Windows 10 Mobile is still an opt-in upgrade for eligible Windows Phone 8.1 devices. But it's time for Microsoft to change that.
In March of 2016, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 Mobile would finally be coming to select Windows Phone 8.1 devices. That was great news, because it meant developers could finally start building their Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps for phones and there would be less need to cater to the older Windows Phone 8.1 app module. Unfortunately, Microsoft decided to make the Windows 10 Mobile update "opt-in" via an app that you have to download in the Store, meaning the vast majority of people still using Windows Phone 8.1 didn't actually get the update.
Most Windows Phone 8.1 users didn't go out and get that update because most people using Windows Phone don't really care, and they likely didn't even know Windows 10 Mobile was available in the first place. Microsoft did no advertising to inform users that they could opt-in to download Windows 10 Mobile, and the Windows Phone 8.1 Store itself didn't even promote the app to the front page. The only way you would have even known about the availability of the update was is if you were a fan who was paying attention.
What this means is that few Windows Phone 8.1 users actually upgraded to Windows 10 Mobile, which as a result meant developers felt no reason to switch to UWP. That's why we still see several Windows Phone 8.1 apps continue to be updated on Windows 10 Mobile even to this day. What's worse, an entire year has passed since Windows 10 Mobile became available, and that's an entire year that many users have still been using Windows Phone 8.1, because they don't know that a Windows 10 Mobile upgrade is waiting for them.
Onus is on Microsoft to push Windows 10 Mobile update
At first, I assumed Microsoft made Windows 10 Mobile an opt-in upgrade because there were still several issues and bugs that needed to be ironed out. In that case, making the upgrade opt-in was a smart idea as a temporary measure. But I wasn't expecting the update to still be an opt-in experience an entire year later. Microsoft is about to release the second big-ish update to Windows 10 Mobile, that as I wrote about recently makes the platform feel the best it ever has. Now is the perfect time to open the floodgates and begin pushing Windows 10 Mobile as normal via Windows Update.
The Windows 10 Mobile Creators Update runs surprisingly well on older devices
Microsoft can't rely on users to install the update themselves, so it should just roll it out like any other normal Windows Phone 8.1 update. That's what Microsoft's own Upgrade Advisor app does anyway. You just have to manually press a button for it to do so. It's time for Microsoft to remove that step, and have the phone automatically pick up Windows 10 Mobile, to get the remaining Windows Phone 8.1 users away from the three-year-old platform.
Another good reason to start pushing Windows 10 Mobile now is that Windows Phone 8.1's support timeframe expires this summer, meaning the majority of Windows Phone users left will soon be running an OS that's no longer supported by Microsoft. The time is now to start pushing Windows 10 Mobile, with the Creators Update.
Here in London, I often see Windows Phones all over the place. I see Lumia 640s, 930s, even the 735, and on the rare occasion a 950 and 550. However, you know what's wrong with the Lumia 640s and 930s that I see on the street? They're still running Windows Phone 8.1, not Windows 10 Mobile, an update that has been ready for them for more than a year. I know Microsoft isn't really focused on the Mobile OS right now, but it should at least help developers by getting the last few people off of Windows Phone 8.1 and onto Windows 10 Mobile.
What do you think? Is the Windows 10 Mobile Creators Update a good place for Microsoft to begin pushing Windows 10 Mobile as an OTA update to the remaining and eligible Windows Phone 8.1 users?
Reader comments
It's time for Microsoft to push Windows 10 Mobile to 8.1 devices
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Agreed
Upgraded my friends Lumia 535 to Windows 10 mobile and he seems to be enjoying it. I had to force it though with the upgrade advisor app cause he didn't no there was an update available.
plz add nokia lumia 1020 for win10 update
Please add nokia lumia 1020 for windows10
If my Samsung ATIV S cannot be upgraded to Windows 10 then I shall hang on to 8.1 until the phone's demise. At that time I will think hard before sticking with Windows for the replacement.
That's exactly the problem. Microsoft is obviously NOT focused. And does not care about it's users. I have a Lumia 920, great phone, but sadly Win 10 was not available for it. Many thousands of people are leaving Microsoft for Android. Microsoft's App Store is the worst piece of crap a user could ever use, No good apps of any kind whatsoever. Can we really blame anyone for ditching a company who clearly has crapped on it's users?
Recently had the time to upgrade my mom's AT&T Lumia 640XL...it was a grand disaster. All her text messages disappeared, contacts luckily were synced with her Microsoft account, and I'm guessing her photos only survived because they existed on the SD card. A sleuth of many other issues cropped up, but that was the worst. Spent two days trying to restore her phone to normal operation. Once setup, she admitted the update was an improvement, but there is no way I could expect a "casual" tech user to upgrade their Windows phone and be able to handle the wildly random issues that can come up.
My Nokia Lumia 1020 is not supported?
EXACTLY! I have a Lumia 1020, and no it is NOT SUPPORTED so what is the point to advocate MS push W10 to WP8.1? When/if/ever MS supports at very least all the older high end WP8.1 (such as Lumia 1020) for W10 upgrade, some confidence in MS respect for its phone/mobile users might just begin to be restored. I can't see that happening - Zac Bowden is just in denial about MS betrayal of its WP users.
It is the biggest and the worst betrayal of their users on widowsphones, we was promised UPDATES upon purchase of their phones!!!!!
