Windows Phone Is Dead

As of today, Windows Phone 8.1 is deader than dead. You'll probably be more surprised to learn that it wasn't already, but they do say that fact is stranger than fiction. Officially speaking, however, Windows Phone 8.1 only ends its mainstream support 11th July this year. This means that, unless Microsoft relents and shows a bit of mercy, devices running on this version of Microsoft's operating system will no longer receive updates, even critical security ones.

Windows Phone 8.1 isn't all that bad. Like its desktop counterpart, it attempted to fix the flaws of its predecessor, Windows Phone 7, which wasn't a dismal failure the way Windows 8.0 was on the PC side. It's just that Windows Phone 8.1 doesn't exactly represent Microsoft's current vision and technology, leaving its users starving to death for some love.

Windows Phone 8.1 was released back in June 24, 2014 and Microsoft instated a 36-month lifecycle support policy. That meant that the OS reaches EOL (end of life) July 11, 2017. And it doesn't seem that Microsoft has any plans on offering extended support. Or a least it hasn't updated its support page to show that.

Some might consider this non-news since Microsoft's mobile platforms don't even make a blip in the overall smartphone market, but, relatively speaking, Windows Phone 8.1 actually holds a huge three-fourths of Microsoft's smartphone segment. Only 20% or so have Windows 10 Mobile installed, and it doesn't paint an encouraging picture moving forward.

Microsoft has withheld its Windows 10 Mobile from nearly all smartphones running its mobile platforms. And since it might not offer extended support for those older versions, owners of such devices have no other recourse but to either continue using potentially insecure software or to migrate to a different phone. And, given this treatment, chances are they won't be upgrading to a Windows 10 Mobile phone.

SOURCE: Microsoft