Will we be able to upgrade from Windows phone 8.1 to Windows phone 9

[Pranshul Sood]

Nice thinking....

its common sense

 

[DavidinCT]

Not really sure what your point is. Yeah Apple releases a new phone every year and many people trade up. Maybe the loyalty you refer to has something to do with Apple doesn't have different model phones and OS's for each carrier, upgrading apps and OS for some and leaving others behind.
I've got the Lumia 920, still can't get 8.1/cyan, cortana...

Don't feel bad, I have one of the newer models ICON/929 and I still cant get Cyan...

People also need to remember, iOS updates their older phones, sure, but, they run very laggy, they are stripped down of some features. Most people I have talked to who have older iPhones wont even update to iOS 7 because of the issues they read about and how bad the phone performs after the upgrade (where you HAVE to disable a lot of features to get it run good).

So, is it really good to get a update if your phone performs poorly or stripped down on features ?

Windows Phone is about a smooth experience with no real lag. If a phone wont be able to run it smooth, it wont be upgraded period !

This is all yet to be seen, I am sure we will get a Dev preview at some point and see how well it runs but, older devices might come down to the carrier too. Just because MS releases and your device will; support it, it does not mean your carrier will update your device (2 year old model, odds are they want you to sign a new contract, etc).

So, you have a double whammy here, IF MS releases it and it support your device....and If your carrier will update the device. Worse case you can run the dev preview till you upgrade to a new device....

 

[mparker]

Sit down and think, what happened with windows phone 7 was a kernel change - they changed the heart of the operating system to the NT kernel from Windows CE

There have been two such events in recent history - you forgot WM6.5 -> WP7. There wasn't a kernel change between Windows Mobile 6.5 and WP7, they were both running the same Windows CE kernel; WP7 was just a new UI on top of the old WM6.5 kernel. At least one WM6.5 device was definitively capable of running WP7. The HTC HD2 was almost identical to the WP7 launch device HD7, and eventually got WP7 via XDA.

I think they must update Lumia 630, because it's a new phone.

Microsoft abandoned the HD2 which came out a few months before WP7. Microsoft abandoned the Lumia 900 which came out a few months before WP8.

If a person wants to believe that current Lumia will not update to WP9, go ahead. There is no need to indulge conspiracy theorists.

AT&T has a fair amount of history of abandoning devices. Many of the WP7 launch devices never received anything past the original Mango; there were several service packs that they never received despite major bugs in Mango, much less WP7.8. Microsoft can release WP9 for all the Lumias, but if AT&T decides they're better off denying the update and forcing their customers to buy a new phone then history indicates that they won't hesitate in the slightest.

 

[DavidinCT]

Microsoft abandoned the HD2 which came out a few months before WP7.
Microsoft abandoned the Lumia 900 which came out a few months before WP8.

HD2 that was a Windows Mobile 6.5 device, not a WP device, different direction and even though it could support it(yes, Microsoft used the HD2 as a testing device for WP7), there was a bunch of other WM devices in the same spec that would of expected the upgrade too. I am sure they did not want to go down that road for a good reason(new phone, new brand). I do know the HD2 with custom roms will run Windows Phone 8...not sure about 8.1...it was a cool phone too bad it was only on TMOUS.

Even though the Luma 900 was a very cool phone, it was one of the dumbest move for them to release it so close to the WP8 announcement. Different phones, different CPUS, it's understandable why this device didn't support WP8 but, it was still a questionable reason why it was released in the first place. Phones are designed many months in advance, this I would bet had something to do with it...

With this being said, there will always be some oddball models when you work with so many OEMs that MIGHT not get the upgrade but, most devices SHOULD (maybe some limits on older or 512mb devices but, no one knows at this point)

 

[mparker]

HD2 that was a Windows Mobile 6.5 device, not a WP device, different direction and even though it could support it(yes, Microsoft used the HD2 as a testing device for WP7), there was a bunch of other WM devices in the same spec that would of expected the upgrade too. I am sure they did not want to go down that road for a good reason(new phone, new brand). I do know the HD2 with custom roms will run Windows Phone 8...not sure about 8.1...it was a cool phone too bad it was only on TMOUS.

