The time has come: Microsoft to retire W10M this week

Dec 9, 2019 07:04 GMT  ·  By
There are only two ways to go for Windows 10 Mobile users now, and none of them is staying with Microsoft's OS
   There are only two ways to go for Windows 10 Mobile users now, and none of them is staying with Microsoft's OS

December 10 isn’t the only the day when Microsoft releases new cumulative updates for Windows 10, but also an important milestone for Windows 10 Mobile.

The company will ship the last batch of updates for its mobile platform, after which Windows 10 Mobile is officially considered unsupported.

Given Windows 10 Mobile is the last version of Microsoft’s mobile operating system, the company gives up this side of the market completely, choosing to remain an active player in mobile with an ever-growing portfolio of apps and services aimed at Android and iOS.

Microsoft has recently announced Windows 10 X, a dedicated version of Windows 10 that’s specifically optimized for dual-screen devices. However, the company’s very first dual-screen smartphone called Surface Duo won’t run Windows 10 X but Android, so at first glance the software giant is betting big on Google’s mobile operating system going forward.

The death of Windows 10 Mobile

Windows 10 Mobile has been in a dormant state for a couple of years already, so it’s no surprise that at this point it has a market share of 0 percent.

Microsoft itself recommends users to switch to Android or iPhone, explaining that these are the platforms where they can benefit from apps and frequent updates, even for its very own releases.

A few days ago, Microsoft also announced the end-of-support for Office apps on Windows 10 Mobile, once again recommending users to switch to Android or iPhone.

“Because of the lack of security updates, we strongly recommend that if you wish to use Office on a phone you transition to the latest Microsoft Office apps on an iOS or Android phone. Not only will you find Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote apps in the iOS and Android app stores, you will also find new innovations such as the Office app which provides a simple, integrated experience with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint all in one app with all the mobile features you already know and use,” Microsoft explains.

Apps will continue to run on Windows 10 Mobile, but it shouldn’t take too long before the majority of developers indeed wave goodbye to this platform.

In other words, Microsoft is right on this one: you better switch to Android or iPhone as soon as possible because there’s not much to do here anymore.