Microsoft owes us that have stuck with them since Windows Phone 7 and even beyond!!!

[MrockNroll]

hopefully we will see something this fall.

 

[rromerof]

I don't think M$ owes us anything. At least in my case, I'm guilty for trusting them after buying the second generation of devices with Windows Phone (Lumia 1020), thinking that W10 would be 100% compatible, as they promised. Nowadays, I don't even have Windows in my laptop, as a member of IT and Application Security team, I have Linux to work with and if it is needed, we have virtual machines running Windows. Anyway, I have to thank Micro$oft for building Windows (put your favourite flavor/version here) and every new feature with it, it is so insecure that work never ends and I can keep earning money from it.

 

[Will Gilliland]

Microsoft doesn't owe you anything.

They've bent over backwards to try to make this work for years. Any other company, even one with as deep of pockets, would have cut their losses long ago.

You knew what you were getting into each time you decided to stick it out. I did too.

Get a new Samsung, or something that runs stock Android like Pixel or Essential.

Microsoft doesn't owe me anything for my loyalty. They owe themselves and their investors proper VISION. "Retrenchment" WTF does that mean? MS owes everyone their ecosystem strategy.

When you say "cut your losses" I couldn't disagree more. That is short-sighted. Could you imagine Apple giving up on the mobile phone arena when they had ZERO products before the iPhone and Microsoft, Nokia with Symbian and Blackberry owned the market? Instead the invested heavily, with no promise of success, no market share, no OS, no hardware.... just VISION and investment into it.

Ecosystems grow from "personal" to "productive" not the other way around. People will take what they already use most often (personal cellphone) and want that device to unify their digital life. Conversely, Microsoft thought they could draw on their "productive" market share (PCs, Laptops) and grow mobile/personal market share without heavy investment. WRONG!

If Microsoft doesn't secure foothold in the mobile market, we will all be using Apple or Google OS on our "productive" devices.

 

[PerfectReign]

Samsung owes people because their phone literally burned. Who here is over 35yrs old, bet they dont think they are owed anything. Weird.

My son got a shiny new S7 when his Note 7 was about to become a bonfire.

 

[Geoffrey Turks]

I've had Windows on a Phone since 2008. WM 6.0,6.1,6.5,WP 7,7.5,8.0,8.1, and W10M. I've been so loyal to MS's mobile platform, that I deserve an Xbox One X 2TB, a new Surface Pro with a Core i7, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. Also a lifetime free subscription to Groove and Xbox Live Gold. Just joking, probably.

 

[jimmy s1]

people get frustrated easily today, maybe it's too much information at hand, everyone seems to have an opinion, and a strong one at that. i think everyone of us was in it (windows phone) cause we liked the idea, and i think most of us would come back again, till then we can keep vetting out all our frustrations, but the fact does not change, microsoft tried, and retried and retried and technology keeps on changing and the focus keeps on shifting, until the next big thing, get anything with a stock android.

 

[AccentAE86]

I don't feel like they owe me anything. This is a capitalistic, free world (for the most part) after all.

Having said that, that doesn't mean that they aren't ticking me the hell off right now, and I do feel like they are being total jerks to their loyal fanbase.

 

[rwalrond]

Begin Rant

Imagine how us developers developers developers feel. I agree with what some of you have already said, I think MS owes us a solid road-map of what their mobile plans are. As a developer I jumped from developing for iPhone the day WP7 came out. I fell for all the talk that Microsoft gave us and those BUILD conferences. I put apps in their new app store and even ported some over to Windows 8 when it came out. Then we saw MS start putting out apps on other platforms and not on WP or Windows. Okay..., no problem MS, if you can put your apps on other platforms, surely your development tools that I bought into would be updated so I could port my apps to the other mobile platforms as well, right?? Nope,, instead Microsoft started building ONE-WAY bridges to help Android and iPhone developers port their apps to WP/Windows, good one MS, those developers never cared about WP/Windows and never will! You know why? Cause when you had the chance to win the Developers Developers Developers, you instead tried to be like Apple and you only produced dev tools that out of the box built apps for a platform that you didn't even throw you 100% support behind. How do I know? Tell me the killer Metro App that Microsoft built when Windows 8 came out....... nothing.... Even iOS got Office Mobile before Windows did. SMH.

