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Microsoft Completely Blocks Windows 10 Mobile on Unsupported Windows Phones

The Anniversary Update moved to Release Preview ring

Jul 26, 2016 12:01 GMT  ·  By
Windows 10 Mobile will get the Anniversary Update on August 2
   Windows 10 Mobile will get the Anniversary Update on August 2

Back in March, when Microsoft officially rolled the Windows 10 Mobile upgrade, the company took everyone by surprise and announced that only some models would be supported, despite the original promise that the entire Windows Phone lineup would receive the new OS.

Users disappointed with this decision got only one option to experience Windows 10 Mobile: enroll in the Windows Insider program and start getting 10586 preview builds.

The drawback here was that the Anniversary Update, also known as Redstone 1 or RS1, wasn’t available for their devices, not even in the preview stage. So they were stuck with 10586 builds that were exclusively available as part of the Release Preview ring of the Insider program.

RS1 moved to Released Preview ring

And now that Microsoft is preparing to launch the Anniversary Update for all Windows 10 users, the company is making a change that would block these users from installing Windows 10 Mobile on unsupported Windows phones. The Anniversary Update, RS1, will be moved to the Release Preview ring, so devices that do not support Windows 10 Mobile won’t be able to install it, as WBI notes.

Microsoft offers no workaround in this case, and the company clearly wants to go forward only with devices that can actually run Windows 10 Mobile. Redmond said the following about its decision to leave behind nearly half of its device lineup:

“As Windows 10 delivers significant new innovations, many older devices are not able to successfully upgrade without an impact on the customer experience. Our goal is to only offer the Windows 10 upgrade to devices that we are confident can continue to deliver a good customer experience.”

At this point, only 12 percent of phones in the Windows ecosystem are running Windows 10 Mobile, while nearly 79 percent are still on Windows Phone. Microsoft doesn’t seem to be bothered by these stats in any way, so the changes planned to the insider rings with the Anniversary Update perfectly align with the company’s strategy of offering the new OS only on devices that fully support it.