Even though the Luma 900 was a very cool phone, it was one of the dumbest move for them to release it so close to the WP8 announcement. Different phones, different CPUS, it's understandable why this device didn't support WP8 but, it was still a questionable reason why it was released in the first place. Phones are designed many months in advance, this I would bet had something to do with it...

With this being said, there will always be some oddball models when you work with so many OEMs that MIGHT not get the upgrade but, most devices SHOULD (maybe some limits on older or 512mb devices but, no one knows at this point)

All of this was only obvious in retrospect. At the time it was widely expected that Microsoft would upgrade the HD2, and later the same was said about the L900, in both cases there was widespread and loud agreement that there was just absolutely no way that Microsoft would p*ss off their customers like that and cut them off cold. At the time even the kernel change was "obviously" not a big deal, after all XP machines had been able to upgrade to Vista and that was also a kernel change. In the end none of that mattered, Microsoft did what it thought best, and if that meant cutting off WM6.5 at the knees, or killing off the future for WP7 and hurting their early adopters, then that was just tough.

Personally I think that some of the WP8.x phones may well get the upgrade. But I don't think it will be a wholesale upgrade by any means, and it wouldn't surprise me if all the current phones were left behind again. There's been a huge drought of new WP phones these last few months that is eerily reminiscent of the drought before WP8 was released.

 

[DavidinCT]

Personally I think that some of the WP8.x phones may well get the upgrade. But I don't think it will be a wholesale upgrade by any means, and it wouldn't surprise me if all the current phones were left behind again. There's been a huge drought of new WP phones these last few months that is eerily reminiscent of the drought before WP8 was released.

Yea, there will be SOME WP8.X devices that will be left in the cold or stripped back of features.

At this point we need to wait for the official announcement. There is nothing showing hardware as what is needed or required for the upgrade.

Anyone's guess on what devices will or wont get upgraded to WP9 is just that....a guess..with NO facts to back it up...

I wont even guess as there is someone here with that configuration and it could offend them, till MS says, it's all a guessing game...

 

[Cabo Blue]

Maybe high end phones can upgrade. MS hasn't changed the kernel yet so hopefully there won't be a WP7 to WP8 crisis again. I'm not too sure about low memory devices like the 520. There are already some users (I personally know one) who experienced slowing down of their phone after upgrading to WP8.1. What more if they further upgrade to WP9? The hardware limitations will really pull down some devices.

I had a 3GS iPhone, waited for I5 release.
Prior to the i5 release , Apple made available it's new iOS before the i5 went on sale.
With that iOS release, my 3GS slowed WAY down.

So, don't be surprised that older Windows phones, with their older hardware, slow down even if 8 & 8.1 and up were made to be compatible with these OS releases

 

[Shan Ali Khan]

I had a 3GS iPhone, waited for I5 release.
Prior to the i5 release , Apple made available it's new iOS before the i5 went on sale.
With that iOS release, my 3GS slowed WAY down.

So, don't be surprised that older Windows phones, with their older hardware, slow down even if 8 & 8.1 and up were made to be compatible with these OS releases

Agree 110%!

 

[Michael Alan Goff]

Hmm not too sure, I mean we all know what happened to Windows Phone 7 devices. This was a question that went trough my mind from since the announcement of WP 8.1. It will sure be a mistake if they do that.

Have you ever heard of Windows Phone 7? IOW, its happened before.

I doubt they're changing the kernel again, except maybe to a more recent version of NT.

Based on Joe Bilfiore's comments I'm confident my duel core 1520's will get upgraded to WP9. As they should since they were purchased on a 2 yr agreement back at the end of 2013 so by end of 2015 MS device division should have their WP9 phablet available.

​Doesn't the 1520 have 4 cores?