Windows Phone support retirement announcement

[jnjroach]

Products Released	Lifecycle Start Date	Mainstream Support End Date	Extended Support End Date	Service Pack Support End Date	Notes
Windows Phone 7.8	2/9/2013	9/9/2014	Review Note		Microsoft will make updates available for the Operating System on your phone, including security updates, for a period of 18 months after the lifecycle start date. Distribution of the updates may be controlled by the mobile operator or the phone manufacturer from which you purchased your phone. Update availability will also vary by country, region, and hardware capabilities.
Windows Phone 8	12/14/2012	7/8/2014	Review Note		Microsoft will make updates available for the Operating System on your phone, including security updates, for a period of 18 months after the lifecycle start date. Distribution of the updates may be controlled by the mobile operator or the phone manufacturer from which you purchased your phone. Update availability will also vary by country, region, and hardware capabilities.

So if we look at the above table from the MS site, Phone 7 was upgraded to 7.5 (Mango) then 7.8 (Tango). Tango was released after Phone 8 was released and is supported through September 2014.

Phone 8 (RTM) was released in December of 2012 and is supported through July 2014. We know Windows Phone Blue is being released sometime this fall and will most likely be Phone 8.1 or 8.5, current handsets should be able to be upgraded to Blue, which would have Blue supported through April 2015 on the current Handsets. The only issue we might see is that at some point the required hardware specs will outpace what current handsets can support, such as Quad Core or HD+ Displays.

I’m confident that the higher end HD phone are good for one or two upgrade cycles but the lower end phone with the older resolutions may be in jeopardy of missing out on later upgrades.

 

[J515OP]

Yes, but what if your new purchase happens to be a device which will not run whatever that is that will power Windows OS phones post Win Phone 8? Would you still buy a device today or would you prefer to find out which devices would benefit from the likely upgrade and which would not? In other words, would you want to be in a situation like the owners of Win Phone 7.5 (or whatever it was that got the Mango update but not the upgrade to Win Phone 8)? If I knew which set of the current hardware was assured of being upgraded, I'd buy a Windows phone (for my partner who is looking to buy a new phone) today. She is looking at the Nokia Lumia 620, which runs Win Phone 8, but I am not sure it will be a part of the OS upgrade. It could be, but I don't know and I am not sure how I can find out - unless MS and/ or Nokia tell me. You see what I mean? Given this, what do you think I would suggest my partner to do?

Wait if what you want is the latest and greatest. If what is out now works for you then get that instead. This is why nobody reveals their future plans, they don't want to lose sales. What about the people who just bought an iPhone 3 before the iPhone 5 came out? What about people who bought Blackberries before they changed to QNX? What about people who bought Nokia Symbian phone before they switched to Windows? It is called the Osborne effect and it is always a consideration.

If you like the phones out now get one now there is always something new around the corner and if that is your concern buy as soon as a new product launches that way when you hit the 18 month refresh cycle you can upgrade to the latest and greatest as soon as it comes out. There are always going to be people going for the new and those that continue to use the old. Look how many people are still using Gingerbread and older versions of Android for example.


STATS: Android 4.X reaches 39% of all devices | Eurodroid

 

[KLR]

Yes, but what if your new purchase happens to be a device which will not run whatever that is that will power Windows OS phones post Win Phone 8? Would you still buy a device today or would you prefer to find out which devices would benefit from the likely upgrade and which would not? In other words, would you want to be in a situation like the owners of Win Phone 7.5 ......?

I have learned long ago that if I wait for tomorrows technology I will forever be waiting. Case in point we just received what is reported to be pictures of the 928 a few days back. Since that time we have learned that 1080p is coming to the WP, T-Mobile is getting the 521, and that new designs are being released in May. Do I wait? Some of this is good stuff especially the 1080p and potential aluminum bodies.

We know that MS wants a faster life cycle update process and I am banking that things will be far more update friendly given the foundation of Win8. I think I read someplace that they want an 18 month life cycle. That coupled with the fact that the average person replaces cell phones every 2-3 years I think we are forever at risk of being behind in technology (hardware and software) if we fall in that average. Make sense?

Hence, going back to my opening sentence; if I wait for tomorrow I will forever be waiting.
Unless it is known for sure that we can not upgrade or if something is immediately on the horizon I plan on moving forward with today.

