's a decision made by the OEM but, to be fair, I have nothing to back it up.

You can disable a lot of the Google apps from the Application Manager too, which you can't even do for a lot of the OEM's own stuff.
So, even in that respect, the Google stuff isn't terrible.

If you're really set against having Google stuff on your handset though, you're probably going to have to look at a custom ROM or, say, import a handset from China that doesn't have it.

 

Haven't confirmed this personally but according to what I've heard some Chinese ROMs actually have the Google Framework stuff installed. They just don't load the Google Play Store front end as a built-in app. So you're still running a part of the Google suit in the background. No Chrome or Hangout though.

 

It'll depend on the OEM and the specific handset.
Plus, some resellers flash 'vendor ROMs'as well, which obfuscates matters further.

 

"Microsoft officially surrenders on Windows Phone"

If a tree falls in the forest...

 

Well, microsoft should understand, something like the nokia x would've survived, but win 10, bwah, even desktop ones have problems. Why wouldnt this have any?

 

Its old news and completely worthless now. Still, holding onto my Nokia Lumia 730 on Insider preview. I'm looking at iphone SE 2,Nokia 8 sirocco and S9/S9+. Will buy whichever is priced right in Indian market.

 

How the iPhone Managed to Beat the Windows Phone, Explains Former Microsoft Executive
Windows Phone is a dead platform, with the iPhone and Android ruling the smartphone duopoly OS market share around the globe. For a software company like Microsoft, it can actually surprise industry pundits and experts on where the tech giant went wrong.

However, according to former Windows Phone Senior Director Brandon Watson, the problem was not necessarily because of the operating system itself, but because how the company and its partners were marketing and selling the devices that ran this OS.

 

Time to move on from Windows 10 Mobile, and much more on #AskDanWindows 49

 

Slowing migrating to android. WP push notifications doesn't work on whatsapp and similar. Very problematic.

 

Time to move on WP fans. I moved long ago when the iceberg named Nadella hit the titanic named windows phone. As soon as he became CEO, I knew the ship was sunk. I moved to iPhone then, and have been a very happy sailor ever since!

 

Haha, but most MSFT employees incl. Joe Belfiore were using iPhones and Bill Gates went with Android so I should have seen that coming years ago.
I was thinking of iphone but lack of apps for Indian store and Apple id restriction that disallows changing App store location multiple times are one of the factors that had me deciding to switch to Android.
I'm getting used to Android now.

 

Yes, In different countries it may be different. But in Canada...the iPhone is the best, smoothest running phone now. Joe, and company never started using iPhone etc until Nadella took the reigns fyi!

 

They weren't using iPhone officially, now they flaunt it.
If i was resident of usa, then my phone would be the iPhone. Otherwise Android suits me.

Sent from my iPhone X Papusan edition using Tapatalk

 

Why Did Windows Phone Fail?

 

Honestly Microsoft used to make somewhere between $5-15 from every Android phone from patent royalties alone if I recall from a 4-5 year old article, basically more overall from Android than Windows phone in aggregate. There’s also talk MS might release it’s own Android phone. https://www.windowslatest.com/2018/07/14/microsoft-is-reportedly-working-on-a-new-phone/

MS backed open search group or whatever it’s called also recently thanks to EU regulators helped put I believe a $2.8 Billion fine on Google. Looks like MS is trying hard to help take Android away from Google’s dominance. Already paying Samsung and some others to bundle MS apps on certain editions.

 

is Andromeda really dead or just "resting"?

 

Microsoft Puts Breaks on Dual-Screen Andromeda (Report)
https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/microsoft-puts-breaks-dual-screen-andromeda

 

Never trust MS atleast for portable devices, they kill them if user reports more issues/bug fixes.
I doubt anyone will buy Windows Phone since they're dead anyways and No point resurrecting OS on a dead platform. Too much wasted time and resources.

 

Microsoft will revamp Andromeda entirely for 2019

 

isn't is too late to make any inroads by MS?