

No Windows 8 Update for Existing WP7 Users - cygwin98
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6029/existing-windows-phone-7-devices-will-get-updated-to-windows-phone-78-no-windows-8

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gouranga
Well that's sabotaged Nokia and WP7.5 nicely. No one is going to buy a current
handset with that on the way. Way to go microsoft!

I genuinely think someone has a 90ft long crack pipe over at Redmond. They've
made so many bad decisions lately its scary.

~~~
cygwin98
Absolutely! I was thinking of buying a Lumia 710 recently after owning an
iPhone and an android for the past few years. Glad I didn't pull the trigger.

~~~
barista
Here: <http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/phones/?shape=smp> Go to tmobile website
and find the phones that are rated as the best by users and choose the top
ones instead of taking the recommendation from a stranger on the internet

~~~
gouranga
I'd ignore that entirely as well - if it's a network they are biased
instantly. How to pick a phone:

1\. Write down what you NEED, not want.

2\. Find a phone that does it on gsmarena.com which has LONG term reviews and
doesn't try and sell phones to you.

3\. Buy it off ebay second hand unlocked therefore saving on the instant
purchase depreciation. If you're lucky like me, I bought a Nokia 3310 a couple
of years ago new in box as a backup for 10GBP. I'm now using that as my full
time phone. Buy 2 or 3 for that price TBH.

4\. Get a cheap PAYG deal. In the UK, you can get a T-Mobile deal for
26GBP/month that gives you pretty much unlimited everything.

Anything else is just retarded if you ask me.

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jaybill
I was with you right up until you called everyone who doesn't do it your way a
retard.

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runjake
WP8 release is Fall 2012. OEMs won't begin to have WP8 hardware on carrier
shelves until end of 2012* at the earliest. Microsoft just killed Windows
Phone for at least the next 6 months.

I wish Microsoft would see the damage they do when they inappropriately pre-
announcing products.

* Mango had a similar release scheme last year.

~~~
rys
With iOS 6 announced and Jelly Bean just around the corner, Microsoft can't
really afford to just sit there poker faced until it's done. It's a wise
tactic, to maintain interest when it's clear their competitors are moving
forwards.

~~~
mc32
Not only that, but end users probably appreciate knowing that anything they
bought today would have limited future support --this alternative is better
than pulling the rug from under them come 4-5months. That is to say, it hurts
MS and partners initially but benefits customers short-term and long-term.

What they could announce is some kind of voucher for future phones if they buy
now --giving customers a kind of indemnification against obsolescence. Not
saying they will, but they could.

~~~
runjake
So what do you think customers are going to do? They're going to buy an iPhone
or an Android device, instead.

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mc32
It's likely preferable to having their (customers') money but engendering lots
of ill-will a few months down the road.

I have an iphone 4. With this announcement, I'm willing to wait a few months
before buying a WP8 device.

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thought_alarm
So WP7 in WinCE-based, and WP8 is WinNT-based like the rest of Windows 8.

Can't say I didn't see that coming. WP7 always seemed like a bit of a dead-end
platform because of it.

At least WP8 will have a compatibility layer for running legacy WP7 apps. But
if you're a developer do you continue to target the legacy .NET Compact
Framework for WP7, or do you target the new SDK that will run on exactly zero
of the Windows Phones devices in circulation today, but will run on Windows 8
Metro tablets and desktops?

This is not Microsoft's finest hour, to be sure.

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wvenable
How different is it to target WP7 vs. Win8 when it comes to .NET/WPF/Metro?
I'm sure a few developers around here have started playing with Win8 and have
done some phone development. I would think that it wouldn't be a radical
change.

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mullingitover
Windows Phone 7, or as I like to call it now, the Osborne I.

~~~
vibrunazo
For reference:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect>

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jinushaun
The big story is not the new start screen or even WP8. It's whether WP7.x
users can download and install new apps. Can a non-native C# app that does not
use any WP8 hardware features compiled for WP8 run on WP7.8? _MS needs to
clarify_. If not, MS just screwed all their existing WP7 users and have
effectively killed off all new sales of WP7 devices. Developers will continue
to develop WP7 apps and any benefits to switching to WP8 for development are
moot.

More alarmingly, if they did this for WM6.5 and WP7 within such a short time
frame, how can any customer feel safe in buying a WP8 device? What happens
when WP9 gets released? Why would anyone buy a WP now? My iPhone 3GS may not
support FaceTime, Siri or Notification Center, but at least I can download new
iOS 5 apps from the App Store.

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mrspandex
It's important to note that apps will work on both platforms according to this
article. This sounds like a pretty minor issue to me if I need a new device
for some of the newer features, many of which require new hardware anyway (SD
card, NFC).

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vshade
Apps made for windows 8 will not run on wp7, even when not using the new
hardware features

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HardyLeung
I don't think this is entirely correct. If you write in Native (C/C++) then
true, it won't run on WP7. But if you write in C#/Xaml you could have targeted
your app to WP7 and I believe it will run on both WP7 and WP8 -- of course
this will preclude you from using whatever now hardware capabilities in WP8
only.

I think the Native C/C++ is the right move though. The "easy to port to
IOS/Android" point is important, and I think going forward that would/should
be the model for web development, unless Webapp is sufficient for your
purpose, or that you're willing to develop your app in 3 languages (ObjC,
Java, C/C#).

That said, I'm sad that my (otherwise very nice) Lumia 800 is getting the
WP6.5 treatment.

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antidaily
This has to be a first for Microsoft. I know my first instinct is to say, "how
crappy of them?" But they should have done this with Windows 10 years ago.

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protomyth
Then no company would have bought anything beyond Windows XP (released 11
years ago) or Windows 2000 Server.

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zmonkeyz
Not a big deal. I'm tired of the HD7 as it is.

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barista
There probably should be an article like this every time a new version of
android is released. :)

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noarchy
There are, but maybe they aren't always posted here :)

With Android the situation, as always, depends on which device you happen to
own, in which case you may or may not get the update. Of course there's always
rooting and ROMing, but that's not going to apply to most users.