HERE MAPS MISSING ON WINDOWS 10
Precisely. Offline mapping and offline GPS available for free on 8.1; paid for mapping and GPS available on 10. Much like Microsoft, it's a no-brainer.
Maps(app) is free and works offline. I use it every day(lumia 640). For me here maps and here drive was better because of other language support, but they are not available for WP10
I also dearly miss traffic being overlayed while driving directions were active. But otherwise Maps pretty much covers Here pretty well.
i have lumia 1320.... can it be consider for update now.....??????
So many comments! We are all waiting for this change!)
I would love to upgrade my phone to W10. I had it for awhile but had to downgrade to 8.1 because W10 was working terribly!
Will this update be available for the Lumia 925???
Another thing. What should I say to my mom and friends that I convinced to buy Lumia phones but now they won't get any support" (as if there is any now)??? Just sorry?!?!
I have a 1020. I didn't want to bork that phone's most unique feature (the camera) by upgrading.
So I got a 950 after the price drop :-)
Windows Mobile is like being on the Titanic, do I stay and hope things get better or jump ship?
They did it this way because they knew windows 10 mobile is a total wreck. LOL, even MS does not trust this mobile OS to be good enough :))) how pathetic.
I want to upgrade windows 10 on my lumia 1020
Please help how to upgrade Nokia Lumia 1020 with windows 10 creators update, thanks
http://forums.windowscentral.com/windows-10-mobile-how-guides/436253-%5Bguide%5D-installing-redstone-unsupported-devices-x2x-series.html
I upgraded.
Windows 10 is slow.
Lumia 730
Frissítettem.
A Windows 10 lassú.
Lumia 730
I only agree if Win10m update is available for some other elgibile WP8 devices, like Samsung ATIV S.
Still nowhere to be found for T-Mobile's Lumia 640, right?
I wonder this same thing. Just because W10 works on the L640, doesn't mean every carrier's version got the update. So, in Zac's recommendation, would these systems get the update or not? The only reason mine got it is because of the Insider release.
I'm not sure it is a good idea at this point. I had 520's, 720's, 920's, 1020's, and 1520's upgraded to Win 10 over the course of the preview program. The only one I found really acceptable was the 1520. The other's certainly ran it, but had enough issues that they would have been unfairly criticized and tarnished Windows 10. I don't expect most 8.1 device would be much better today. Certainly not the low end ones that make up the bulk of Win 8.1 share. I think it would just result in a lot of dissapointed folks, and support issues. Don't forget too, a good number of these things still have carrier branding, and those guys aren't keen on getting support calls on devices they abandoned two years ago. This could blow up in MSs face.
Since creators update it's pretty doable to run w10m on 920 and 1020.
They meant that phones that could actually get the update through the update advisor app should be getting the update rolled to them OTA. With those phones, performance was acceptable and now has improved. When all those phones update then Microsoft and over developers can go all in on UWP (Yup developers still make new windows phone 8 apps today for this very reason).
I have Lumia 950XL on OS build 10.0.15063.0, still as my secondary phone. I've restarted it several times, always only to find that most of the applications I use doesn't work. My Edge doesn't work, it crashes after few opened pages, curently Phone doesn't show missed calls on the live tile and on the locked screen, not to mention many other issues. Besides that, I hate rounded People's pictures from very beginning. On live tiles they look really pathetic with all that empty space around and friends with missing face parts, but somebody wasn't able to find another, smart way to be creative. So, my primary phone still is Lumia 1520 with Windows Mobile 8.1 and it's going remain that way as long as possible. Anyhow, it's never going to have Continuum and in all other apects it's much better and much more useful then my 950XL which was meant to replace it more then a year ago.
What about tablets with RT? I own Nokia 2520 and I want W10 also there lol
What about tablets with RT? I own Nokia 2520 and I want W10 also there lol
What about tablets with RT? I own Nokia 2520 and I want W10 also there lol
Yeah, I have an asus vivotab RT that would benifit from running windows 10!
I'll second that. It is of course an ARM device so it could benefit from the 'phone' update, but it isn't a phone. I would love to see it offered the Windows on ARM option, which would actually make it better than ever.
As for this, I gave it up for my Surface RT device, since this one only is a 32GB version, and with only 2GB ram, the performance is too unsatisfying.
Used win 10 lumia 930 for a year. Most anoying is edge, wikipedia and a lot of other sites completely suck with win10. Even MS sites show with to big or to small characters. Conclusion… win 10 is not ready for older devices and it probebly never will be.
I think the 930 is bascially the same devices as my Lumia Icon. From that experience, I can say that the Icon is much better off with Windows 10 than it was with 8.1. Edge, which for good or bad follows Chrome's rendering model, renders pages more reliably than the IE, whichk is included with and cripples Windows Phone 8.1.
With no new hardware in sight I suspect that many who owned Windows Phone 8 devices already have gone to android or iOS at this point. So I see no point to push a forced upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile. In mobile in general Microsoft have lost the war. I think they had a chance for some years ago when the marketshare in Europe was high in some countries. Then Nadella shut down that was left of the old Nokia. I think it was a huge mistake, they could atleast release a few Microsoft smartphones now and then to keep up the interest for the platform.
