Is windows phone 7 dead?

[FinancialP]

I just think Nokia and Microsoft aren't on the same page. Nokia is still pumping out a ton of WP7 devices that are cost effective and more profitable for Nokia. Meanwhile Microsoft has abandoned ship.

 

[WasteSomeTime]

Nokia doesn't have to produce affordable WP 7 devices because the old WP 7 are available now for a low price. I thought they would just produce low budget WP 8 phones like the lumia 620.
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[trwrt]

I thought I read somewhere that the Adreno 205 GPU that was in most WP7 phones isn't capable of supporting DirectX 11, or Direct3D feature level 9_3 or whatever it is that WP8 uses. So, right there is one way that the hardware is incapable of supporting it. That doesn't mean that MS couldn't have chosen a different baseline to include the WP7 devices, but as it stands I'm not sure it's correct to say that the Lumia 900 for example could run WP8 if MS would only supply it.

 

[WasteSomeTime]

There is still no point for Nokia to produce WP 7 devices. This may cause people to dislike MS even more, since " new " adopters of WP 7 will find out that they have been abandoned right from the start.
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[FinancialP]

There is still no point for Nokia to produce WP 7 devices. This may cause people to dislike MS even more, since " new " adopters of WP 7 will find out that they have been abandoned right from the start.
Sent from my SGH-i677 using Foroplex

There is a point. Its more profitable for Nokia, as the parts are drastically cheaper. If you read Nokia financials, you'll see that Nokia actually sells more WP7 devices than WP8.

 

[iggypop120]

yeah its dead. im no longer in love with my trophy. id like to get rid of it as soon as i can get an alternative no matter the OS

 

[tqlla3k]

WP7 is dead. Geniuses at MSFT ran all those huge promotions to get people to use the WP7.... then they abandoned those customers less than a year later. Literally their entire base was abandoned because keeping their WP7 userbase "wasnt an efficient use of resources"

Does MSFT think those users age going to come back to WP8, after they were abandoned halfway through their 2 year contract? The new apps dont even work with WP7, and when new apps are updated, old WP7 apps are removed. WP7 is DEAD. WP8 will sink fast without the WP7 base. Good job microsoft.

 

[a5cent]

Being dead would imply that WP7 is supported neither by Microsoft nor any of the manufacturers, that not a single WP7 app is ever again updated, that not a single new WP7 app is released, and that not a single new WP7 device is sold, none of which is true:

• WP7.8 isn't the best possible OS update people could have hoped for, but it is an update. Unfortunately, that update has caused some problems, but Microsoft is working on fixing it. That wouldn't happen if WP7 were dead.
• Nokia continues to release updates to their apps for WP7; not dead
• Just today, WPC published an article announcing a new app for WP7, the BBC iPlayer; WP7 gets new apps every day; not dead
• WP7 devices are still being sold all over the world; not dead

Even the statement that WP7 is dying is a tad overdramatic. If that is true, then WP8 is dying too, because every consumer product is headed towards the end of its shelf life! There is no switch that flips WP7 from "alive" to "dead". That transition is a long and drawn out process. That process has started, but we are still much closer to the beginning of that process than we are to its end.

The most dangerous bullet heading towards WP7 is a lower priced WP8 device. The Lumia 520 is likely to be that device, but it has yet to reach the market. That is much more important than the availability of OS updates, because most consumers aren't like the people on this forum. The masses care much more about cost than they do about the availability of updates.

 

[a5cent]

...WP7 phones isn't capable of supporting DirectX 11, or Direct3D feature level 9_3 or whatever it is that WP8 uses. So, right there is one way that the hardware is incapable of supporting it. That doesn't mean that MS couldn't have chosen a different baseline to include the WP7 devices, but as it stands I'm not sure it's correct to say that the Lumia 900 for example could run WP8 if MS would only supply it.

How do you think Apple supports older hardware three generations back? No difference for WP. The OS uses whatever hardware is available. WP8 certainly doesn't contain anything that couldn't run on WP7 hardware. Apps may require certain hardware capabilities, but that is handled via the app store, as those apps simply aren't offered to people with weaker devices.

