Is windows phone 7 dead?

[a5cent]

The app quality on the WP8 is much better even for the same apps

Yes. Such examples certainly exist. It's not generally true though.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying WP8 is crap or worthless. It's just not the huge leap some people imagine it is, and its existence certainly doesn't instantly make your WP7 device worthless.

 

[WindowsPhone8User]

Don't know whether to buy a WP 8 device or a bb next year...because it would be really disappointing if after I bought a WP 8 device Microsoft announces WP 9 and says existing devices won't be compatible...like what happened to me with my current WP 7 device

this wont happen. MS killed wp7 because the hardware just wouldn't run WP8. WP8 hardware is already announced to run blue (WP9). Its like if apple stuck mac osx on an iPhone 3GS...

 

[David Tomilson]

When were upgrades cheap?

 

[akar33]

Don't know whether to buy a WP 8 device or a bb next year...because it would be really disappointing if after I bought a WP 8 device Microsoft announces WP 9 and says existing devices won't be compatible...like what happened to me with my current WP 7 device

What happened with WP7 isn't going to happen with WP8. You obviously know that WP7 was based on WinCE and WP8 is based on NT. This was done to ensure forward compatibility. All future WPs will be based on the NT kernel. Microsoft doesn't have any other advanced kernel to use. So I'm pretty sure you'll be safe buying a WP8 device. Now, what the device actually has (hardware wise) is a different question altogether. If you buy the 920, you wont have the super-awesome camera that Nokia will unveil in the future.

 

[a5cent]

MS killed wp7 because the hardware just wouldn't run WP8.

Despite that being a very simple excuse, Microsoft never admitted to it. They never said anything of that sort. If it were true, I'm sure Microsoft would have said so. Again, based on the fact that Microsoft already had the entire Windows kernel running on pre-WP7 ARM hardware, it is safe to say this is simply wrong.

I've already written about this here (includes a video, by Microsoft Research, of the NT kernel running on pre-WP7 ARM hardware).

 

[akar33]

I think you are obsessing over rather irrelevant things. Can you provide concrete examples of what you can not do with WP7 that you would like to? Many actually believe WP7 is still better than WP8 at this point. Jealous of a version number

Quite true. I believe that WP7 right now is a better OS than WP8. Even though its based on an older kernel, from a consumer's viewpoint, it is more mature. This is why i'm still rocking the 900 with 7.8 and honestly, I love it!

 

[MrSean490]

I'd say it's finished growing, but it's not dead until your phone doesn't turn on any more.

I will admit though, once mine does go, I'll be taking a solid look at android because by then it will be v5.0

 

[a5cent]

I'd say it's finished growing...

Interestingly, it is still growing. Particularly the Lumia 800 is selling very well all over the world. There are more WP7 device owners every day. It's just growing slower than WP8. ;-)

 

[soumitro316]

It may be growing but there isn't really any support from Microsoft is there?..no new apps n stuff...and Nokiaseems to be the only OEM who cares about their users.

 

[smoledman]

The way things are going we're all gonna end up with iPhones in a month.

 

[a5cent]

It may be growing but there isn't really any support from Microsoft is there?..no new apps n stuff...and Nokiaseems to be the only OEM who cares about their users.

We get lots of new apps, devs still support it, and yes, Nokia still does a lot of great stuff for WP7. That's great, isn't it?

Microsoft is likely no longer on board, that is true. But so what? What are you losing because of that? Nothing, at least not yet.

 

[MrSean490]

Interestingly, it is still growing. Particularly the Lumia 800 is selling very well all over the world. There are more WP7 device owners every day. It's just growing slower than WP8. ;-)

Sale numbers are still on the up, sure, but from a development point of view (Operating system features, new killer apps etc). It's pretty much set. WP7 does now have a low barrier of entry which will open it up to other markets but within 2 years it'll probably tank in light of WP8. (Nokia did just announce a Lumia 520 WP8 @ ~$180)

 

[a5cent]

Sale numbers are still on the up, sure, but from a development point of view (Operating system features, new killer apps etc). It's pretty much set. WP7 does now have a low barrier of entry which will open it up to other markets but within 2 years it'll probably tank in light of WP8. (Nokia did just announce a Lumia 520 WP8 @ ~$180)

I think you are right, yeah, except for the part about killer apps.

As previously mentioned, WP7 just got Skulls of the Shogun, which is widely considered one of the best games on WP. I think what most are missing, is that as long as there is a market in which money can be earned, devs will service it. WP7 is now bigger than it ever was. That still isn't huge, but big enough to sustain it for a while to come.

 

[EauRouge]

I think so, yes

 

[soumitro316]

Official Twitter app just got updated....now supports double wide tile on WP 7.8..so maybe we WP 7 users still have some hope left..

 

[rockstarzzz]

What? This phenomenon hasn't occurred ever. So when you say your WP7 is dead, it doesn't turn on or it does turn on but shows face of Lady Gaga? I hope Microsoft stops killing phones like this because what's the point buying a phone that works and does everything it says on the box and then some, but then all of a sudden after 10-15 months stops doing all of that!?

 

[Rich White]

Best guess is this will become like Android and Apple. Portico compliant apps will be the last major upgrade. The user base is too small and the goal is to sell new phones every two years.

Windows 8 phones will see Blue later this year and at best one more major update after that (my speculation) next year around this time and that will be missing HD features and some others that won;t work on the 920 era phones. By the time two new generations of hardware hits in Nov 2013 and then 2014 forget it. Developers will code for the new OS and hardware by Nov 2014. Then the initial 920s are off contract.

 

[Gambit11B]

Don't know whether to buy a WP 8 device or a bb next year...because it would be really disappointing if after I bought a WP 8 device Microsoft announces WP 9 and says existing devices won't be compatible...like what happened to me with my current WP 7 device

Buy the BB device.....from the looks of things, BB is getting the apps/dev support that we've been "promised" a heck of a lot quicker. Just look at "Where's My Water?". That app only took 2 years to make it onto Windows platforms, yet has already been released for BB (and BB10 isn't even available in the US yet).

 

[Raghu Gundlapalli]

i had Focus S & now i have Lumia 920, i do understand your frustration, but MS had a valid reason to not to update WP 7.5 to WP 8.0 because it was totally different kernel. And i am sure developers are not going to develop for a platform that is dead, if MS repeats this with WP 8.0, the can kiss good bye to mobile platform, it will be a joke.

This is why WP 8 isn't that appealing to me. If MS dropped WP 7 so quick and pretends that this is their first mobile OS to ever come out is ridiculous.

Sent from my SGH-i677 using Foroplex

 

[a5cent]

...but MS had a valid reason to not to update WP 7.5 to WP 8.0 because it was totally different kernel.

I am a software developer. I have contributed to OS development (RTOS). Can you please explain to me how that is a valid reason? You might sight budget limitations, but IMHO there is no technical reason that stands in the way of that update occurring, you need only consider that both WP7 and WP8 run on ARMv7 based CPU's.

That is like saying an OS that runs on Ivy Bridge (2012 x86 CPU model) can't run on a Sandy Bridge (2011 x86 CPU model). It's friggen' ridiculous. Logically, it's the exact same CPU, one of them is just somewhat faster at executing the exact same instructions. Sorry for picking on you. I've just seen this utter BS repeated once to often. Nothing personal.