__Some__ W8 phones may not update to W10 after all?

[Viipottaja]

Chris Weber made this open ended statement today on their official /Conversations blog.. So perhaps not all phones will get it - the unfortunate thing is that if its 512MB devices generally, or even just the most popular one (520), then a big chunk could be at risk. One can only hope it was just a poorly formulate statement from him or the "journalist" who wrote the story. [Can't post a link due to forum rules.. ]

Does that mean that today?s Lumia devices can be upgraded to Windows 10?

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We?re making it as easy as possible to get Windows 10. Windows 10 has been designed to run well on today?s Lumia phones. Like any upgrade to a new platform, not every phone will upgrade or support all possible Windows 10 features, and certain features and experiences will require more advanced future hardware. Our goal is for the majority of the Lumia phones running Windows Phone 8 and 8.1 to join the Windows ecosystem along with an expected hundreds of millions of PCs, tablets and other devices running the next generation of Windows.

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[Legoboyii]

Chris Weber made this open ended statement today on their official /Conversations blog.. So perhaps not all phones will get it - the unfortunate thing is that if its 512MB devices generally, or even just the most popular one (520), then a big chunk could be at risk. One can only hope it was just a poorly formulate statement from him or the "journalist" who wrote the story. [Can't post a link due to forum rules.. ]

Does that mean that today?s Lumia devices can be upgraded to Windows 10?

​

We?re making it as easy as possible to get Windows 10. Windows 10 has been designed to run well on today?s Lumia phones. Like any upgrade to a new platform, not every phone will upgrade or support all possible Windows 10 features, and certain features and experiences will require more advanced future hardware. Our goal is for the majority of the Lumia phones running Windows Phone 8 and 8.1 to join the Windows ecosystem along with an expected hundreds of millions of PCs, tablets and other devices running the next generation of Windows.

​

"Todays Lumias" Includes Lumia 635, which is a 512 Mb phone.

 

[jgbstetson]

It's probably just a statement to cover his *** when carriers that don't give a damn drop the ball. If you're on Verizon and maybe tmobile, good luck.

 

[Dusan Randj]

But on other side, 520,820,920,1020 may not be "today Lumias" depending on how you look at it. I have feeling that they may not upgrade for example 520, to force users to upgrade to new phones... I guess we can only speculate for now. At least until first preview.

 

[Guzzler3]

It's probably just a statement to cover his *** when carriers that don't give a damn drop the ball. If you're on Verizon and maybe tmobile, good luck.

BINGO!!!

You are ALWAYS stuck with the carrier with having the final say of what you will receive. Especially with a carrier branded phone. Just look at us with the Lumia 810, we're still on AMBER firmware, with a "snow ball's chance in hell" of getting anything new for our phones.

 

[Blacklac]

Maybe he's implying carriers. Just cause an update is available, doesn't mean a carrier will push it to our phones.

I don't really see anything damning, there.

 

[Darthbobcat]

It could also be a situation like with "Hey Cortana" not being available for any but a select group of phones. There might be some features a Lumia 920 can't make access too just for having 3 year old chip (3 years old when Windows 10 comes out this summer/fall, that is).

 

[Viipottaja]

It's probably just a statement to cover his *** when carriers that don't give a damn drop the ball. If you're on Verizon and maybe tmobile, good luck.

Agree. HHowever if that is what he was referring to he should have made it much clearer. Something like - MS will offer the upgrade to every single WP8 out there and will work with carriers to make it available to everyone. If your carrier does not offer it, you may opt in to our Insider program.

 

[ajaya p]

Agree. HHowever if that is what he was referring to he should have made it much clearer. Something like - MS will offer the upgrade to every single WP8 out there and will work with carriers to make it available to everyone. If your carrier does not offer it, you may opt in to our Insider program.

Yes you are right

 

[Visa Declined]

Our goal is for the majority of the Lumia phones running Windows Phone 8 and 8.1 to join the Windows ecosystem

It would be hard to make a statement like this without including the Lumia 520, it is probably still the most popular phone.

 

[Mortenvs]

I really really hope that for the sake of the US market and the future of Windows on phones that MS will ditch those damn carrier restrictions you have over there. Its so unbelievable to even conceive that carriers have that much power, and that your politicians aren't seeing this a problem for competition.
So MS start making updates come directly from yourself and never make altered versions for carriers, please

 

[TechFreak1]

Agree. HHowever if that is what he was referring to he should have made it much clearer. Something like - MS will offer the upgrade to every single WP8 out there and will work with carriers to make it available to everyone. If your carrier does not offer it, you may opt in to our Insider program.

