WP8 will make older WP's obsolete...REALLY?!

[SnailUK]

I just still cannot understand why Microsoft put out such a low end OS on the Market when they did. They could have done just as well by creating a skin over WM to get by until they worked all the kinks out of Windows Phone.

This baffles me.

WM's marketshare was falling like a lead balloon. Would adding a skin over the top of it really have sorted the problems? i doubt it. Would people have changed to creating beautiful metro apps on WM, or just released the same old stuff they were doing before?

WP7 may not have every function of iOS/Android/WM, but its won awards for its beauty, its really fast on the hardware it has, its generated 100k or more apps ready for WP8/W8, and i'm sure taught Microsoft loads about the carrier/OEM/MS relationship, how people use their phones, etc etc.

 

[Marute]

I really wouldn't call 7.5 and 7.8 obsolete. V8 doesn't make the current version any less functional. Therefore, in my opinion, if you have a WP7.5 device and are happy about it, the launch of WP8 shouldn't make you any less happy.


Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express

 

[diapers]

If you're talking about the OP's post, his premise is that WP7 is functional. I think you're reading the idea of perfection into his words.

Here again the word "functional" is thrown in as if it invalidates the word obsolete.

I woke up this morning to this headline Apple iPhone 5 connector to make accessories obsolete

Does it mean those accessories are not functional?

 

[cckgz4]

The premise of your post assumes that WP7 is perfect. It is not, it lacks many many things so yes WP8 coming out with the things everyone wanted in WP7 will make WP7 obsolete. It's just a fact of life.

A fact of life?

Have several seats

 

[Old_Cus]

Webster defines Obsolete as no longer in use or no longer useful or of a kind or style no longer current.

I’m sorry but all you doom and gloom posters out there are misusing the term. WP7.5/7.8 will be both used and useful for some time to come. Developers have already stated that they will continue to develop for the current platform and Nokia has reaffirmed it’s support for it’s 7.5 Lumia line.

WP8 devices are scheduled to be released inl October or November. When that happens WP7.X may not be current but it won’t be obsolete…just like 3GS, 4 iphones aren’t now and the 4S won’t be when the iphone 5 is released. There are tons of phones being used that are no longer current but you don’t hear anyone calling them obsolete.

 

[Marute]

WP8 devices are scheduled to be released inl October or November. When that happens WP7.X may not be current but it won?t be obsolete

Quote of the day. I think we can conclude that WP7.5/7.8 won't be current or the newest thing after that launch of WP8. But that won't make the OS obsolete.

 

[Corepc]

Obsolete will happen when all functions and services stop working on our 7.x phone's. aka no marketplace, no tellme, no bing search, etc.

I will keep using 7.x until I feel the need for a 8.x Phone..I first need to get Windows 8 and a Surface before a 8.x Phone with NFC will be useful to me..Tap and Share etc..

 

[suvastallions]

Very well said. Even the 'burning platform' - Symbian is still kicking, with Nokia's release of the Pureview 808 in May!

 

[thecaringkind]

Great thoughts everyone! It really does seem a little hasty on the part of those who feel that the current platform is obsolete. To believe that is to have a poor or shortsighted understanding of the word. WP 7.X is highly functional and continues to evolve. Nokia has pledged its commitment to the current hardware & software because it makes good business sense. If there are 4 million or so Lumia's out there they would surely shoot themselves in the foot to abandon it. It is a viable ecosystem with excellent hardware that may not do what Apollo will, but what it continues to do is support and showcase the best mobile phone operating system in use today. I have tried them all and nothing matches the fluidity and sheer intuitive usability of WP. The best hardware on the planet will not change that fact. It can help it to get better as it is not a perfect OS, however from what I have seen from it so far, it doesn't have to be.

 

[eric12341]

I'll give on Google Voice...while it's certainly better on Android, iPhone is no better than WP. Nav is a problem though...I use my phone for music, podcasts, and actual phone calls (over bluetooth) while traveling, and on an Android phone I can have Nav running (and giving directions) while I'm on the phone with the podcast play paused. Never run across malware, spam, or spyware that couldn't be avoided by the most basic precautions. as for inefficient use of hardware...not sure what you're referring to?

