Talk Plainly, Windows Phone is not dead, Just W10M?

[Dono Newcomb]

So all this crazy talk, making it sound at first glance that Microsoft is abandoning phones, is not what is really going on right. I feel this is necessary to clarify since so many people have been talking about abandoning ship. But it seems as if the more I listen to reputable sources that it could be simply that Win10M is just too limited and needs to be replaced with something more capable.

So can someone set the record straight once and for all so the crazy talk can be settled? Please...

 

[G4Grandad]

Those reputable sources are not safe out in the real world and need to be locked up somewhere secure for their own safety

 

[xandros9]

Windows 10 Mobile IS Windows Phone.

Desktop Windows would have a hell of a time cramming itself into a phone form-factor while bringing nothing to combat the app gap. In fact, the situation on Windows 10 has only really gotten worse.

MS has folded and will plod on without Phone. Maybe they'll experiment, but i won't expect another pull-all-stops effort.

 

[fatclue_98]

He's dead Jim.

Sent from my Idol 4S on mTalk

 

[a5cent]

I'd say you have it exactly backwards, although it may just come down to differences in terminology.

Windows phones (small P) are devices that run MS' mobile OS, either 'Windows Phone' (capital P) or 'Windows 10 Mobile'. WP 8.1 was the precursor to W10M.

The marketing term or brand "Windows 10 Mobile" is dead. The technical bits and pieces that made up W10M are NOT dead. W10M itself can't be dead, as W10M is just a subset of W10, which is very much alive. The differences between W10 and W10M are these:

• W10M and W10 have different shells. Both currently used shells will eventually be replaced by CShell.
• W10M ships without Win32.

That's it.

Everything else (except for drivers), is identical between W10 and W10M. For that reason, getting rid of W10M would literally mean getting rid of huge chunks of W10 and that isn't happening. It's ironic that after two years of WCentral steadfastly claiming that W10 and W10M are the exact same things (which isn't true either), and most people believing that BS, people now can't see how only one of two identical things being dead is a contradiction. If they are the same thing, then they must either both be dead or neither can be dead... technically.

Sometime down the road, MS will release a "new" OS that also lacks Win32. That is all W10M really is. W10 without Win32. This "new" OS will come with a new layer of paint (CShell) and we won't call it W10M, yet that is exactly what it will be.

Phone hardware on the other hand, MS is done with that... MS might decide to launch something in a similar form factor, but it won't be a smartphone, in the same way a 2-in-1 (convertible) is neither a laptop nor a tablet.

 

[etphoto]

^^^ This. Thanks a5cents

New hardware will be coming, just exactly what or when is the big question. Once that hardware is released and if its able to make a phone call / send text messages the "WP is dead crowd" (that have been around for years) will continue with their claims. On the other hand, the WP fans will claim this new hardware are the new phones.

 

[Dono Newcomb]

Thank You a5cents,
What you said makes perfect sense, so much of w10m seems to have chunks that are universal between versions. I myself am not all that hard to please, if a device calls and sends texts and runs the programs I need, I'm good. I don't need to label it a phone for me to be satisfied. I just want to progress to one device that I can keep with me on the move.

Thanks for the straight talk. You too etphoto...

 

[aximtreo]

He's dead Jim.

Sent from my Idol 4S on mTalk

Wonder how many will get the reference. Love it.

 

[fatclue_98]

Wonder how many will get the reference. Love it.

Old farts like you and me. Maybe Guytronic if he's lurking about.

 

[etphoto]

Old farts like you and me. Maybe Guytronic if he's lurking about.

Nerds would get it I would guess. Same as the term red shirts.