The Windows Phone 8.1 fans who most likely would know about the availability of the Windows 10 Mobile update would be the ones who own either Nokia Lumia 1020 or Nokia Lumia 930 or Nokia Lumia 1520. Of the three Nokia Lumia smartphones mentioned above, a fan who was really paying attention on both the smartphone and the mobile OS market, most likely would have chosen the Nokia Lumia 1020, which due to its outdated chipset was the only one of the three Lumia devices mentioned above which didn't support the Windows 10 Mobile update. Well done Microsoft.
Yup.. I agree but windows 8.1 is also fine....
Despite the unselfish assistance of Russian hackers in the elections Russian Cortana did not appear so 8.1 has no any voice dial and all that staff 🙂
Yes and no. I knew about the upgrade through the Insider Program but I did not want to upgrade because I knew that would not be the official release. Plus I had a Lumia 635 512 MB version. So I went to Android.
I installed it out of curiousity years later, via the Insider Program. Works well. Might lag a few seconds here and there, but I expected this; Windows 10 Mobile has higher hardware requirements. Found a refurbished 650 on Cricket and purchased it. Works even better.
Now I understand why the official release was never pushed to 512 MB devices. Yes, it works. No, it does not work well. Only advantage to upgrading on Windows (as opposed to rooting on Android and forcing an upgrade) on old devices is that you have the ability to use the SD card to run like 99% apps out there, whereas on Android you can only run like every other app off of the SD card. W 10 M is just too experimental, too buggy, for an official rollout on old hardware. It needs newer hardware, and even then it doesn't run well. On old devices you'll end up with newer apps that require half as much RAM as you have to spare and you'll see resuming a lot. Facebook Messenger, for example, is like 220 MB.
The best way to get people to upgrade is to offer insane discounts on new hardware, like what I ended up with, and aggerssively push those discounts through prepaid carriers, like Microsoft used to do with the old Nokia phones. There are entirely too many performance complaints, by those that aren't technically inclined, with Windows Phone to support doing this, which is why Microsoft did what they did. Which I can respect, but they should not have led us on the way that they did, which was just poor customer service and send out the wrong message to consumers with budget devices. I still don't like that transition transpired, years later, even though I don't ever see myself returning to Android and I definitely am never going to return to Apple.
We are so tired to wait more!!!
It seems time they fire Nadella.
Maybe Microsoft know better when it is time to push for Windows 10?
Microsoft is a big company with several developes working on Android or iOS sulutions. I may be that the sum of all those persons know better when the time is right, than a writer for a fan-magazine?
Just asking.
Saddam Hussein and his team of poiticians and army also lead a whole country. Maybe he knew politics better than the people who criticized him?
Just asking.
You nailed it...
I have W10 on my 930 and 8.1 on my 925.
I still think 8.1 is a far better OS than 10, far smoother, Cortana works and the OS is beautiful on the eye.
10 by comparison is agricultural, clunky and boring.
Only advantage I can see to 8.1 over 10 on my Lumia Icon (basically the Verizon version of the 930) is that the swipe keyboard is not as smart as it was in 8.1. Other than that, at least for me, pretty much everything else is better with Windows 10 than it was with 8.1.
The whole point of Windows Phone was its consistent design and smoothness. Windows 10 Mobile has neither of those, making Android a far better phone OS in comparison.
I disagree with that, but I accept that different users will have different opinions on optimal UI. There are a couple of negatives for me with Windows 10 UI compared with 8.1 or 7. 1) I find the accuracy of the SwiftKey swiping keyboard to not be as good, and 2) E-mails don't always open to the proper zoom level, which they did even back in Windows Phone 7. But in terms of overall UI and consistency, in spite of of those negatives, I'd say that Windows 10 Mobile is significantly better overall than Windows Phone 8.1. Support for dark mode, properly working Live Tiles, access to common controls, similarity to Windows 10 on PC, smoother multi-tasking (except for Edge refreshing on certain sites when leaving and returning -- that's a bug I still have, but I've not tried the Creator's Update on mobile yet), better integrating messaging and alarms, etc.
I would love to install Windows 10 mobile on my old HTC M8 Windows phone. I believe it would run well and that phone is a terrific windows phone. There was a time when Microsoft bombarded computer users with the Internet Explorer web browser in a effort to capture some market share. It's time for Microsoft to do the same with it's mobile OS. Get it out to as many people who want to try Windows Mobile. At this point it can't hurt.
Push windows 10 to my Phone,
I think i'ts suck's because I buy the 640 LTE 8.1 only for the great navi systeem Drive Here+. It is no longer working under Windows 10 mobile. This Navi systeem hase solt by Microsoft to BMW auto group, and the last windows phone ware it works on "for live use" was the Lumia 640 LTE. So Microsoft rob me on this :( Can I sue them for this?
Microsoft never owned Here. Here was sold by Nokia to the auto consortium. And you can use the maps app that has the same offline functionality.
Guys I upgraded my lumia 640 to build 15063 last night and I must say that it is snappier than before. I think microsoft should now make windows 10 mobile update directly available to all devices. There isn't any noticable difference in windows phone 8.1 and windows 10 mobile! It might run acceptably well on ineligible devices too.
Call me when backing out of an SMS conversation on W10M has any animation. Yes, we stay with WP8.1 exactly because of that stuff.
Force the W10M crap on my phone and you'd be looking at the business end of a hissy fit!
Rrr
So I assume windows 10 supports the Lumia 920 then.
I am running W10 Mobile on my Lumia 640 via the Insiders Program, Fast Ring. Runs ok, a little slower than 8.1 lately with the recent update. Yes. Here Maps is gone but there are alternatives. Being a Windows Phone user, we know all about finding alternative apps to fill the gaps, right?