 

[kristalsoldier]

Sorry, I don't follow your point. I did see that page linked form the article in the OP. Are you saying you and other average people regularly conduct this search and keep tabs on MS? Even so I don't see how this is something to be afraid of or somehow denotes the end of Windows phones.

When I am planning to buy a new phone, usually, I do which does not suggest that everyone does it or that I expect everyone to do it. At least that has been the logic of my most recent tech purchases beginning with the Nexus 10 and now the RT. The idea is to have a little more than 24 months of life in a product/ device. When I say "life", I mean in terms of updates, refreshes etc. One of the things I hate on my current phone (running Gingerbread 2.3.6) is that there are a number of enhancements that it cannot use because of the nature of the hardware. But then again, I've now had it for over 2.5 years and it has worked marvelously in that period of time. Another case in point was my Acer A500 tab which, when I got it, ran Honeycomb and then was upgraded (way behind schedule because of Acer, I believe) to ICS. At that point I returned the tab (it belonged to my previous place of work) and I am not sure it has been upgraded to Jelly Bean. Since then I made up my mind that where Android is concerned, I would try for the so-called "pure Google" experience (hence the Nexus 10, which has been great, thus far). Around that time, I was considering a new phone (for myself, that is) and looked into the Win Phone eco-system. I won't shy away from accepting the fact that I do like MS products (except for what was their Hotmail and Live Services) and use them everyday (like millions of people). But I was a bit taken aback by the way MS worked the scene with their WP 7 - 7.8 only to abruptly terminate it and introduce WP 8. Now, don't get me wrong, I like WP 8 (or at least of what I have of it thus far). I like the way it integrates with Win 8 across the board and I absolutely love the SkyDrive and OneNote services. BUT...I also have a limited budget, which means I can't always buy top-of-the-line stuff. So, while I think phones like the Nokia Lumia 920 will surely run whatever MS puts out as the successor of WP8 (if that schedule is indeed correct), currently I can't afford it. And, I have not yet bought a phone on a contract (I opt for Sim-only contracts - just my preference, that's all). This means that - and this is relevant in the case of my partner who I am slowly weaning away from Google's services - when I am shopping for an efficient value-for-money phone like the Lumia 620, I am suddenly not sure if it will handle what MS throws at it post WP8. That complicates the buying decision.

Oh...and for the record, I did not suggest (or at least I did not mean to suggest) that moving beyond WP 8 - in your words - "denotes the end of Windows phones". Far from it. I only suggest (and note, it is only a suggestion - more accurately, a speculation) that some current devices that run WP8 may not be able to run what comes after it and that I suspect the Nokia Lumia 620 may be one of them (purely based on price which, I think - correctly or incorrectly - reflects the core capabilities of the device). Edit: jnjroach summarizes this succinctly in the last line of this post when he says: "I’m confident that the higher end HD phone are good for one or two upgrade cycles but the lower end phone with the older resolutions may be in jeopardy of missing out on later upgrades."

 

[kristalsoldier]

I have learned long ago that if I wait for tomorrows technology I will forever be waiting. Case in point we just received what is reported to be pictures of the 928 a few days back. Since that time we have learned that 1080p is coming to the WP, T-Mobile is getting the 521, and that new designs are being released in May. Do I wait? Some of this is good stuff especially the 1080p and potential aluminum bodies.

We know that MS wants a faster life cycle update process and I am banking that things will be far more update friendly given the foundation of Win8. I think I read someplace that they want an 18 month life cycle. That coupled with the fact that the average person replaces cell phones every 2-3 years I think we are forever at risk of being behind in technology (hardware and software) if we fall in that average. Make sense?

Hence, going back to my opening sentence; if I wait for tomorrow I will forever be waiting.
Unless it is known for sure that we can not upgrade or if something is immediately on the horizon I plan on moving forward with today.