So now, here I was a Windows Developer, loyal to Microsoft but stuck in a dead eco-system and if I wanted to put my C# skills to use back then I had to go pay Xamarin a bunch of money and still have to do a lot of native coding to port my apps to other platforms. Microsoft finally bought Xamarin but by then, I had stopped developing for Windows!

Hey Microsoft! I'm a Windows developer that uses Windows to developer only for Android and iOS, was that the result you where going for?

End Rant;

 

[Apurba Roy1]

Microsoft owes us a ****load of explanations, revelations, one-to-one sit down brainstorming meeting with the hardcore dedicated fans (who have invested precious trust and money on the company) over the years. No more "press releases". Talk to us DIRECTLY. Listen to the fans. Take note. Build up rapport and trust. Stop with the PowerPoint slides and actually build on the exclusivity consumer platform (enough with enterprise solutions). Hardware-software combination. Products for the people as opposed to a company or enterprise solution. Build on the solo customer experience. Media, codecs, games, office solutions, stylus, design all these build based on premium single customer based solution/ecosystem. Keeping the fans in loop about new developments via smart-room solutions. Publicity, advertising (on every media platforms). If you can't dish out a device NOW (that even "actually" works on the aforementioned conditions) then stop what you're doing RIGHT NOW and leaves us be. Microsoft could actually come out with a workable device in premium format right now with limited quantity. Serve only exclusively for the hardcore fans and then start building up from there in volume across the world. As for apps, Microsoft is also itself a software company (right?) so if it can build an entire ecosystem and the OS itself. Why don't build its own apps (I may sound stupid, but why rely on developers when you can do it yourself?!). We had msn travel, health & fitness, news, money, sports, travel... so why not revive them and bring them to the fore with exciting new features. This way the apps will be native and secure!

 

[Cosmin Petrenciuc]

No, I don't think Microsoft ownes anyone anything. Nobody from Microsoft forced us to make the choices we made. I started with Windows Mobile 6 on HTC Touch Diamond. I continued with WP 7 on HTC Radar. I bought Nokia Lumia 800 for my wife. Then I upgraded myself to Nokia Lumia 1020 and my wife to Nokia Lumia 925. Now I use a Lumia 950 XL and my wife is using a Lumia 950.
Do I expect Microsoft rewards me somehow for my loyalty? No.
I choose these products because I liked them and I choose Microsoft's OS because it is so different from IOS and Android. I like Live Tiles a lot. But probably my next smartphone will be a LG V30.

 

[anthonyng]

It's neat so many of you started with the original Windows Mobile. I never believed in it. I didn't want what they offered. Windows phone 7 I scoffed off saying it would never work then windows 8 came and I was like, hmm maybe I should give it a shot now.

I still think it's really cool how they've come to windows 10 today and it should really be just the beginning for it with all their product lines unified. They just need to move faster!

 

[Yangstax]

If you have watched the keynotes in BUILD in the last 5 years, you would feel betrayed and lied. Yes, MS owes us a honest and clear explanation of their mobile plan. So far, they have handled their WP decommissioning in such a disgraceful fashion, it is pitiful. Nandella and Terry Nicholson should come out as a responsible management should to tell the world what they are doing and what they plan to do with their mobile plan. They owe us at least that much.