Just go to the store with your win8.1 phone and install an app called Upgrade Advisor . Then run the app and it will tell you if your phone is upgradeable , most Lumia are , and if it is , help you to upgrade it . Simple ...
When I bought my Lumia 640 last year , first thing I did was to upgrade it from 8 1 to windows 10 mobile and I don't regret it . But perhaps the average Jo don't care
Oh nice, there is an app for that, but where is it? You see, you are making the same mistake as Microsoft. Saying that they should have promoted it, and then you don't even link it (if it's alive) or say at least that the app is not longer available.
The app is called Upgrade Advisor and it is available , I checked
This is a repeated article! Why?!
Huh?
Hi,
I have a Lumia 950 and have the odd problem with Windows 10 on it, but nothing that would want me to change to either iOS or Android. I started with an iPaq pocket computer with phone built-in, then the Lumia 800, the Lumia 925 and as mentioned the Lumia 950. Microsoft just dumped me after purchasing each phone, by creating new opetating systems and just ignoring people who spend good money on phones Microsoft could not be bothered to support. From getting the Lumia 925 which Microsoft classed as a flagship model, they told us we could have Windows 10 for free. They then listed a number of phones, which the 925 was not included in, so they also dumped flagship users again. To me people who purchase the top of the range models should not be left in limbo and Microsoft need to look very carefully at the people they are treating like rubbish. I still use my 925 and would like Windows 10 on it, but I cannot see this happening, because of the bad managment of the Microsoft Phone section. If they cannot support the phones, then they should provided us a minimum of 50% of the purchase cost back towards another windows phone.
I want Windows 10 on my older phone and would install it either way, but think auto updating would be best for most, as they do not read some of these posts.
Thanks,
Ian
To be fair, the L925 did get W10M TH2.
And you can still hack W10M RS2 on it.
Need to get my 900 to run wm10 now.
900 ran windows 7. that phone really is SOL to even sideload 10.
At least L900 with WP7.8 is still faster than a L920 with W10M RS2. Heh. IE9 is mostly unsupported in everything nowadays though.
There is no way the 900 can get windows 10. it does not run windows 8....
I've installed it on a Lumia 535 and the experience is smooth. It freed up some space following the upgrade and works well with an external microSD. It asks what you want your default save location to be when it detects a new microSD. The built in file manager is much better than what was available on 8.1. Not ideal for gaming on a low spec phone. My 950 is more suitable for those scenarios.
Agree , games are bit lagging on my 640/W10M , rest ok
I upgraded my sisters Lumia 635 1GB to W10m and she called it a new phone because of the UI changes and Edge improvements
"all my friends have been making fun of me, now that I have this, they will make fun of me slightly less"
Finally!:) I was already losing hope!
Reading all of your comments I had to go through the drawer to find my Lumia 620. It's working great on 8.1. Love it! Very compact. Since the live tiles can be resized the small screen is not an problem.
Not only eligible phones should get it, they should push it to all Windows 8/8.1 phones(HTC 8X,8XT, and Samsung Ativ s neo) so all remaining windows fans can experience the Windows 10 mobile.
And the experience is gonna be really bad on these phones with dated CPUs
Those people are not fans. They don't even know about windows 10. You can technically get it on any of those phones if you are a fan and read up on it.
Yes, sure! Please, Nokia Lumia 1020 the first.
Hack it yourself.
Agree, I still have an ATIV S, works fine on 8.1.2 but it would be better if it could run 10!
XDA. Look it up
I want windows 10 on my windowsphone, Samsung ATIV S that is still better than most of the Windows phone out there, I have 8.1.2 and it runs faster and better that any of the windows 10 phones i have.
W10M is a great os. But I think that ms keeps it like an optional upgrade like W10 itself was
So you want to kill the remainder 0% of users...
Should they? Of course. Can they? Nope.
My wife and I both have 640's on TMobile. I am on the insider preview, and have been since 10166 with this phone. WiFi calling does not work with this phone and Windows 10. Better to let the phone slip out of support and get a new one rather than try to fix a 20 month issue.
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wintp-insider_...
Didn't 640 get official W10M RS1 on all networks anyway?
To be honest if MS pushed W10M to all wp8.1 devices, when these owners wake up the next day it'll be like they bought a new phone without spending any $$. With more functionality and ability to do more from Facebook to Calender to skype to Cortana to home screen improvements. Entirely new device!!!
What I miss is the Quiet Hours integration that Calender had on WP8.1. I loved that I could set a meeting reminder in the Calender app with time and place and when that time came around the phone automatically turned on quiet hrs for the duration of the time set in the meeting reminder. That I would love to see return.
I miss... YouTube video downloads on Uc browser.... !!
"Microsoft did no advertising to inform users "
The key quote. You can stop there. That is the story of Windows 10 Mobile and Windowsphone.
Microsoft wasn't , isn't and won't focus on "mobile" . As they mean it without clarifying it, mobile for them is not creating their platfrom and writting history on it, but expressing their ideas on other platforms, period. The only reason of existence of "windows mobile" is not loosing the ARM wagon. They mentioned it, everything else is philology for sites like this. Actually they killed windows mobile due to low usage BUT they don't kill their apps on android or other platforms which their usage is pointless. This drives us to a conclusion that there is an untold agreement between them (Google, MS, Apple). Google Apple takes the consumer part of pie, and MS with others the "pro" / enterprise part. That's how explained the atrocity on everything "mobile" or consumer Microsoft produced before this Indian hater undertook . What a dramatic antithesis: The most talented developers in the hands of the most untalented CEΟ...
