Articles about Windows 10 Mobile

The original Microsoft Edge was often described as being 'half-baked' with features commonly found in other browsers either poorly implemented or missing entirely.

With the switch to Chromium, Microsoft had a chance to start over, and it hasn’t wasted the opportunity. The new Edge is a massive improvement over its predecessor and the software giant isn’t resting on its laurels either, striving to add new features on a regular basis. Case in point being Microsoft Edge 89.

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Microsoft’s plan with Windows 10 was to hit a billion devices within a couple of years, but that all hinged on the OS being a hit on PC, tablet, and mobile. Sadly, Windows 10 Mobile was a costly flop, and ultimately led to Microsoft’s exit from the mobile market.

It’s been rumored for a while that the tech giant might be planning a return to the space with a folding Surface Phone, but it’s going to need more than the right hardware -- the operating system will have to appeal to users of Android and iOS, and give them a reason to switch. Windows XP Mobile -- 2018 Edition is just such an OS.

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We’ve written a lot recently about 2018 editions of past Windows operating systems, including Windows 7, XP and even Windows 95.

Microsoft Windows 95 Mobile imagines what the 23-year-old OS would look like if it was running on a modern smartphone today, and while its creator firmly has his tongue in cheek here, I have to say it has a certain retro-appeal to it.

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The Windows 10 April 2018 Update rollout to PCs around the world has already started, and Microsoft says that the update will also make its way to compatible Windows 10 Mobile devices.

The number of people who will actually end up receiving this update, however, is likely to be rather limited. Microsoft says that the availability of Windows 10 Mobile April 2018 Update will vary according to "manufacturer, model, country or region, mobile operator or service provider, hardware limitations" and -- ominously -- "other factors".

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Joe Belfiore has finally admitted what we have all known for some time: The Windows Phone dream is dead. Microsoft's Corporate Vice President for Windows used Twitter to make it clear that Windows 10 Mobile will receive "bug fixes, security updates, etc," but adds that "building new features/hw aren't the focus."

Asked by Twitter users whether it is time for people to abandon Windows mobile devices once and for all, Belfiore said that while support will remain in place for those who decide to hang around, he himself has already moved on.

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Microsoft today addresses one of the biggest shortcomings of its Edge browser, announcing its upcoming availability on the two biggest mobile platforms: Android and iOS.

Microsoft says that support for Android and iOS is "one of the most common requests" that it has received from Edge users on Windows 10. By making it available across multiple platforms, the software giant is making its browser a viable option in this space for folks who use a mix of devices.

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I have to admit that when I wrote the April Fools piece Bill Gates loves his new iPhone 5s, can now beat Bono at Candy Crush a few years ago, I did not expect the former Microsoft CEO to actually abandon Windows Phone for a rival platform. But, it happened -- though I was only half right.

Bill Gates did not switch to the iPhone (although the new iPhone line is pretty cool), going with an Android smartphone "with a lot of Microsoft software" instead. This is huge, if you think about it, as Gates basically acknowledged that Windows 10 Mobile just isn't good enough for him.

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HP is not one of the most pragmatic players in the smartphone industry, so its decision to release the Elite X3 flagship with Windows 10 Mobile when the platform was clearly dead hardly raised any eyebrows. Hiking the price nearly a year after its launch, however, is harder to understand -- to put it kindly.

The Elite X3 is a failure even by Windows smartphone standards, based on usage data from AdDuplex, so you can imagine just how well it is doing in the grand scheme of things. To put things into perspective, Windows smartphone sales dipped below the one million units mark this year. The high price of the Elite X3 has been a massive contributor to its terrible performance.

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Since Microsoft is working on making Windows 10 available on ARM devices, it was only a matter of time before questions arose on the possibility of the full-blown Windows 10 also making its way to smartphones.

After all, the ARM hardware that underpins the upcoming PCs is also available on smartphones. The first processor to power these devices is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835, which is found on Android flagships like Samsung's Galaxy S8 and HTC's U11. Previous chips in this line can be seen in Lumia handsets as well.

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Windows Phone 8.1 may seem like a distant memory in the mobile space, being released three years ago, but it remains very much relevant for many Windows smartphone users. Nearly three in four Windows smartphones run this version of the tiled operating system, despite the fact that Microsoft replaced it with Windows 10 Mobile over a year ago.

Why is this a problem? Well, Microsoft is getting ready to end mainstream support, which will leave Windows Phone 8.1 users without updates starting July 11. Making things worse is the fact that Windows 10 Mobile is not available to every smartphone that can run Windows Phone 8.1.

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Do people still use Windows Phones? Yeah, believe it or not, these gluttons for punishment are still out there. Why do they still use Windows 10 Mobile? Who really knows -- I am sure a psychologist would have a field day with these people.

Despite the almost non-existent market share, Microsoft is still stringing these loyal users along, providing periodic updates through the Insider program. I actually think it is sort of cool that the Windows-maker still throws these folks a bone every once in a while. Today, Dona Sarkar pushes her magic release button and sends Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 15226 to the Fast ring. Huzzah!

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Yesterday, Microsoft accidentally pushed out a new, buggy, internal Windows 10 build to PC and Mobile that caused big problems for users. The Windows-maker pulled the problematic Build 16212 quickly, but it was too late for some.

In response, Microsoft issued an apology and offered some tips to help users who had installed the build to recover. However, despite this action, some users are still seeing Build 16212 waiting to be installed and for those people, Microsoft has an interesting solution -- time travel.

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Yesterday, Microsoft pushed out Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16212 for PC and Mobile to users on the Fast, Slow, and Release Preview rings and the Retail version. Unfortunately the buggy build wasn’t intended to go out, causing problems for anyone who installed it.

Apologizing for the "inconvenience", Windows Insider chief Dona Sarkar explains it "happened because an inadvertent deployment to the engineering system that controls which builds/which rings to push out to insiders." While Microsoft was quick to pull the update, it was too late for some.

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It’s been a while since Microsoft pushed out a new build to Windows 10 Insiders, so it was expected that we’d see one today. However, Windows Insider chief Dona Sarkar put the kibosh on that earlier, stating "newer builds have WAY too many bugs to pass our selfhost bar."

That should have been the end of things, but Build 16212 managed to escape into the wild -- hitting the Fast, Slow, Release Preview and Production rings -- and eager Insiders quickly discovered the downside of installing it.

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Without trying to sound like a broken record, there's really no future in Windows 10 Mobile. If it wasn't clear years ago, it is crystal clear now. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw a new manufacturer embracing the platform last year, and a niche one at that. That was NuAns with its Neo handset, which is probably the last memorable smartphone released with Windows on board.

A year later the company is unsurprisingly admitting defeat. NuAns is replacing the Neo with the Neo Reloaded, which, you guessed it, runs Android this time around. The smartphone just hit Indiegogo, and you can get one for as little as $355.

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