Windows 10 Mobile has been mostly dead for a while. Microsoft pulled the plug on the Windows Insider Preview program for phones a year ago and there haven’t been any major updates to the operating system since then (or any major new smartphones shipping with it either). And app developers have been jumping ship — many apps for Windows phones are no longer supported.
But if you’re happy with your Windows phone you can continue to use it to make calls, surf the web, play games, navigate, and more… for now. Microsoft still supports the operating system with occasional bug fixes and security updates… at least until later this year.
Microsoft recently announced that it will stop supporting the operating system on December 10th, 2019.
To be more precise, that’s the end of support for Windows 10 Mobile, version 1709, which is the latest version of Microsoft’s smartphone operating system. It was released in October, 2017.
Support will end for both Windows 10 Mobile and Windows 10 Enterprise users. The biggest concern is probably that this means there will be no more security updates — so using your phone for communications or banking will probably be a bad idea. Any security vulnerabilities that are discovered will not be patched.
While this spells the end for Windows 10 Mobile, it may not be the end of Microsoft’s smartphone ambitions.
The company currently offers a bunch of apps and services for Android and iOS devices including mobile versions of its Office and Cortana apps, an Android launcher app, and more.
And while the company’s website makes it clear that “Microsoft no longer sells or manufactures Windows 10 Mobile devices,” rumor has it that the company has been developing something new behind the scenes. It’s unclear if or when Microsoft will be ready to bring a new mobile device to market, but the company has allegedly been working on designs for a foldable smartphone/tablet hybrid device running a version of Windows 10 on ARM rather than Windows 10 Mobile.
via MSPowerUser
Goodbye. Can’t say I will miss you.
“(Support ends Dec 21, 2018)” — Did you mean to write 2019?
Yup. Thanks, I’ve updated the headline.
OT. Brad, where to reach you? It seems that you missed some important story from the start of the year: https://www.usb.org/sites/default/files/2019-01/USB-IF_USB%20Type-C%20Authentication%20Program%20Press%20Release_FINAL_20181227.pdf
You can always send tips/suggestions/corrections to us at:
https://liliputing.com/contact
I did see that USB-C news earlier this year, but it was well-covered on a number of other tech news sites and I decided I didn’t have anything particularly original or insightful to add to the conversation.
“I decided I didn’t have anything particularly original or insightful to add to the conversation.”
Besides that some people (like me, and I’m sure a lot of your readers as well) don’t follow the major tech sites that closely. So this piece of news completely escaped me until founding it by accident today. But I kind of find it important news. Thanks for your great work, by the way! I realize you can’t be everything for everybody.
Understood — I really did try to cover *everything* for the first few years I was running this site. It was a stressful time. 🙂