You can have nav running and giving directions in WP too but just not with it in the background. Don't see it being easy to concentrate on navigation while in a phone call but whatever Thousands of Android devices are affected with malware and here's a source on he inefficient use of hardware:

Intel says Android not ready for multiple-core processors

Sorry can't fuel your attempts to bring down this OS.

 

[jabtano]

I don't think so. Most people who buy devices aside from us tech junkies don't care about the things that we do. OMF no FFC or no NFC see it still make calls. which is what it is a phone. it can and will still connect to the net. It will still do social can get emails. if you have a Lumia device Nokia drive will still work and so will everything else.

 

[blehblehbleh]

Here again the word "functional" is thrown in as if it invalidates the word obsolete.

I woke up this morning to this headline Apple iPhone 5 connector to make accessories obsolete

Does it mean those accessories are not functional?

It would seem one of us or both has misinterpreted the use of the other's word. If you mean no longer current/dated then isn't the OP still technically right in his argument? WP7.x won't be "obsolete" under this form until WP8 actually launches.

If you mean obsolete as how I understood it (no longer useful which seemingly is in conjunction to OP's theme), then doesn't the term functional "invalidate" the word obsolete?

And I still don't understand how you derived perfection from the OP's post

 

[incendy]

I hope it makes it obsolete! That would mean the platform is moving ahead in a big way like it needs to. As pointed out in the thread, Nokia will continue to support last gen as will Microsoft to an extent but the platform does indeed need to move forward.

 

[sentimentGX4]

All I wanted in my WP7 is Swype and alternate web browsers. Alas, it was too much to ask/hope for...

I know it may be reaching a bit, but I am still holding up on hope Microsoft will upgrade the Gen 1.5 phones to WP8 when it finds out WP8 is not as hot as it anticipated. Microsoft needs to take drastic measures to make WP succeed and I don't see it happening with all the rumors of Nokia month long exclusiveness and such.

 

[eric12341]

:lol:

All I wanted in my WP7 is Swype and alternate web browsers. Alas, it was too much to ask/hope for...

I know it may be reaching a bit, but I am still holding up on hope Microsoft will upgrade the Gen 1.5 phones to WP8 when it finds out WP8 is not as hot as it anticipated. Microsoft needs to take drastic measures to make WP succeed and I don't see it happening with all the rumors of Nokia month long exclusiveness and such.

Why want an alternate browser when IE9 is so good? IE10 will be even better thus further negating the need for an alternative browser.

 

[sentimentGX4]

Why want an alternate browser when IE9 is so good? IE10 will be even better thus further negating the need for an alternative browser.

There's nothing in particular wrong with IE Mobile; but, I'm one of those individuals who likes to use more than one browser. Different browsers are good for different things. Different page renderings, different options/settings, different interfaces, etc. etc. For example, Opera Mobile comes with a nifty speed dial and a download manager. Just one browser isn't enough for me. I typically like to use at least 3.

 

[eshy]

I continue to be blown away by the sheer number of articles from the technorati and blogosphere that unequivocally state that the advent of WPB Apollo instantly and automatically make WP 7.5/7.8 OBSOLETE. For the old heads out there like me, remember that old original Twilight Zone episode 'The Obsolete Man' starring the late great Burgess Meredith? Basically in a future totalitarian state, Meredith's character is deemed 'obsolete' as a citizen due to his belief in the unseen, (faith), and his job as a librarian. His 'crimes' have basically sentenced him to death.

To draw an analogy based on that great old episode, so many folks on the web have basically passed judgement and convicted WP 7.5 to a death sentence which I think is short-sighted and unfair.

Could Microsoft have handled things a little better? Sure. Are the improvements in hardware and software worth the clean break. Sure. Do these things mean that everything done up to this point in time make WP 7.5 'obsolete'? Absolutely not.