Your comment is based on assumptions, not a single fact exist in it.
MS is a software company, they makes apps for all platforms. There is no untold agreement, pure and simple.
Don't make stories...
Yep...when you have a cost cutting obsessed CEO, that seems to preffer laying off experienced people and use insiders as guinea pigs for testing.. you get...windows 10 mobile
They should push it as OTA, like iOS and Android are doin' it for years.. :D
I totally support this and in fact I shared your article at twitter and mentioned microsoft and donasarkar.
MS pushed Windows 10 to hundreds of millions of peoples desktops. What is 2-3 million Windows Phones?
There is one important reason for me NOT to switch to Windows 10:
Navigation App "HERE Drive+" does not exist in Windows 10.
Windows 10 replacement App "Maps" doesn't reach the perfect functionality of HERE Drive+.
It better in places and worse in others. Still fine overall though.
As much as I hate MS and their mediocre windows 10 mobile OS, the Maps app is ok. Checked the maps last year when I went on holiday and on some parts, it had updated data compared to Copilot. So, if only the Maps app keep you away, and you are fine with the rest of the OS, you can update to it.
They could make it opt-out, but compulsory might be bad publicity maybe. They should also totally release it to Lumia 1020 as it works just fine on those.
When will MSFT CEO's FINALLY realise that MOBILE in phones is REAL interest (money). Every day, every sec in your hands. Mobile conn. Mobile wallet. Mobile world. Not Nadella's mobile, but REAL mobile today. (p.s. Crying to see Nokia brand on android. Such a shame.)
my lumia 930 winth 8.1 still have the best feeling touch keyboard than any phone since and ive used the iphone 7 plus iphone 6 and the s7 edger, the keyboards on them dont even come close when using them.
A L930 on WP8.1 today is just wasting away ... At least update when RS2 officially launches.
Don't update to this pathetic win10mo. Use your 930 as long as you can on WP8.1. It flies on that OS, cortana is far much better, the OS is fast and with way less bugs.
If you (anyone) can read, they can put Windows 10 onto any Windows 8+ device. Guides all over the Internet folks. Just Google away and POOF! Windows 10 easily added to your old phone.
Right. The point is that most people won't bother, which keeps Windows Phone 8.1 alive, which means UWP is less attractive to developers who are considering making or support a Windows Phone app, which in turn further hurts Windows Phone.
Long time HTC 8X user. Bought the Lumia 730. Tried a few months. Back to 8X. Win10 is good for PC, but WP8.1 still more useful for me on phone. It is a PHONE anyway.
no microsoft should not push anything to users. they did force dektop users on 7 and 8 to 10 and people didn't like it, they forced people to use edge by trying to push them into that direction and still i cant open new tabs to my default page of choise or even my home page. Forceing windows mobile 8.1 users to use windows 10 will only produce more backlash not only from thoise users but also the world press. Microsft need to stop the backlash not create more. Dont get me wrong, windows 10 mobile offeres more than it took from 8.1 and makes it for me the go to os oin mobile and desktop. Yeh i still have a big rod in my bum because my phone nolonger turns to speakerphone automaticly when i place it on a table during a call and with 8.1 gestures beta still works there. Gestures never worked in windows 10 even though it claims too on the app store. And yeh i miss my photo album from facebook intergrated in to my phones photo gallery. I also miss the abundace of pivoting that hamburger has taken from us. But windows 10 is still in my opinion better than my s7 edge phone. Still without apps like paypal, myfitnesspal and google apps i wouldnt go back to a windows phone just yet. I certainly as microsft would try and do everything to stop the windows negativity and forceing users on 10 needs to stop now.
before you all slag me off :)) i thing desktop windows 10 is the best os i have ever used exept for edge new tab issue. I also think 8.1 mobile is the best mobile os i have ever used. windows mobile 10 in second place but not a close second more a distant far second cause of all the features and apps still missing which i have in 2015 with 8.1.
I love my Lumia925 and I will be very glad if I can upgrade it to Win10
You can. But it's tricky.
They have given up...just won't admit it.
I'm on Win 10 on 1020 - great, no issues at all. I wish MS would release firmware so the OS can take advantage of the camera to its full capabilities as its still a monster compared to others today. Will creaters update run on a 1020? if they have made it more efficient then I see no reason why it wouldn't run even better than it is now. Come on MS open the gates, its not as if there are a lot of phones to choose from.
It does.
My Lumia 640 from tmobile is still on 8.1
Install Insider then?
Lol we didn't update because 10 mobile sucks compared to 8.1 not because we didn't know.
Nicely written, agreed
I'm using Lumia 630 /w 512 MB RAM and Creators Update just flies. I'm even using Continuum which flies, too.
Dude, how? I can't select any Insider ring on my L635 on W10M RS1, the Insider ring prompt doesn't scale properly and I can't scroll to select the necessary ring, lol.
How to install it ? Give full procedure
Couldn't get it on my Lumia 920, not even with the upgrade advisor. So i got the 950.
Personally I still using 8.1 only because the Here Maps for the offline GPS.
You can download offline maps for Microsoft maps now too and the maps are still licensed here maps under the hood
I agree to.