 

[kr33m0]

There are different opinions across the board regarding MS owing those who stuck by them through thick and thin. I like the analogy that one commenter said that this is a relationship and nothing is guaranteed. However, promises were made. And in relationships when you consistently broke your promises you typically try to make up for it. Yes, at anytime one can leave the relationship especially if it is emotionally abusive, which we can argue that this is. But when you are left with the alternatives, before MS made it easier to jump ship, the loyalist would rather continue on.
Xbox, Bing, IE/Edge all entered markets that were well established and took a beating early on. However, MS grinded it out and we have the products we have today. I do hope that the grind continues for mobile, whatever that may look like. And I agree with many of you that someone should at least let us know where MS stands on mobile just as Ballmer did with Xbox. Can you imagine if they did to Xbox what they have done to mobile?
Anyway, maybe they don't owe us anything, but a nice worthwhile gesture on MS part would be appreciated and go a long way.

 

[OsollevA]

Owe might not be the word. But we are disappointed for sure. I am still hanging to my 950XL and my wife with her 950. My first (Windows) phone was MPX200. 13? 14? years ago? I have pictures of all my Windows Phones. I should have saved them. My last disappointment was my MS Band 2 dying and I could not buy something nice compatible with Windows Mobile 10. FitBit is trying very hard, but failing due to problems with the OS and the 950XL chipset.
I am really hoping for some kind of news. Hoping that the bit Nadela spoke is true.
I don't want an Android or iOS phone. It would be like a defeat for me. Like losing something I fought so much to keep, against all odds and maybe even against MS wishes.
Maybe at this point MS just want us to give up.

 

[Monte Constable1]

Simple answer. No

 

[ZSkeledzic]

Why would Microsoft owe us anything? After all, they still actively support excellent Windows 10 Mobile, and will support it at least till 2019. Let's be honest, who knows what can happen in the meantime?! Maybe Microsoft or their partners finally issue Surface phone or other proper flagship device, or Samsung decides to mass produce pocket size Windows 10 on ARM always connected PC with telephony functions... What I know for sure is that I'm not switching to clunky Android, ever!!! Although, iPhone is my backup device, which helps me overcome the "scary" app gap, but Lumia 950 remains main device for as long as it's supported. We should actually thank Microsoft for all the efforts to develop such a great mobile OS, especially latest insider fast ring update! It runs perfectly on Lumia 950, and I wish it was this good two years ago. But it's still not late... If MS keep supporting and improving Windows 10 Mobile, and themselves along with hardware partners issue new attractive devices, I'm sure developers would then also support it. And it's not hard to find customers for good products and good service. I have impression that all this time Microsoft was hunting for Apple customers, while Android users were and still are much easier targets. Hardly any iPhone user complains, or decides to switch platform, but on Android side it's totally different and pushing solid alternative such as Windows phone in that direction, might change this gloomy picture we currently see.

 

[Matthew Crawford]

I was dragged through the HTC one m8 debacle. I was promised a lot of things that never materialized, even under contract the phone was about as useful as a paperweight... Oh wait a paperweight does what it is advertised for, scratch that. Thanks Microsoft, I really felt robbed by that contract/lack of updates.
I was then forced to buy a Lumia because I have so much invested in the windows ecosystem by now. I just can't make that jump yet. I feel everyone's pain

 

[1DaveN]

I'm not sure I think they owe me money, although that would be nice. What I think they owe me is to not abandon yet another product category. I wish they had done more with Zune (whose software is arguably still better than anything music-related they've shipped since). I wish they hadn't killed Money - I haven't kept decent accounting records since. And don't get me started on WMC or Windows Home Server. People start using technology, become invested in it, and it's immensely disruptive when it just goes away.

 

[Groover1971]

I'm tired of rants. I still like my 950 and that's why I am still using it. I'm staying on the bus until the last stop when they force me to get off. I still have my original Surface RT (still works), my original Microsoft Band (still works), and my original Xbox One (still works). I'm a rare consumer that doesn't have to have the latest technology. I want the things that I buy to work and not have to replace them all the time. I want to get my money's worth out of them.

 

[kr33m0]

I don't know about rant, but there is clearly a lot of frustration. I even forgot about the zunehd I bought my wife. When you add it all up it truly is disappointing. I have drawers filled with Windows devices that has "expired" for one reason or another. I'm still pulling for MS though just not as loudly ������.