I am amazed by the sheer amount of folks who claim to have love for WP castigating the operating system and basically stating that its time is done. Nokia desperately wants to hold on to the early Lumia adopters so they smartly will provide continued updates and support for the platform for the next 18 months after Apollo's release. During that time, I am quite sure that all of those folks like myself who love WP now are not suddenly going to lose their minds and decide that what they have now is crap just because something a little newer is available. Consider too that if there are some who feel that way, they can enjoy 'what's left' of WP 7.5 with the thought that when upgrade time comes around several established WP8 handsets wwith worked out bugs will be available.

This is NOT a WebOS/HP disaster situation people! Microsoft and Nokia are not going to abandon the platform. There's still a huge untapped market, (think Symbian) that the Lumia 900 platform could potentially exploit on a worldwide market basis. Not so much so here in the states where people are hopelessly drinking Android/iOS Kool-Aide, but to each their own.

The thought that WP 7.5/7.8 will just be useless and obsolete is kind of ludicrous to me when you consider the sheer number of NEW handsets Android and OEM's crank out every year still running GINGERBREAD for goodness sakes. Does that mean Android 2.3 is obsolete? Certainly not. Its still more than a viable OS used by millions of people.

Does Microsoft need WP8 to really move on into the future? Absolutely. However the ton of us who are quite happy with WP 7.5 are just as important to an overall platform that could use as many enthusiastic adherents as it can get.

Long live WP7.5/7.8

Cheers!

Let's face it, WP 7.5/7.8 is still way better than Android and ios.
Android is crapware in my opinion. The only thing I liked about my Android was that it wasn't the iphone I had before (the widgets are great but they drain the battery and hurt the phone's performance and the ability to do custom ROMs is great, because most likely you won't be happy with the ROM that ships with the phone)

When I got my iphone, I jailbroke it a month later because of it's limitations. I knew I will be rooting my Android before I even got it. With my HD7 I never had the need to do that (although pre-mango it was just a dev device for me and not my primary phone).

I recently checked when I got the Lumia 800, it was January. I still find the hardware incredible. It's just a beautiful device that feels perfect in the hand and the OS is still great.

Am I going to get a WP8 device? sure. hopefully being a developer will mean I'll get one for free (already got 3 other phones from Microsoft). but even if not, I'll probably get one (unlocked, on prepaid with no contracts)

Are older WPs obsolete? yes, as far as future updates and new apps in the far future (I predict most developers will still focus on 7.5 apps that run on both platforms until WP7.5 share is not worth it). but for existing users stuck with the device, not so much. it could be a lot worse, you could be stuck with an Android device you got around the same time the Lumia 900 was released. Now that would be an obsolete device...

 

[cckgz4]

I know everyone has the right to voice an opinion but android and ios aren't crap.

 

[mafu6]

I know everyone has the right to voice an opinion but android and ios aren't crap.

I think people are trying to say they don't like them not that they are crap. Theay are both far from it I agree.

People need to relax and chill out about this non upgradable thing, OK so WP7.5 wont be upgradable to WP8 but how would everyone feel if it was left as WP7.5 and abandoned? Then I could understand everyones complaing. If you just bought the Lumia 900 and desperatly want need want a WP8 then saves some pennies and sell you Lumia 900 on ebay or somewhere.

My contract is due up in Jan 13 and I am saving for a new tabet to replace my HP Touchpad... I wont be buying until probably after i renew my phone contract so my money is open to any OS at the moment but I am leaning towards MS as i already have a 360 and a Laptop so a phone and tablet that links all 4 is a possible winner for me.

to this thread in general... alot of words havebeen misused in here complicating and annoying some people, But like the OP has stated the general media reaction to WP8 has been it isn;t upgradable from WP7 and thats a very bad thing.. some websites and blogs need to grow up and see things for how they really are instead os skimming along the good points and elaberating the bad!

 

[paulm187]

I wouldn't say WP7.5/7.8 will be obsolete as the majority of the users will be on that platform. However for WP to move forward the quicker people adopt WP8 the better. There is a lot of interest for WP8 from developers who couldn't bring their apps to WP7 due to platform restictions.