 

[dba415]

It's pretty dead. The silver lining though is that there were never any apps to begin with for windows phone so it doesn't feel that much different. I'm surprised Twitter even updated their app for WP7.

 

[rdockrey]

I have had Android phones for a long time and just recently had the Galaxy S3. I never could get used to carrying it due to the size of the phone. My daughter broke her phone so I gave her the S3 and went looking for something else. I am with US Cellular and decided to try a Windows 7 phone and if I liked it I would get a Win 8 if or when US Cellular decided to carry it. I picked up a brand new HTC Pro 7 off of Ebay for a good price, update it to 7.8 using the disconnect trick, and couldn't be more happier with it. You are much more constrained with it then Android and it lacks some features but I am very, very happy with it and will move to a Win 8 phone when I can. I know I am late to the game with it but it does what I need it too and found the apps I wanted so life is good.

 

[a5cent]

I am very, very happy with it and will move to a Win 8 phone when I can. I know I am late to the game with it but it does what I need it too and found the apps I wanted so life is good.

Ultimately, that is the only argument that matters.

Those stating "WP7 is dead" are either drama queens or just mentally challenged.

 

[tqlla3k]

I thought I read somewhere that the Adreno 205 GPU that was in most WP7 phones isn't capable of supporting DirectX 11, or Direct3D feature level 9_3 or whatever it is that WP8 uses. So, right there is one way that the hardware is incapable of supporting it. That doesn't mean that MS couldn't have chosen a different baseline to include the WP7 devices, but as it stands I'm not sure it's correct to say that the Lumia 900 for example could run WP8 if MS would only supply it.

"To do the work to bring all of those elements to a platform that can't exploit them wasn't necessarily the most efficient use of resource."

There you have it. It could be done, but it didnt make sense for them to spend time or resources on supporting their user base. So they abandoned their user base AGAIN. The new apps are not even compatible with WP7.

The worst part is, due to the nature of their parallel development of WP7/WP8, they knew they were going to abandon WP7 users. They are run by idiots. They spend countless marketing dollars getting people to board the WP7 ship, a ship they knew would sink. After we swim to shore, do they think we want to get on another Microsoft boat? What was the point of that?

 

[tqlla3k]

Being dead would imply that WP7 is supported neither by Microsoft nor any of the manufacturers, that not a single WP7 app is ever again updated, that not a single new WP7 app is released, and that not a single new WP7 device is sold, none of which is true:

• WP7.8 isn't the best possible OS update people could have hoped for, but it is an update. Unfortunately, that update has caused some problems, but Microsoft is working on fixing it. That wouldn't happen if WP7 were dead.
• Nokia continues to release updates to their apps for WP7; not dead
• Just today, WPC published an article announcing a new app for WP7, the BBC iPlayer; WP7 gets new apps every day; not dead
• WP7 devices are still being sold all over the world; not dead

Even the statement that WP7 is dying is a tad overdramatic. If that is true, then WP8 is dying too, because every consumer product is headed towards the end of its shelf life! There is no switch that flips WP7 from "alive" to "dead". That transition is a long and drawn out process. That process has started, but we are still much closer to the beginning of that process than we are to its end.

The most dangerous bullet heading towards WP7 is a lower priced WP8 device. The Lumia 520 is likely to be that device, but it has yet to reach the market. That is much more important than the availability of OS updates, because most consumers aren't like the people on this forum. The masses care much more about cost than they do about the availability of updates.

1) You can get WP8 devices free with Contract. Sounds pretty low price to me.
2) WP 7.8 took an extremely long time, and all it added was the ability to resize tiles. They couldnt even do that without introducing a major bug.
3) The Data usage bug has been known for a month and MSFT is just now "considering a fix". They must have one intern working on WP7. s/he probably tests their own code.

The real killer of WP7, is the inability to use WP8 apps. There were already too few apps for WP7, do you think developers outside of MSFT are going to develop new apps for both WP7 and WP8?... have they been?

 

[a5cent]

1) You can get WP8 devices free with Contract. Sounds pretty low price to me.