In the past I did recommend this platform to friends, not ver tech savy, just USERS. They are happy campers with 830 and 1520 with 8.1. They have some apps installed, that are no longer available in the store ( cause author of apps didn't care to declare, what age apps are suitable for... ) so while upgrading, they'd loose some apps they use. Besides, upgrade is not like 123, more like pain in the...., taking long, moving old data, rebooting etc... It's not something, every user is bold enough to do,, particularly if this is your only and daily driver you depend much on... I have 920, 830, 1520 and 950 to play and whenever I decide to upgrade my go to/ daily driver, it is not an easy choice. Much effort is put into customizing phone, settings, apps etc... And not everything is transferred while upgrading.
Yes you're right. It is not easy to upgrade your daily driver, but you can back up your settings before the upgrade.
Restoring backups from 8. to 10 will be worse! Stop using that backup restore functionality that caused only problems. You are either blind or simply ignorant..
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Just tweeted Microsoft and Windows this article, maybe we will get a response. 😜😉
Believe me, Microsoft and windows are in windows central
I fear that Microsoft, once they decide to roll out Windows 10 to all phones, will no longer offer 8.1 as a downgrade option.
This is the reason for why I loathe iOS so much. If Microsoft goes the same way then Windows Mobile will be one more mobile platform for me to avoid.
Why? With RS2, W10M has finally matured enough to be an overall improvement from WP8.1.1. Not a perfect improved, but a sufficiently good enough one.
I've always been of the opinion that its a very poor marketing team at Microsoft. Just and just Marketing could have taken MS mobile to a new level. MS miserably failed in Marketing. I think they have become too tech savvy forgetting that the core user may not come from internet.. Phone from MS even the 950xl and all have VOLTE capability but they deliberately keep it shut, closing market access to many, closing operator billing, closing FM radio app altogether.. I don't know how they operate.? they act as if they wish to kill themselves..
Marketing only gets you so far. At a certain point you need a good product. At this point, it quite obvious Microsoft just doesn't have a good product.
I am on latest version of Fast ring 15063 on my Lumia 730. But as I use WDRT very often, I have noticed while switching between Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 10 Mobile is that things don't change much as many Windows Phone apps like 6tag, mytube get work done and also WP8.1 is more stable than Windows 10 Mobile. So it doesn't matter for me if I use Windows Phone 8.1 or Windows 10 Mobile.
Isnt that a beauty, Lumia 730 ? 🙂 I have its cousin, the Lumia 735 and it flies with Win 10 and LTE
Yes Microsoft should be pushing Windows 10 Mobile to all the loyal Lumia user as my 920 is still waiting for it to enjoy all the features I am reading about all this while. Please give us the update so I can pass it to my wife who is using Nokia OS and I can buy the latest Microsoft or HP Windows Phone or the upcoming Surface Phone
I have to firmly disagree with you, Zac.
While I can see your argument, I don’t believe Microsoft should pursue a forced upgrade strategy to increase the number of Windows 10 Mobile users. Remember the debacle with the Windows 10 upgrade notifications and sneaky updates on Windows 7 & 8.1 PCs? It wasn’t Microsoft’s smartest move despite their well-meaning intentions. Surely Microsoft doesn’t want to make the same mistake twice?
And let’s not forget there are Windows Phone 8.1 users, such as myself, who are quite happy to stay be it for legitimate performance and stability reasons; certain WP8.1 features cut in W10M; familiarity and comfort; or some may simply not care for W10M.
At the core of the issue here is choice. It must not be taken away from the individual. We must be respected.
I think Microsoft can approach W10M adoption in multiple ways:
1). Stay the course with their opt-in strategy. Perhaps promote via email or notification that a user’s device is eligible for W10M and then provide steps on how to upgrade.
2). Switch to an opt-out strategy. In this instance Microsoft pushes out the W10M update for eligible WP8.1 devices followed by a notification offering two choices: continue upgrading to W10M or remain on WP8.1.
3). Expand the narrow hardware requirements to include 512MB devices and 1-2GB x2x devices with older SoCs. The caveat is that these devices must be hard reset and from there upgraded to W10M. For example, my old 520 and 720 performed horrendously slow on W10M because I migrated over all the settings, apps and other cruft. However, when I performed a hard reset and upgraded to W10M without restoring from a backup, these devices performed reasonably well.
Bottom line: no one should be forced or pestered to upgrade. I think that would be a bad move by Microsoft. Choice should not be taken away. We may be a comparatively small community of users but these kinds of actions are acutely felt.
In my humble opinion, using WP8.1 is like living in the past. How can you allow yourself to miss out on all the good stuff offered on W10M.
IMO W10M is very stable and equally very useable, like your devices that were upgraded and reset.
Don't be carried away by reviews. Most reviewers are either on the fast or slow ring, which is not the official. Those fast or slow rings are susceptible to bugs.
This is a good idea. Sadly Microsoft won't listen.
I hope they listen to this article and start rolling
i have lumia 640 and lumia 650. luia 640 still has 8.1u2 because i like hear maps and it is good for gps. it works better as a gps then maps in windows 10 mobile does for me. i like the voice choices too. windwos 10 mobile don't have any i don't think. the hear maps is easier to see as a gps then mocrosoft maps too really. i don't think everything should be forced to get it if they don't want it but should have made it easier to get without app.
But no traffic cameras-love that feature.
