Windows Mobile Phone in Maintenance Mode
Windows VP confirms on Twitter
It should have been a sign for users when Bill Gates admitted he was no longer using a Windows Phone. Now, Microsoft’s Vice President of the Operating Systems Group, Joe Belfiore, confirms what we all already new. Don’t expect anything new from Windows Phone.
Belfiore took to twitter to share some truth as to the fate of Microsoft’s moble operating system. When asked if it was time to leave the Windows Mobile platform, Belfiore responded that he had already left the platform for app and hardware diversity. He went on to explain that Windows would continue to support Windows Mobile users, however the level of support is one all too familiar to most of us.
Of course we'll continue to support the platform.. bug fixes, security updates, etc. But building new features/hw aren't the focus. 😟 https://t.co/0CH9TZdIFu
— Joe Belfiore (@joebelfiore) October 8, 2017
Sadly, Windows Mobile fell at the hands of app developers, who were not supporting the platform. Today’s typical consumer, and realistically, even enterprise users, expect to have ease of access to their favorite apps. Unfortunately, most big name app developers are only interested in iOS and Android. BlackBerry and Microsoft both attempted to “bring the apps” to their platforms. BlackBerry attempted to make it easy for developers to port their apps to their platform, and had specific developer relations positions to court these developers. Microsoft took it a step further, as Belfiore tweeted.
We have tried VERY HARD to incent app devs. Paid money.. wrote apps 4 them.. but volume of users is too low for most companies to invest. ☹️ https://t.co/ePsySxR3LB
— Joe Belfiore (@joebelfiore) October 8, 2017
But it just didn’t work. And now we watch as Windows Phone joins BB10 in a place where further development comes to a standstill. Both these platforms, in my opinion, were vastly superior to the popular platforms of Android and iOS. Unfortunately, big name developers like Facebook decided which platforms would move forward. I yearn for the day that another platform will have a fair chance in the market, but there needs to be a dramatic change in the way apps are handled for that to happen. And that day isn’t today.