Unfortunately It is not as clear cut as some think. they wouldn't specifically mention carriers in case they upset their "partners" in distribution. After all carriers form a major part of a distribution network for MS, if MS had retail stores worldwide and the support capacity then it wouldn't be such a big issue.

Furthermore, the first point of contact for support is not the OEM but the carriers.. so when a update is rolled out staff need to be clued in so they can better assist customers. Unfortunately when it comes to windows phone most are pretty much clueless anyway... as majority only read from a on-screen manual.

Factor in the current mindset of US customers, that paying nothing upfront for a smartphone is the norm. Plus the current economic climate, people are less likely to pay a bulk amount upfront in order to get an unlocked device. Combined with how the US is structured legally (carriers not classed as dumb pipes which they in fact are) and the infrastructure (in terms of CDMA / GSM) this is why Carriers hold so much power over customers thus in turn OEMs.

 

[todd7900]

OMG, of course there might be phones that won't get all the features. With the advances in hardware it would be silly to limit capabilities to the lowest common denominator. The other case is the other OEMs, MS can't make them issue firmware updates so their phones will support the new OS. And Carriers, well ask anyone on Verizon and we know the answer to that. While I can't wait to try the Preview on my 920 I don't expect it to support all the features since I know it has 2 year old hardware.

 

[TheCudder]

I believe he's referring to hardware limitations, more so than carriers blocking updates. IE. "Hey, Cortana" only works on Lumia's with the supported processor, etc.

 

[rhapdog]

Not only "Hey Cortana" feature. Of course that won't carry to the 520. But there are other features of Windows 10 that no current WP on the market will get because of limitations. Possibly fingerprint scanner?

It was hinted at that the new flagship would have hardware and features no other Lumia has, so expect something.

Another feature of Windows 10 your 512MB devices (or any other current Lumia) won't get, "Holographic". There is a Holographic API built into Windows 10, but due to hardware limitations, you won't be able to take advantage of that feature.

Seriously, if the goal is for the "majority" of Windows Phone 8/8.1 devices to be upgraded to Windows 10, then that absolutely includes the Lumia 520, which is one of the older, most basic models. Why? It is the phone that is by far the most used Lumia in the market, period. They can't not include that phone and still say "majority". It just isn't possible.

With that said, it should be plainly obvious to anyone that what will be holding back the current devices that don't get the upgrade will be one of 2 things: Carrier refuses to do it, or it was a WP 7 device. That's pretty much it.

 

[Allen Rhodes]

I see nothing that suggests all 8 and 8.1 wont get 10... Its been said that all will, why all the doom and gloom Plus, if you bought an inferior phone, face it, it wont be updated much longer anyway. So, you will likely get a new OS that maxes out the hardware on your phone, killing battery life and overall useability(like crApple does). Is what it is, get a new phone.

 

[FinsUpDNC]

think dual core vs quad core......that is all

 

[viswanathansri]

I would like to differ with this point ... I would say that when Microsoft says "All modern WP will get WP10" , its says that all phones ( irrespective of RAM ) which run the next-gen Snapdragon processors will get WP10 ... That includes 435,532,530,535,630,635,638 all devices which run on Snapdragon 200/400 which are considered next-gen when compared to Snapdragon S4 found on 520/620/720 etc ... Even now , many WP8.1 features run only on next gen hardware specific devices ... For ex. Lumia 1020 didnt get the camera updates as 930/1520 got because its processor didnt support it even though 1020 had 2GB RAM ....
So finally it comes down to whether the processor can handle the OS rather than the RAM shortage .

 

[FinsUpDNC]

I would like to differ with this point ... I would say that when Microsoft says "All modern WP will get WP10" , its says that all phones ( irrespective of RAM ) which run the next-gen Snapdragon processors will get WP10 ... That includes 435,532,530,535,630,635,638 all devices which run on Snapdragon 200/400 which are considered next-gen when compared to Snapdragon S4 found on 520/620/720 etc ... Even now , many WP8.1 features run only on next gen hardware specific devices ... For ex. Lumia 1020 didnt get the camera updates as 930/1520 got because its processor didnt support it even though 1020 had 2GB RAM ....
So finally it comes down to whether the processor can handle the OS rather than the RAM shortage .

exactly, I just said it in a few less words right above

 

[viswanathansri]

exactly, I just said it in a few less words right above

Well said .. But some people need detailed explanation