Microsoft WP8 technical support time will be extended to 2015

On July 12, according to foreign media reports, Microsoft extended its technical support for the Windows Phone 8 life cycle, and promised to launch a new feature update package next year, and strive to win more corporate customers for its struggling smartphone operating system .

On Wednesday, Robert Hoover, the Windows Phone project manager, wrote in a blog that Microsoft decided to postpone the suspension date of Windows Phone 8 until January 12, 2016.

Earlier, Microsoft said that it would stop supporting and updating the operating system before July 8, 2014, which means that all Windows Phone 8 devices will remain outdated from now on for more than a year. After the policy change on Wednesday, the service life of Windows Phone 8 phones increased from 18 months to 36 months.

For the mobile phone industry, this is really a generous move. Back in 2011, Google did its best to convince Android device manufacturers to provide 18-month updates to their products. However, Microsoft can use all the resources he can get, which has an overwhelming advantage over iOS and Android systems.

Windows Phone may have quietly squeezed into the top three smartphones. According to Kantar ’s data at the end of March, Microsoft ’s smartphone market share in the first three months of this year is only 4.6%, while Android and Apple are the two major platforms. Hold a 94.9% share.

However, just because Microsoft promised to provide updates for Windows Phone 8 to 2016 does not mean that all customers can get the updates. Microsoft explained that the updates are incremental, so customers must have installed the updates provided before installing these updates. The availability of updates may vary by country, region and device performance. Mobile phone manufacturers and operators can also control where Microsoft updates are stored on their devices.

Hoover also mentioned that in addition to extending the Windows Phone 8 support cycle, an update package will be provided in the first half of 2014 to add various enterprise-centric features to the platform. The update package will implement the following functions: support digital signing and S / MIME encrypted email, the application automatically triggers a VPN connection, supports Wi-Fi networks that use EAP-TLS to verify the communication protocol, and adds management policy opTIons for mobile devices , Remote management user authentication certificate.

According to Hoover's article, Microsoft will continue to work on the development of Windows Phone, although it seems that it has little chance of replacing Android and iOS systems. Hoover also wrote: "But this gives customers who are investing in Windows Phone today confidence that the investment is safe, and this platform will even be a better business choice."