1) The price of those "free" smartphones is just hidden in the carriers monthly service costs, making U.S. carriers the most expensive in the world. U.S. consumers are essentially just buying their smartphones on credit. Nothing is ever free.
2) Most people in the world buy their devices off contract. If you're assuming that most of the world's phone markets work as in western Europe or the U.S. you would be completely wrong.
3) I don't know about the U.S. , but in Europe pay-as-you-go plans are very popular. For consumers thinking about that approach, the unsubsidized upfront cost of a device is a major factor. That is precisely the reason the Lumia 800 has been the most successful Lumia smartphone to date.

WP7 remains successful, primarily due to its great price/performance ratio, and despite the apps issue.

2) WP 7.8 took an extremely long time, and all it added was the ability to resize tiles. They couldnt even do that without introducing a major bug.
3) The Data usage bug has been known for a month and MSFT is just now "considering a fix". They must have one intern working on WP7. s/he probably tests their own code.

Dead means "you get nothing". Clearly, WP7 owners are getting something, so clearly it is not dead. Whether you like what you are getting is an entirely different matter.

The real killer of WP7, is the inability to use WP8 apps. There were already too few apps for WP7, do you think developers outside of MSFT are going to develop new apps for both WP7 and WP8?... have they been?

Yes, they have been. An app targeted at WP7 can also run on WP8. Since WP7 devices outnumber WP8 devices, developers have a large incentive to stick with WP7 for the time being. It's about money. I can't say for sure, but that is very likely the approach the BBC took with their recently released iPlayer app, which runs on both.

I'm not saying every app will run on WP7, but many will, and that will continue for quite some time.

Calling WP7 dead is just a silly over dramatization. It may no longer appeal to enthusiasts, but that isn't the same thing as being "dead".

 

[FinancialP]

The masses care much more about cost than they do about the availability of updates.

I wish more people would understand this. This can stop a ton of the silly arguments around here.

Comment/Statement of the day.

 

[tqlla3k]

1) The price of those "free" smartphones is just hidden in the carriers monthly service costs, making U.S. carriers the most expensive in the world. U.S. consumers are essentially just buying their smartphones on credit. Nothing is ever free.
2) Most people in the world buy their devices off contract. If you're assuming that most of the world's phone markets work as in western Europe or the U.S. you would be completely wrong.
3) I don't know about the U.S. , but in Europe pay-as-you-go plans are very popular. For consumers thinking about that approach, the unsubsidized upfront cost of a device is a major factor. That is precisely the reason the Lumia 800 has been the most successful Lumia smartphone to date.

WP7 remains successful, primarily due to its great price/performance ratio, and despite the apps issue.

Dead means "you get nothing". Clearly, WP7 owners are getting something, so clearly it is not dead. Whether you like what you are getting is an entirely different matter.

Yes, they have been. An app targeted at WP7 can also run on WP8. Since WP7 devices outnumber WP8 devices, developers have a large incentive to stick with WP7 for the time being. It's about money. I can't say for sure, but that is very likely the approach the BBC took with their recently released iPlayer app, which runs on both.

I'm not saying every app will run on WP7, but many will, and that will continue for quite some time.

Calling WP7 dead is just a silly over dramatization. It may no longer be appeal to enthusiasts, but that isn't the same thing as being "dead".

WP 7.8 is a buggy update, thats 7 months late. Its like a new suit put on a dead mean. He is still dead, even though he is being buried in a new suit. Its been over a month, and they havent even fixed the buggy livetiles, which is costing users money.

new 3rd party WP7 apps? Where? Go to the homepage and scroll down. Outside of Nokia apps for Nokia phones, there are very few WP7 apps being developed. Even the Microsoft made "Datasense" a WP8 app and its carrier exclusive? WHY! Thats basic functionality of almost all smartphones(outside of Windows Phones).

WP7 is as dead as WebOS when the touchpad firesale happened.

 

[a5cent]

WP 7.8 is a buggy update, thats 7 months late.

Yes, buggy and late. The portico update also had a few bugs. Surely, many would agree that updates to WP8 are also late. So, is WP8 dead too? I think that makes it clear just how ridiculous your reasoning is. I'm not saying everything in WP7 land is fine and dandy. I'm only saying your complaints are entirely unrelated to WP7 being declared dead.

new 3rd party WP7 apps? Where? Go to the homepage and scroll down. Outside of Nokia apps for Nokia phones, there are very few WP7 apps being developed.

