Windows Phone is officially obsolete, Microsoft tells users to switch to Android or iOS

Enrique, 18 January 2019

Yes, you did read that correctly – Microsoft has officially set a sunset date for Windows Phone. In a Microsoft support page titled “Windows 10 Mobile End of Support: FAQ” some questions are answered regarding the eventual drop of support for the Windows Phone platform.

Under “What should Windows 10 Mobile customers do now?” Microsoft recommends that Windows Phone users “move to a supported Android or iOS device." Windows Phone devices will no longer receive security on December 10 of this year. Though third party apps may continue supporting Windows Apps, Microsoft will no longer support the platform.

Microsoft’s mission statement to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, compels us to support our Mobile apps on those platforms.

Devices that are on Windows 10 Mobile version 1709 will receive security support patches until December 10 while the Lumia 640 and 640 XL on version 1703 will only last through June 11. Microsoft advises those who still have a Windows smartphone to manually create a backup using the built-in tool before the sunset date. After that, the tool will be phased out. To perform an update head to Settings > Update & Security > Backup > More Options > Back up now.

As for Cortana, Microsoft has positioned the voice assistant not as a competitor to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, but rather to compliment the platforms. Check out the Source link below to see the full FAQ support page.

Cortana needs to be that skill for anybody who’s a Microsoft365 subscriber. You should be able to use it on Google Assistant [and] Alexa, just like how you use our apps on Android and iOS so that’s at least how we want to think about where it’ll go. – Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO

Are any of our readers still rocking a Windows device? Let us know which device you have and tell us which phone you might be looking at down the road.

Though I never owned a Windows Phone, the early days of Pocket PC first sparked my interest in smartphones and I read so many reviews in Laptop Magazine in my high school years (Yeah, I’m kind of young). I don’t know that I’d be writing this right now if it wasn’t for the platform. Thanks, Microsoft.

Source | Via