14 DAY TRIAL // Starting today, only handsets that run under the Windows Phone 7.5 operating system can enjoy access to the Windows Phone Marketplace, Microsoft announced.
The company unveiled plans to have the Marketplace available for these devices alone several weeks ago, and it has since urged users to hurry and update their phones to comply with this requirement.
Those Windows Phone users who would like to benefit from the applications available in the Marketplace, or who would like to update or review existing software, will have to upgrade to the newer OS version to do that, provided that they didn’t do it already.
The Marketplace is accessible both from handsets and on the web, through the browser of any PC, but only users with Windows Phone 7.5 devices can access applications on either of them.
Most of the handsets have been already updated to the new platform version, which became available last fall, which means that most users won’t be affected in any way by the new changes.
“However, if your phone has an earlier version of our software installed, you’ll soon start seeing an error message when you try to download a new app, or update one you already own,” Microsoft’s Mazhar Mohammed notes in a blog post.
The change will take effect in about a day or two, he notes, adding that this is when users will start getting the aforementioned error message.
“If you do get the error, all you need to do is install the free Windows Phone 7.5 update. You’ll find all the information you need to do that, including an update checklist and easy step-by-step instructions, on Update Central,” Mazhar Mohammed continues.
“By the way, even if you don’t use Marketplace, there are still lots of great reasons to update. We made hundreds of improvements, big and small, in Windows Phone 7.5,” he continues.
Those who would like to learn more on what the Windows Phone 7.5 platform has to offer to them should have a look at this page on Microsoft’s support website.