I looked at the latest ten apps that WPC wrote articles on (excluding Nokia's which improves WP7's standing further still). The majority of them also run on WP7:

Disqus 7.5
Ascendo Dictionaries 8
ConsoTracker 8
Official Twitter 7.5
How To Watch 7.5
Pro Shot 8
Web Apps 8
Audio Cloud 7.5
Vimeo 7.5
Photosynth 7.5

If WP7 were dead, none of the above would run or receive updates on WP7.

Even the Microsoft made "Datasense" a WP8 app and its carrier exclusive? WHY! Thats basic functionality of almost all smartphones(outside of Windows Phones). WP7 is as dead as WebOS when the touchpad firesale happened.

I agree that Datasense should be available to everyone. However, your argument that WP7 is dead because a WP8 feature is exclusive to Verizon is completely insane. At this point I'm convinced that you are completely baffled by the definition of the word "dead". You are confusing it with "something I don't like".

 

[Cleavitt76]

There is so much drama in this thread it's just silly. Windows 7.8 still works fine on my Lumia 900 and I'm still finding new apps.

I think part of the problem is that many people bought a cutting edge WP7 device right before WP8 was announced. For example, my Lumia 900 that I bought in April 2012. It's really not Microsoft's fault that Nokia was releasing a "flagship" phone a couple months before MS was going to announce WP8. Nokia knew that WP8 was coming and they would have known that WP8 was not going to be supported on the previous generation hardware. Was MS supposed to send out a press release (prior to their WP8 announcement) warning everyone not to buy Nokia's Lumia 900? It's really not even Nokia's fault as they released the Lumia 800 a full year before WP8 was released and it just wasn't picked up by any of the US carriers. Instead we had to wait 6 more months for AT&Ts customized Lumia 900 to be released which by then was only 6 months prior to WP8 (and WP7 was two years old at that point). To some extent Apple doesn't have this problem because they control the hardware, but Apple is also so secretive that people still get stuck buying a new iPhone X weeks before the iPhone X+1 is released. Android is well known for releasing updates that won't run on 6 month old hardware. MS kept WP7 going for two years and they are still maintaining it (7.8 is only a few weeks old). It's not their fault that manufacturers and carriers were just starting to build serious phones after two years.

Also, there seems to be a serious logic problem here. Apple does the same thing with every release of iOS. iOS 6 is only fully supported on the iPhone 5. You can upgrade the iPhone 4S to "iOS 6", but it won't support all of the features. The iPhone 4 is missing even more features. How is this any different than WP7.8? WP7.8 is an update that can be installed on previous generation hardware and contains some of the functionality of WP8. Would it make people feel better if MS had named it WP8 and had a footnote explaining that some functionality of WP8 is only supported on new generation phones? The end result is the same. They only difference is how each company arbitrarily versions their OS.

Anyone buying a WP7 device today is buying it for the same reason that people buy an iPhone 4S or previous generation Android today. It's cheaper.

Finally, I personally give MS a little slack on this one considering that WP7 is version 1.x of the WP platform so some breaking changes are to be expected early on. Having said that, even my Lumia 900 is going on a year old now. A year old is like 50 years old in smart phone years. I don't expect my smart phone to be cutting edge at this point. In another year (or less) it will be in a recycle bin somewhere. This is the reality of mobile computing and I don't really think MS has handled this any better or worse than the competition.

 

[tqlla3k]

I said new apps. Not old apps with updates
That leave you with Disquss and How to watch. NotifyMe is WP8 to start, don't hold your breath on WP7. Photosynth is a 1st party.

The Datasense thing doesn't even make sense. Everyone should a way to monitor their Data. People have to pay for Data, people have to watch their data. The fact that its WP8, and carrier locked is ridiculous. My point being, MSFT isn't looking out for their customers needs. They just put out a 7.8 bug that eats data...... too bad you cant monitor your data usage with WP7(unless you have a nokia).