Agreed! The point I was trying to make is that as far as possible I would try to buy a device and/ or invest in a technology that is in its so-called "sunrise phase" rather than in its "sunset phase". So, for example, if I know that a version of an OS is going to be phased out in 6 months, and I can wait 6 months to upgrade, then I'd rather wait the 6 months to get into the cycle of the new OS. Of course, it does not always work out that way and there are a lot of assumptions that one makes when taking decisions like that (at least that is true in my case). For instance, someone buying a Windows phone say when WP 7.5 was being released may not have known that 7.8 would be the last iteration of the WP7 cycle and that WP8 was going to replace it. I empathize with that person. But if that person knew that the 7 cycle was going to be ending with 7.8 and that WP 8 was in the offing AND the person could hold off for making the purchase for "x" months (or whatever period of time) till the WP8 cycle started, then waiting for that time would make the most sense to me. You see what I mean?

 

[jnjroach]

The biggest issue that caused the Windows Phone 7 handsets from being able to move to 8 was the move from CE to NT for the Kernel and that TPM is enabled on Phone 8 and isn't even in the hardware specs for Windows Phone 7 Handsets. Also Phone 7 only supported lower resolutions and Phone Supports up to 1080p from my understanding. I do believe that all current Windows Phone 8 handsets will receive Blue, it is the after Blue that I wouldn't be confident. Currently only the 920 has the higher resolution, the rest of their line has the 800x480. My wife has the HTC 8X and is very happy with it....

 

[kristalsoldier]

The biggest issue that caused the Windows Phone 7 handsets from being able to move to 8 was the move from CE to NT for the Kernel and that TPM is enabled on Phone 8 and isn't even in the hardware specs for Windows Phone 7 Handsets. Also Phone 7 only supported lower resolutions and Phone Supports up to 1080p from my understanding. I do believe that all current Windows Phone 8 handsets will receive Blue, it is the after Blue that I wouldn't be confident. Currently only the 920 has the higher resolution, the rest of their line has the 800x480. My wife has the HTC 8X and is very happy with it....

I agree. As I mentioned earlier, my partner is looking at the 620, which has the 800x480 res, while I am looking at the 720, which also has the same res (though it is only available in red, which is making me mad because I want it in Black and apparently the Black version has not yet been released in the market in which I currently live!).

 

[J515OP]

kristal, I think we are on the same page and even saying the same thing and it is the same as jnjroach and KLR are saying. I didn't mean that people aren't researching their phone purchases (they should be) but that I highly doubt they are going deep into the MS support pages to do so Really the whole point of the original post and the article from TechCrunch shouldn't change anything for you. If you opt for an older WP you can expect that it won't receive the same kind of upgrade treatment particularly if it is WP7. Same with Apple or Android.

If you are looking to buy something that works for your partner now (Lumina 620) then go for it. The phone may or may not get all the fancy updates for the next two years but it will at least stay what it is today and that may be enough if you already like what it is. If you have the time to wait and you are more interested in getting a device in the sunrise then hold off for 6 months and see what is announced. Just keep in mind that you can always be waiting for the next big thing if you don't go for it at some point

 

[ArnoldC]

Surely, because after Windows Phone 8 will be Windows Phone 9 (sic)

Microsoft is lining up all their products. They also pushed back the release of Office for iOS and Office for Android to Q4 2014. There is a strategy behind all these.

@J5150, I have a HTC One V, part of the family of flagship phones released by HT not too long ago. It never got an update, and still on the same Ice Cream Shit it came with.

My Sony Xperia V got an update to Jelly Bitch last lenten week. The Philippines was the last country (baseless assumption) in Asia to receive the update.

 

[kristalsoldier]

OK...Let me ask you guys this: Which phone is better (feature-wise) - Nokia 720 or the 820?

 

[ArnoldC]

OK...Let me ask you guys this: Which phone is better (feature-wise) - Nokia 720 or the 820?

820 in a heartbeat. Why?

1. LTE
2. 1GB RAM
3. 8MP camera
4. 1080p @ 30fps

But!

1. No microSD <- I was wrong
2. lesser battery life
3. No Magnetometer (if that at all is important)
4. No BT <- I was wrong

Edit:

Duh!

Therefore, 820 wins with an even better margin.

 

[bosamar]

OK...Let me ask you guys this: Which phone is better (feature-wise) - Nokia 720 or the 820?

I cannot vouch for the 720 but I'm on day 3 with my 820 and I love it. The 820 has better overall specs. Nokia Lumia 720 vs. Nokia Lumia 820 - GSMArena.com