I see alot of business still running XP, Windows 7 and such. So out dated stuff doesn't seem to bug most users.
Windows XP is a real star, even though MS (stupidly) ended support. They should in fact relaunch it after sorting out the minor bugs it suffers from. Hands down the best OS ever made, across all companies.
Smartly*
Or, how about let people run whatever the F they want to run? Pushing Windows 10 to PCs was a disaster. Don't anger the last few remaining Windows Phone users.
I would have LOVED to get Windows 10 upgrade. Sadly I get message from upgrade advisor. YOUR PHONE IS NOT SUPPORTED FOR THE UPGRADE TO WINDOWS 10. Smh...I have HTC 8X WINDOWS PHONE. Due to the fact I am with BIG RED. I am at the point of desperation and going to get only windows phone offered LUMIA 735. I want to wait to see if Microsoft will open the flood gates. It is just I now have WINDOWS 10 PC and I want Windows 10 Phone. I have to tell you rumors are making me gun shy. I am going to wait just a LITTLE longer to see what happens. HTC, VERIZON, MICROSOFT are on the clock....
If I was at Microsoft even the Lumia 925 would get at least a opt in update, but for sure all phones that could run it would run win 10 mobile.
this is a great idea
Completely agree!!!!
Umm, No. They pissed off enough people with the forced updates on PC. The last thing they need is to force this upgrade on people. Most of the people still running 8.1 are non tech people. Average users who bought a budget phone. The last thing they want is to wake up and see their phone looks differnt, the settings menu has changed and they don' have the app they loved previously. That will just cause more lost customers. Makeing it an option is fine, pushing it is not. It's a moot point anyway, there's no way in hell MS would dedicate that much energy to something they don't care about.
I'm still using my 920 with Windows Phone 8.1 cause here in Mexico is so rare to find the latest Lumia with Windows 10 (550, 650, 950 & 950 XL). I truly love my 920 but I don't know what i am going to do now that the battery runs out so fast, I don't want an iPhone and neither and Android, but at least I would like I could update WP8.1 to W10M.
It doesn't have to be sold on your local store, you can order it online on Amazon or eBay etc.
Absolutely not. I regret upgrading. It ruined my Windows Phone experience.
My 640 with Win 8.1 does everything I want to do with a mobile phone. Don't see a need to upgrade. But much more importantly, earlier I read that Google Apps Email will not run under Win 10 mobile. Search as I might, I cannot find any information that says I can in fact run Google Apps under Win 10 mobile. I am forced get my email via Google Apps, Outlook is not an option. If I can't get my email on a mobile phone running Win 10 then I definely do not want to be forced to upgrade to Win 10. That my take on why Microsoft should not force an upgrade. Always open to being corrected about compatibility between Google Apps and Win 10 phone software.
It's time for Windows mobile users to Push iOS and android users into traffic and blame it on texting while walking.
I expect less on Microsoft now when it comes to Mobile phones.
If you look at the numbers, most WP 8.1 devices would still not get the update (think about all those Lumia 520s out there) but having W10M on only ~17% of WP devices makes the whole concept of UWP silly, so they should push the update just to get it up a little.
True I beta test w10m and it's early days And I can tell you the most painful transition for anybody with a phone 4.5 or 4.7 inch even would be the DPI
W10M TH2 was atrocious on 512 MB devices but RS1/2 are actually quite usable.
That's one thing I'm into about Apple, they push updates to their old devices, and Microsoft should follow that direction.
Yes, 100% agree Richard. Time to put 8.1 behind us, W10M is where it's at.
I worry people really don't like getting "pushed". You might offer the upgrade in a fairly "in your face" method but even that won't be taken well. I do see your point to have more people on the now polished platform. I think first they need to roll out the update, deal with the issues that arise quickly and fervently and be sure what users we have are updated properly and then if no further fires arise "consider" pulling others into the fray. Frankly however, by that point you may well be on the brink of a new device wave (when the 835 chips are more abundant) and wouldn't a good set of new devices draw people to upgrade?
Very bad idea to push the update. SImply think about the blunder it became when MS was activelly pushing Windows 10 on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 devices? People were totally out of their mind.
Agreed
I agreed!
Agreed
It's great to see windows phone do better in other countries.
get it to go on my L1020 WOULD BE ACE
LOL. So now the people that haven't upgraded are the ones to blame for lack of developer support. Funny how Android phones hardly get updated, yet they get a ton of support from developers.
You just don't have the users. PERIOD. Move on. It's all Microsoft's fault and their buggy W10M that has taken 1 year to come up with a pathetic "Creators Update" which brings nothing new and doesn't even catch up with what the competition offered 3 years ago.
You do realize they get "tons of support" due to the fact they have 80% market share (or whatever the % is).
So by "move on" you mean WP users should move to crapdroid? Not in million years for me. W10M running great on my 1520.
Don't wear too much on yourself :) Windows mobile fanboys always try to find an excuse for their failing platform, so don't be surprised if they even start to think that the ones that did not update to win10mo are to blame for the lack of dev support and apps :)))
Waiting forit for my Ativ S.
Don't change a working system. Applies to Windows and Android. It's simply stupid to update from 8.1 and lose Here Drive and some other stuff like Lumia apps.
I do not agree. I have a 920 and a 930, both with WP8.1 on them, and I am happy with it. I don’t see how I would benefit from upgrading to W10M. My wife now has a 650 with W10, and it does not satisfy her as much as her old 820 which she unfortunately broke about a half year ago. It is slower, and buggy. I am a great fan of Microsoft, so I hate to admit but I don’t like W10M as of now.
