Windows 10 Mobile has finally come to the end of its life.
On Tuesday, December 10, Microsoft will finally pull support for Windows 10 Mobile, on enterprise and consumer devices. Now that the Redmond Company have put Windows Phone, and now Windows 10 Mobile, firmly behind them, they can focus their attention on their next mobile strategy and it would appear that it’s going to be all about app-building, using a common Fluent design that will work and look fantastic on the Surface devices, when they are released.
There are those who put Microsoft down for attempting to bring out a mobile platform but others will miss Windows Phone and Windows Mobile. Microsoft’s attempt was something unique and it was released with all the intentions of being a contender against iOS and Android. Unfortunately, the only thing it had was promise and it was never built on and brought to fruition.
That said, Microsoft did have a responsibility to provide support for the devices it sold, in particular to their enterprise customers. That responsibility is now over and no more security updates will be issued for those devices. Of course, the device will continue to work and, so far, there is no indication that Microsoft will remove access to Microsoft Store apps. Other apps will be the sole responsibility of the OEMs and developers so, be aware, you may lose access to some apps and software in the near future.
So far, Microsoft’s attempts at joining the mobile market haven’t been too successful but the company continues to try. Now, their attempts are focused on persuading Android developers to use the Fluent language to redevelop their apps, along with other APIs, such as those that make the apps work on dual-screen devices – the Surface Duo, for example.
This could be a winning strategy for Microsoft, given the Duo device is interesting enough to make it worth putting the effort in. Of course, that will still depend largely on whether Microsoft pushes its partners and developers hard enough, more than they ever did for Windows hone and Windows 10 Mobile. The clock starts now – they have one year in which to do this and succeed where previous attempts have failed miserably.
Do you still use Windows 10 Mobile? What will you do when support finally disappears?
