Support lifecycle jumps from 18 to 36 months. VPN on the way!

HeyCori

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Straight from the Redmond's mouth.

Making Windows Phone an even better choice for business

Microsoft is investing in Windows Phone enterprise capabilities to make it an even better choice for businesses of all sizes.
We’ve decided to increase the length of our support lifecycle from 18 months to 36 months. Beginning with Windows Phone 8 we’ll make updates, including security updates, available for 36 months. These updates will be incremental, with each update built on the update that preceded it. The mobile operator or phone manufacturer may control the distribution of these incremental updates and update availability may also vary by country, region, and device hardware capabilities.

In addition to the longer support lifecycle, we will also be releasing an enterprise feature pack as an update to Windows Phone 8. This feature pack will provide IT departments with more control over Windows Phones and give their employees a fuller productivity experience.
The enterprise feature pack will include:

  • S/MIME to sign and encrypt email
  • Access to corporate resources behind the firewall with app aware, auto-triggered VPN
  • Enterprise Wi-Fi support with EAP-TLS
  • Enhanced MDM policies to lock down functionality on the phone for more enterprise control, in addition to richer application management such as allowing or denying installation of certain apps
  • Certificate management to enroll, update, and revoke certificates for user authentication
We plan to provide the feature pack as an update in the first half of 2014. By lengthening the Windows Phone support lifecycle policy and announcing of the enterprise feature pack, we show Microsoft’s commitment to the Windows Phone platform. This gives business customers the confidence to invest in Windows Phone today, with the knowledge that their investments are secure, and the platform is evolving to be an even better choice for business.
 

smurfercom

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The mobile operator or phone manufacturer may control the distribution of these incremental updates and update availability may also vary by country, region, and device hardware capabilities.

So basically we are screwed...
 

Chregu

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Is it just me, or is Microsoft still very slow? First half of 2014?

What takes them so long? They can't even fix the other storage bug, so it is most likely not due to extensive testing...

I'm with vish2801, that's just annoying.
 

MAkhdar

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This is good news until you get to the 2014 part and the fact that Microsoft still hasn't decided to bypass the carriers... Why does it have to be so complicated!
 

Sanjay Chandra

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Is it just me, or is Microsoft still very slow? First half of 2014?

What takes them so long? They can't even fix the other storage bug, so it is most likely not due to extensive testing...

I'm with vish2801, that's just annoying.

Until Now , I thought WP 8.1 won't be given to WP8 users since Support ends July 2014 or something , but now support is extended to a longer period.

I want them to take time as long as they want , rather than rushing out the OS and then beta test directly on users.

WP8 is rushed and now other storage bug and several bugs are present.


I want refinement update , Which fixes all issues of WP8 and update to all the stock apps.
 

Jaskys

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Longer support just confirmed that there won't be windows phone 9 for windows phone 8 devices.
Think about it guys, maybe WP9 will be something huge... Especially with secret i-mate phone project.
 

N_LaRUE

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Longer support just confirmed that there won't be windows phone 9 for windows phone 8 devices.
Think about it guys, maybe WP9 will be something huge... Especially with secret i-mate phone project.

They stated a long time ago that all WP8 devices will be able upgrade to WP9. So not sure why you think this just because they increased the longer support?

If they retract that statement then I'm not impressed and lowers my opinion of WP and MS even more. It would confirm, in my opinion, that things are taking way longer than expected so it's possible that WP9 can't be loaded on WP8 devices by the time it comes out.
 

Jaskys

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They didn't said ANYTHING about WP8 upgrade to WP9.
They said it will be upgradable to next version of WP aka WP Blue.

Just wait a year and you'll see who was right.
 

theefman

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Longer support just confirmed that there won't be windows phone 9 for windows phone 8 devices.
Think about it guys, maybe WP9 will be something huge... Especially with secret i-mate phone project.

Sorry, how does extending support for WP8 devices confirm they wont get an upgrade to WP9? And how long do you expect WP8 devices to receive updates for, WP10, 11, 12, WP infinity? Does anyone really expect their phone to get upgrades indefinitely?
 

vish2801

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Until Now , I thought WP 8.1 won't be given to WP8 users since Support ends July 2014 or something , but now support is extended to a longer period.

I want them to take time as long as they want , rather than rushing out the OS and then beta test directly on users.

WP8 is rushed and now other storage bug and several bugs are present.


I want refinement update , Which fixes all issues of WP8 and update to all the stock apps.

Nokia doesn't have that much time, you do realize that....???

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
 

fardream

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Nokia doesn't have that much time, you do realize that....???

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Unless Microsoft instills another $1b or so into the company.... The pace at which MSFT is moving in windows phone is painstakingly slow - how difficult is it to code a timer??? Yet MSFT omits all those small features that involves nearly no real development effort
 

NTUser

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Awesome! I do hope WP8 devices will get WP8.1 and on. They should, it's not a completely different OS like 7 to 8 was, it will be similar. Glad to see the longer support cycle, especially for those of us who are stuck with 2 year contracts (Verizon, grrr).
 

spaulagain

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Awesome! I do hope WP8 devices will get WP8.1 and on. They should, it's not a completely different OS like 7 to 8 was, it will be similar. Glad to see the longer support cycle, especially for those of us who are stuck with 2 year contracts (Verizon, grrr).


Its already confirmed they will get 8.1 and I'm sure, all 8.X will be supported.

WP7 was built on an old core that was actually outdated the day WP7 came out. The new core was ready literally just a couple months later. But of course they couldn't build something on a foundation that wasn't finalized.
 

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