I believe that this would not even be a question, if MS had continued to make phones that allowed old users to upgrade to devices that could run Windows 10 Mobile. But, MS didn't and users of much older devices are not likely going to go out of their way to buy new Windows Mobile devices. Many users got have their phones, because they were cheap and available. The only thing these users will do at this point is switch to other OSs.
I think MS could just push the update out and it may breath a little excitement into the platform for those users that are oblivious to Windows 10 Mobile or don't care enough to upgrade on their own, because they do not realize that support will stop soon. At the very least, MS should push out a notification that has an attached link to a website that explains that their current version will no longer be supported, offer a chance to upgrade software on their current device (caution embedded, because performance may vary, depending on device.), offer the information on how to upgrade and offer device upgrade options and/or direct them to sources where they can buy newer phones.
Ultimately, MS retrenched too deeply and ruined the experience for the casual user. Some have suggested that MS go back and tweak the OS to run efficiently on all older phones. At this point, i think that would be a complete waste of time, because they could use those recourses in other areas. Not to mention, MS did try to get the OS to run on older devices. If MS is going to do this, they need to push ahead, not look back and market the hell out off the hell out of whatever their next big thing will be. Additionally, do what they did before and offer incentives to big name developers to develop UWPs.
Not so fast, redcoat. Some people like the older version because it works BETTER. For example, the Jay Bennett version of the Windows Central app works a lot better than the train wreck of a Windows 10 version that you guys don't even bother to fix. So, no, some people like 8.1.
good point on that. the old version of the wincentral app is miles better.
That may have been true a year or more ago, but not today. UWP app for Windows Central is better than old app. Windows 10 is better than 8.1 in almost all use cases (admittedly not 100%). And in the article, Zac is talking about pushing the newer Creator's Update with its further enhancements, not the current version.
Absolutely. This was a major failure on their part especially after the constant comparison to Android fragmentation. No upgrade from WP7 to WP8.1 (even though hackers figured out a way to put it on to show it was possible. So people begrudgingly bought new phones for 8.1 just to be left behind on a platform that was tied to the death of 8.1 RT and Surface RT.
Their "developer backdoor" to out Windows 10 on these older devices after promising 100% device upgrade from 8.1 to 10 was a punch in the gut. It shows a major lack of commitment and initiative on their part. They're not Apple in this market yet, if ever. They can't be pulling things like this as if technology is growing so quick that we need to be "reasonable" and accept these forced obsolescences. In reality, they're extremely late to the party and released only released the 950-series after buying Nokia's mobile division. It's a shame they'd spend that much money and fall so short consistently.
There are so many things that MS ought to be doing about Mobile that one loses count.
If Nokia & BB have a bigger slice of the mobile market than MS that would be funny.
At this point they're just treating rust on the titanic. WM10 will probably be left behind for ARM. It's Microsoft's business culture.... throw money and resources at something and if it isn't wildly successful, scrap it and toss something else out on the market to keep the stockholders happy. So force or don't force upgrades, it doesn't matter.
I stuck with 8.1 as I have been waiting for a little more maturity in Mobile 10 before upgrading. After the Creators update is out and the 1st round of bug fixes are pushed out I will upgrade my Lumia 1520 and my wife's Lumia 830. For me after using beta software decades ago, I require reliability, stability and the confidence that it brings as I want my software to work all the time not some of the time.
I'm running anniversary update on my Lumia 1020 and it's running surprisingly well even better than 8.1
:)
I'm using 1520. I installed windows 10 for three months and now I came back to 8.1. The truth is windows 10 is not looking good in Nokia made Lumia devices.the giant 1520 has made for 8.1 and it runs smoothly with minimalistic look. IMO the the big text style of 8.1 has completely lost in windows 10. The dial pad and people app has a magnificent look in 8.1. I really like my WP 8.1. MSFT please make special updates for 8.1 keeping its original style.
I'm still in love with 8.1. It was fast fluid. Hardley ever crashed. Then I moved to 950xl and still waiting to fall in love with it. Its slow at times, buggy, crashes lots during the camera, and can't stand multitasking! Back button should be closing apps in my opinion not hiding them.
I gave up. ATT was never going to do it. I bought the pixel. hate that i can't have a button for each of my mail boxes that displays the number of new emails - LOVED the tiles. oh well, i'll get used to it. Microsoft should abandon the phone because at this point the loss of loyal users/buyers is significant.
If they release Windows 10 to 8.1 devices, automatically, you can be sure that those who use the Windows apps for facebook and messenger, and then upgrade to the Facebook ones, they'll surely leave the platform at once. I had those apps on my Lumia 640 and it's the worst experience ever! Got to install now the MS ones, a little tricky but I managed, and won't updgrade them and use for as long as I can. And don't even try to say that facebook and messenger needs 2 GB of RAM. Lumias 950 and 950XL have 3 GB and the experience is also pretty bad, especially when you open the app for the first time. I have a Xperia J (1 Ghz single core, 512 ram, android 4.1.2), and guess what, it runs Facebook and Messenger better than my Lumia 640...
The facebook app for android, for example, is nothing like the windows facebook app. It's way ahead of the windows app in every sense....speed, look, features. Again, just shows that UWP, and its development is TANK'ING like I said it would.
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