Many people are wondering if they should upgrade their device to Windows 10 now. The thing is, I believe it is a great time to do so.
Microsoft just pushed out the first cumulative update to Windows 10 Mobile and proved to the world that they CAN and WILL push out the updates without carriers getting in the way.
Here is how Microsoft can push OS updates to Windows 10 Mobile without carriers now (and forever)
So, we see that they can do this. Are they pushing it out one device at a time? That's what they've always done in the past. But not this time. Not according to the tweet that Terry Myerson made. He stated to ALL phones running Windows 10.
So, I was thinking about that, and I wondered if it just meant the Lumia 950, 950XL, and the 550. There were a LOT of articles about these updates going out to just those phones, because those were the only phones officially running Windows 10. What about unofficial ones? Like my Lumia 640 and Lumia 635? What about my Father-in-Law's 520? What about the 930s. What about so many other models?
I happened to have a Lumia 635 that I was testing. It had been previously enrolled in the Insider program and was on build 10586.11. Once I reached that stage, the OS seemed pretty stable, and I gave it to my wife for testing after unenrolling from the program on that phone. (I didn't want her doing the OS upgrades until I knew she wouldn't react badly to it happening.) This means she should not be receiving updates any longer. At least she won't receive updates from the Insider program. The phone has been left in a drawer for the last few days, so I pulled it out this evening and powered it on, then checked for updates.
Sure enough, if found the update for 10586.29. That means if you enroll into the Insider program, update to 10586.29, then unenroll from the Insider program and uninstall the Insider app, you will be on the "in the market" version of Windows 10, and you will always get the updates as they come to all phones running Windows 10.
From the looks of things right now, it looks like Microsoft will be doing a "patch Tuesday" type release each month like they do for Desktop Windows 10, so Mobile will probably now be part of that. Windows as a Service, finally and fully realized. Regular updates. No carrier interference. The best part is, you don't even have to wait to do the upgrade, because Microsoft has provided a path that is pretty simple to follow.
Now, while in the very recent past I would have discouraged just anyone to jump into the Insider program, this time it is a little different. For one thing, this is the same version that is being pushed out to all the official releases and it is a version that is quite stable and ready for the market en masse. If you wait too long, there may be another Insider build and you'll have to wait for the market version to catch up again. It's also possible that the Insider version will stay ahead of the market version in the near future, so there may never be a better time to make the switch.
I've already made the jump and don't regret it one bit. I'll be retiring my wife's 8.1 Lumia 635 this weekend and giving her the one I just upgraded to W10M, afterwards I will upgrade her old one. If it's ready for me to give to my wife, I think it's probably ready for most people.
So, tell me, who's going to make that jump?
Microsoft just pushed out the first cumulative update to Windows 10 Mobile and proved to the world that they CAN and WILL push out the updates without carriers getting in the way.
Here is how Microsoft can push OS updates to Windows 10 Mobile without carriers now (and forever)
So, we see that they can do this. Are they pushing it out one device at a time? That's what they've always done in the past. But not this time. Not according to the tweet that Terry Myerson made. He stated to ALL phones running Windows 10.
So, I was thinking about that, and I wondered if it just meant the Lumia 950, 950XL, and the 550. There were a LOT of articles about these updates going out to just those phones, because those were the only phones officially running Windows 10. What about unofficial ones? Like my Lumia 640 and Lumia 635? What about my Father-in-Law's 520? What about the 930s. What about so many other models?
I happened to have a Lumia 635 that I was testing. It had been previously enrolled in the Insider program and was on build 10586.11. Once I reached that stage, the OS seemed pretty stable, and I gave it to my wife for testing after unenrolling from the program on that phone. (I didn't want her doing the OS upgrades until I knew she wouldn't react badly to it happening.) This means she should not be receiving updates any longer. At least she won't receive updates from the Insider program. The phone has been left in a drawer for the last few days, so I pulled it out this evening and powered it on, then checked for updates.
Sure enough, if found the update for 10586.29. That means if you enroll into the Insider program, update to 10586.29, then unenroll from the Insider program and uninstall the Insider app, you will be on the "in the market" version of Windows 10, and you will always get the updates as they come to all phones running Windows 10.
From the looks of things right now, it looks like Microsoft will be doing a "patch Tuesday" type release each month like they do for Desktop Windows 10, so Mobile will probably now be part of that. Windows as a Service, finally and fully realized. Regular updates. No carrier interference. The best part is, you don't even have to wait to do the upgrade, because Microsoft has provided a path that is pretty simple to follow.
Now, while in the very recent past I would have discouraged just anyone to jump into the Insider program, this time it is a little different. For one thing, this is the same version that is being pushed out to all the official releases and it is a version that is quite stable and ready for the market en masse. If you wait too long, there may be another Insider build and you'll have to wait for the market version to catch up again. It's also possible that the Insider version will stay ahead of the market version in the near future, so there may never be a better time to make the switch.
I've already made the jump and don't regret it one bit. I'll be retiring my wife's 8.1 Lumia 635 this weekend and giving her the one I just upgraded to W10M, afterwards I will upgrade her old one. If it's ready for me to give to my wife, I think it's probably ready for most people.
So, tell me, who's going to make that jump?